How SMS Payments Work in Online Casinos

Gambling in online casinos has been advancing by leaps and bounds. But, in some cases a leap forward can also include a step back. SMS payments are the latest advancement that makes online casino gambling very convenient. SMS (short message service) is an ancient technology that pairs well with modern tech. It leverages the omnipresence of mobile phones for:

• seamless payments
• simple and convenient user verification

SMS is gaining popularity in casinos as a payment method because of its low risk and few drawbacks. SMS makes the phone a banking card minus the bank and the card checks. Users have ease of mind because they feel in control; casinos can manage risk and limit bad players.

The Achilles’ heel of the system is most often the reliability of the phone service provider. Even when the user sends the SMS, the provider has to process it and forward it to the casino. Until that happens, the money won’t appear in the user’s casino account. But, the user will be immediately charged for the transaction. In cases where the phone service is poor, that can sour the entire experience.

Setting Up SMS Payments for Online Casinos

Casino SMS payments take some setup that varies depending on the casino. Some casinos ask the user to register a phone number and couple it with a casino account. To deposit the money into the casino account, the user sends an SMS to the provided number. The number responds with a confirmation code. The user then enters the confirmation code in the account to get the funds.

Other casinos ask for specific info for SMS payments, such as the birth date and the account name. When a user sends those to a phone number via SMS, the casino charges the phone number’s balance. That amount, minus any fees, appears in the associated account. The casino can delay casino deposit via sms for 30–60 minutes for validation. The casino may also ask for a valid ID before allowing payments through SMS.

If the SMS fails, the user will still have to pay, even if the casino does not receive the money. If that happens more than once, the best solution is to call the phone service provider. There can be any number of reasons why that happens. For example, the casino might ask for the account name through SMS. If the user’s casino account name contains unusual characters, the SMS may fail to send. If the user’s phone settings are wrong, the SMS may again fail. The best way to troubleshoot these problems is to test different mobile phones and SIM cards.

Advantages of Using SMS Payments

Casinos are all about creating an immersive, fun, and engaging gambling environment. That means removing three factors:

• interruptions
• intermediaries
• friction

Without those three factors, users relax and forget about the outside world. They can keep gambling for hours on end thanks to the casino deposit via sms functionality.

No interruptions

An essential advantage of SMS payments is the lack of interruptions. A user gambling on the phone can keep using the phone while topping up the casino account. There are no interruptions like those that appear when having to fetch and use the debit/credit card. In effect, topping up the casino account becomes a part of the game.

No intermediaries

Paying through SMS does not need a dedicated payment processor, such as a bank, either. The casino arranges SMS payments with the phone service provider. When the user sends the SMS, the provider draws from the user’s current phone balance and pings the casino. For users who receive a monthly phone bill, the provider adds a charge to the bill.

No friction

All mobile phones already have the SMS technology, which is backward- and forward-compatible. There is no need for the user to download and install an app or make an account. The superb compatibility and no friction make SMS the dark horse of casino tech.

Potential Risks and Limitations of SMS Payments

Every financial transaction carries some risk that increases with amount and frequency. That applies to SMS payments as well. Casinos shy away from risk because it can ruin their reputation and expose them to sanctions. Still, they want to have as many customers and transactions as possible, so they have to take some risks. Their Solomonic solution is to have rules that lower the risk they expose themselves to. Also, they add fees that make the risk worth it for them.

Casinos often add limitations to withdrawals to prevent abuse of SMS payments. For example, a casino may lock the deposited funds and ask the user to withdraw winnings. In this way, the casino prevents money laundering or suspicious transactions. Deposit sizes are small as well, and the casino may set a cooldown period between two deposits.

Many limitations are not the casino’s fault; they stem from the phone service provider. Problems with the cell signal mean the SMS cannot go out, and the transaction isn’t valid. The frustrated user may send the same SMS several times, all to no avail. When the cell signal problems clear, all SMS will resolve at once. That may land the user in hot water — the user wanted to pay once but paid a dozen times!

Finally, the depositing fees may be 1–5% of the deposited amount. The fees are a part of the agreement between the casino and the phone service provider. The bigger the risk, the higher the fee.

Tips for Using SMS Payments Safely

Read the fine print

A casino will go to great lengths to avoid the risk of SMS payments. That includes hiring a team of lawyers to write the casino’s Terms of Service. In them, the casino will most often shift the risk onto the users. Read all the fine print with great care to understand the risk. Only deposit money after doing so.

Protect personal and account information

Identity theft is no joke. It happens all the time, but people underestimate it until it happens to them. Criminals are 24/7 on the hunt for personal and account information. Once they enter an account, such as a casino account, they can steal the info there. Do not share personal info without a valid reason. Do not share casino account info at all.

Use a dedicated mobile phone

Apps, especially Meta/Facebook ones, are notorious for hoovering info. They turn the phone into a surveillance device and track everything the user is doing. The user might think SMS are safe but Meta/Facebook can create “shadow profiles.” Through them, it tracks and analyzes all user activity. The best solution is having a mobile phone for SMS casino payments only.

Choose long, gibberish passwords with a personal meaning

Google announced the end of passwords in 2023, but they are still the staple of online security. The problem with passwords is users’ poor password discipline. They reuse passwords or put their personal info in them. That makes criminals’ jobs very easy — they steal identities while breaching passwords. The simplest way to fortify passwords is to make them long gibberish with a personal meaning.

Report any problems to the casino right away

The casino and the phone service provider will act as soon as they notice risky SMS payments. They will report suspicious users and transactions to the authorities. That is how they avoid risk and shift it onto those users. Every user should do the same to avoid money laundering investigations.