Online Poker Sites Accepting Visa Deposits
One of the few truly global brands, Visa can be used to purchase just about anything – including chips at an online poker site. It’s quick, it’s easy and it’s about as secure as you can get when it comes to online poker deposits, so let’s jump right into the ins and outs of Visa poker sites.
Which US Sites Will Accept Visa?
When you’re talking about US poker sites accepting Visa deposits, you’re looking at a list of the top poker rooms where players from the United States can sign up and battle it out for real money. Based on Visa acceptance rates and other factors regarding the general quality of the site, here are the top US sites for Visa poker deposits.
Below is a table ranking the best online poker sites accepting US players and USA Visa poker deposits.
Using Visa for Online Poker Deposits
Getting money from your bank accounts to an online poker site from the US can be annoying, and credit cards like Visa are a welcome respite from the hassle of bank transfers. There are a number of avenues you can pursue for Visa poker deposits, the most popular of which we’ve collected into the brief list that follows.
Use Visa Directly at the USA Poker Site
Visa is the most widely accepted credit card at legal US poker sites, so depositing directly is likely to be a viable option for most American poker players. If that’s the case for you, then you shouldn’t worry about other options – just deposit directly at the poker room of your choice using Visa (or at any of the sites from our picks of the top US poker sites accepting Visa) and you’ll be taking the fastest, safest and cheapest path to depositing with Visa of all.
Third-Party Online Wallets Accept Visa
While online wallets are no longer a primary option for poker players from the United States, you will occasionally find new wallets from time to time. These wallets work just like PayPal, allowing you to fund one central account that can then be used to make purchases at a variety of merchants – including online poker sites. If you learn of a new wallet, Visa makes a great funding source thanks to low fees and low risk.
Fund Prepaid Options With Visa
In our other US online poker guides, we cover payment methods like prepaid credit and debit cards, along with money transfer services like MoneyGram. In many circumstances, you are able to fund these prepaid options using a Visa card, meaning that you basically get to make your online poker deposit using Visa (just with one extra step added). We always encourage players to read the fine print of such cards and transfer services closely, because making a deposit at a poker site using Visa can get pretty costly if you don’t shop around for the lowest fees and charges.
History: The First Visa Cards
Long before poker players from the United States could use Visa to deposit at legal US poker sites – in fact, long before online poker or even the concept of “online” itself – Visa issued their very first credit card. You’d have to head all the way back to 1958 in your time machine if you wanted to grab one of the first Visa cards ever issued, but if you went back looking for a Visa card specifically, you’d be out of luck. The cards bore a different name during that first run: Bank AmeriCard. In contrast to the sturdy plastic cards issued today, the cards were thinner than typical playing cards and made of nothing more than paper.
In addition to those drawbacks, modern users would probably take umbrage at another feature of that initial Visa card: The $300 credit limit.
Visa and Phishing Scams
We are big on security when it comes to online poker – not just for poker players from the United States, but for all online poker players. That’s why it’s important to have this section highlighting one of the unintended risks you take on when you acquire a Visa card to deposit at an online poker site. Specifically, you expose yourself to falling victim to what has become one of the most common phishing scams online.
Since Visa is so ubiquitous, it makes sense that scams targeting Visa holders would also be very popular; after all, if you send a malicious email that looks like it’s from Visa to a few thousand people, there’s a very good chance that many of them are Visa holders. Online poker players should practice secure browsing techniques regardless of whether or not they use a Visa for depositing at US poker sites, but those who do have a Visa should be extremely wary of any email correspondence sent from the site. Never click on links in such emails; instead, always visit Visa directly or call the customer support number on the back of your card if you get an email claiming to inform you of an issue with your card.
Staying Secure With Online Poker & Visa
A few simple steps can decrease the risk you face depositing at a legal online poker site with a Visa card.
First, use a separate Visa card for your deposits, and keep the credit limit very low.
Second, make sure you have phone and email alerts set up for any transactions whatsoever that take place on the card. Since you only use the Visa for poker site deposits, you’ll know right away if there’s a problem when you get an alert.
Finally, resist the urge to carry the card around with you to use it for other purchases.
Only by keeping the card strictly for use as an online poker deposit method can you ensure that the risk you face depositing at an online poker site accepting US players using your Visa is as minimal as possible.
