If you ask most players what they truly care about when selecting casinos, they will refer to the payout periods. Usually, players want to access their earnings as soon as they win. In fact, many players look for the fastest payout online casinos, which promise to process withdrawals within hours or days. But did you know that payout speeds actually reveal a lot more about casinos beyond when you will get paid? We walk you through what these timelines signal to players and why you, too, should be paying more attention to them.
What Do Payout Speeds Reveal?
If you look at casinos, you will notice that they vary in terms of their payout speeds. Some offer periods as short as minutes, while others offer ranges that could take days. But does it matter? Why, yes. Payout speeds reveal the following about casinos:
- Their Financial Health.
Before a casino gets a license, it has to prove that it has the money required to pay out earnings. But while a valid license means that a casino passed this first check, it does not tell you just how well the casino is doing at the time you are registering an account. So, here is the rule of thumb. When a casino is doing well and has the money to pay its winners, it generally has fast payout speeds. But when its finances are not quite right, it makes up for this by slowing down the payments. Think of it like a struggling business. Usually, entrepreneurs in such situations try to keep things running by paying bills and salaries much later than expected. So, if the speeds are slow, take that as a warning sign.
- The Efficiency of Their Operations.
Sometimes, a casino has more than enough money to pay out winnings. However, its systems are inefficient. For example, a casino that relies on a slow verification process could end up delaying payments due to this bottleneck. And winners could end up waiting days to access their winnings, despite the money being available. In contrast, a casino with an efficient system is able to process wins as they take place and can deal with multiple requests at once. So, while it would be easy to group all slow payment processes as a lack of money, such delays can also be because the casino just hasn’t invested in the most efficient payment processing systems.
Overall, payment processing timelines enable you to gauge just how trustworthy a casino is. After all, if it is known for paying its players on time, then you can trust that this pattern will continue. But if it is known for delaying payments, you will likely not trust it, which can affect your willingness to use the platform.
Just What Affects Payout Speeds?
We’ve talked about how operational efficiency plays a role in payout speeds. But exactly what can cause these delays?
- The verification process. As a way to prevent fraud, casinos must verify customers’ identities before processing withdrawals. Usually, this takes place only once during the first payment. The whole process can take up to two days to complete, especially when more documentation is necessary. But luckily, once it is complete, the records remain in your account, so you don’t have to go through the process the next time.
- The company’s policies. Often, casinos will hold your earnings for a while before you are able to access them. Usually, they do this as an additional security measure. However, there have been claims that some operators do this to encourage players to reinvest their earnings in other games. It’s important to look at the average payout periods advertised by an operator so you can determine whether this works for you.
Lastly, we have payment methods. Traditional methods like wire transfers and card payments can take days to process, while newer methods like e-wallets are much faster and can take minutes. Some casinos have also introduced cryptocurrency payments to reduce the waiting time to minutes. It’s always advisable to look for a casino whose options match what’s most convenient to you.
