Online Casinos Accepting Pay by Phone

Most online payments require you to have a credit/card or bank account with online banking. But this is not something everyone has easy access to. Luckily, technology allows us to make online payments even if we don’t have a bank account or credit card!

One such alternative payment method is to pay by phone – as the name suggests, this uses your mobile phone number. When you use the pay by phone method, the bill amount is debited from your phone number’s active credit balance.

Like many other online payment methods, pay by phone has also been endorsed by popular online casinos. But is pay by phone a practical and safe payment option in South Africa in 2021? Which are the top South Africa online casinos that support pay by phone payments? What are its advantages and disadvantages?

Read on to learn everything you need to know about pay by phone casinos in South Africa.

Pay by phone is another name for mobile banking. It involves using a registered mobile SIM card instead of a bank account to make cash payments for online services. Some pay by phone services also allows you to send money to friends and relatives.

Pay by phone/mobile banking was invented because billions of people across the world do not have easy access to banks and online banking. But since mobile phones and cellular networks are everywhere, they offered an excellent alternative.

Please do note that pay by phone is not the same as “PaybyPhone” which is an online parking payment service available in a handful of countries. Pay by phone in this article refers to online casino payments using your phone bill.

Over the years, many payment methods have tried to harness pay by phone systems to varying degrees of success. In Europe and the UK, Boku is a great example of a successful mobile phone payment system at online casinos.

In South Africa, Vodafone introduced mPesa back in 2010 as a mobile bank-less payment method. But despite extreme success in Kenya and the East African region, mPesa South Africa was not a success. The service was shut down in 2017 in South Africa.

Pay by phone at online casinos is a payment method for deposits. Instead of using a bank account or credit card, you can use your existing phone call balance to make a cash deposit. The main advantage of this system is that you don’t need a credit card/bank account to play at an online casino.

Even if you do have those, you may not like the idea of sharing such financial information with an online gambling site. With pay by phone, this is no longer a concern. Besides, you already have to provide your phone number for casino account verification. Using the same phone number for payments keeps your exposed data at the casino to a minimum.

Pay by phone systems are also incredibly easy and convenient to use. All you need is a few clicks/taps on your smartphone to make an instant deposit at the online casino. If you are primarily interested in mobile casino gaming, it is a fantastic choice.

But the system also has some major disadvantages. You cannot use it for withdrawals – it is not in compliance with online gambling financial rules for this purpose. Withdrawals require KYC and a verified bank account – you will have to provide that if you win big at online casinos. In the meantime, you can still make quick cash deposits with mobile pay by phone bill.

You do need a postpaid connection where the phone company charges you a monthly bill. The pay by phone casino deposit will be added to this bill. The system works like a credit card – you get the cash now and pay it later at the end of the month.

The biggest disadvantage of pay by phone is the lack of available payment methods. Popular options like Boku, while available at many top South Africa online casinos, are not open to SA residents. You have to be in the UK or some EU countries to use this feature.

South Africa did have a pay by phone method called Vodafone mPesa – many casinos offered this payment method (many still do, but for players from Kenya and other African countries). In South Africa, mPesa was shut down due to poor demand and several regulations in 2017.

As of 2021, no major pay by phone casino payment methods is actively available to players from South Africa. Casinos do show mobile deposit options, but most of them are open only if you stay in Europe or North America.

Using pay by phone is incredibly simple. All you need is a smartphone – any device with iOS or Android will do – as well as a registered and active SIM card in your name. That’s it – you don’t need a bank account or credit card, or any other payment method.

The entire system works on SMS and your monthly phone bill. Any purchases made online, or casino deposits, are added to your phone bill at the end of the month. Like a credit card, you may have some spending limits imposed by the phone company, based on your spending patterns.

You don’t need to download and install any special apps to run a pay by phone transaction. The entire system works using simple SMS. Some phone network operators have the feature enabled on their apps – you can use these to check your upcoming bills, spending limits, etc. It is useful, but not necessary.

Pay by phone does not have any complex or confusing payment process. Anyone can make a casino payment using this method in just a few easy steps. Depending on your mobile service provider, there might be a slight variance in the process, but the basic formula remains the same:

• Visit your casino and log in with your account password
• Go to the cashier section and select deposits
• Pick pay by phone bill as your preferred method
• Enter the amount you want to withdraw
• Provide your mobile number and confirm other required details
• An SMS will be sent to your phone number
• You need to authorize the payment using the link provided
• Another SMS will be sent telling you that payment has been completed

Your cash should reach the casino in a matter of minutes. You are now free to enjoy your favorite real money slots. You can pay for the deposit later, at the end of the month along with your regular phone bill.

As already noted, pay by phone bill does not support casino withdrawals. This payment method is only suitable for small cash deposits at select casinos. You cannot get huge casino wins credited to your mobile balance. That requires a bank account – and since many pay by phone accounts don’t have linked bank accounts, it is not a viable option.

However, if you use pay by phone for deposits, do not panic when you win real money. The casino will give you an option to provide a working bank account number in your name for withdrawals. Or you may get a chance to select other valid withdrawal solutions.

Pay by phone is certainly not the most popular payment method out there in the online casino industry. It is a niche method favored in regions where fewer people have a bank account. In prosperous regions like South Africa, where the vast majority of customers have a bank account, it is only sparingly used. The following are some of the pros and cons of pay by phone from a casino player’s perspective:

Pay by phone is an excellent online casino payment idea. It is safe, secure, and highly convenient. If you don’t want casino bills showing up on your bank account/card (but don’t mind it on your phone bill!) you might be tempted to use it as a deposit option.

But primarily, pay by phone is aimed at folks who don’t have a credit card or bank account. It is aimed at digital inclusion – a very positive concept indeed. The trouble from a South Africa casino payment perspective is that currently, pay by phone is not available at most online casinos.

If new mobile bill payment methods come to the scene in South African gambling in the coming years, we will update this article accordingly. But until then, If you want secure and discreet payment methods, we recommend e-wallets like Skrill/Neteller/ecoPayz. If you are interested in cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin or Ethereum are also fine alternatives.