Prepaid card betting sites in Illinois

Which betting sites in Illinois accept prepaid cards?

There are currently 4 betting websites in Illinois that accept prepaid cards: DraftKings, Caesars, BetRivers, FanDuel.

About prepaid cards

A prepaid card is a card you buy and load money onto. It is not necessary to connect the prepaid card to your bank account unless you are planning to use it to withdraw money from winning bets, which we will examine later. When you load money onto the prepaid card, you are using the money you already have. You do not borrow like when you are using a credit card.

Prepaid cards typically have logos of Visa or Mastercard on them. These look almost identical to normal debit cards, therefore it is easy to confuse them.

When you use a prepaid card, you can spend only the amount of money you have loaded onto the card. There are some cases where you can overspend but only if you have connected the prepaid card to your bank account. However, it is highly likely that the bank will charge you high fees for that, and you will also have to pay the overcharge.

The advantages of a prepaid card are that after you use it, you do not have to pay a bill, like with a credit card, because you spent your own existing money. Moreover, you do not have to have or link a bank account in order to use the card.

Different types of prepaid cards

Prepaid cards come in different types. The differences are about the loading method, the way of obtaining them, the amount of money they can carry, even their physical or online form.

Reloadable prepaid cards

A reloadable prepaid card allows you to load money on it as many times as you need, once you activate it. All prepaid cards come with activation instructions, so do not worry about it. There are various reloadable prepaid cards.

Each one lets you reload it online, in person with the purchase, by phone, or with a direct deposit. An important advantage of reloadable prepaid cards is that they protect the consumer if the card is stolen and used in illegal or unauthorized expenses.

However, note that some reloadable prepaid cards charge fees to reload them, as well as other fees depending on the transaction you use them for.

Virtual prepaid cards

These cards are only virtual as their name suggests. It means that you will never receive a physical, plastic card. Once you sign up and buy one, you will receive it in digital form.

A virtual prepaid card can be used either for just one time or for many transactions. It depends on you. Just like a regular prepaid card, you need to load money on it.

Virtual prepaid cards are very convenient because you can always check online how much you have spent and they are widely accepted. Last but not least, they are a very safe way to make payments online, as you do not need to fill in your personal banking details.

Gift cards

A gift card is a card loaded with a specific amount of money by the person who gives it as a present.

As a receiver, you can use it just like a regular prepaid or credit card to make online and in-store purchases. Many sportsbooks in Illinois have their own gift cards which you can buy for a friend, or they can give to you.

Voucher prepaid cards

This type of card is similar to a gift card but it differs in the way of its acquisition. A sportsbook can give it to you as a voucher for being a good customer, or as a means of compensation. It is already loaded with money, therefore you can not use more than what there is already on.

How to deposit using a prepaid card on Illinois sports betting sites

Making a deposit using a prepaid card on an Illinois sports betting site is as simple as making any other online transaction or as using a regular debit card.

1. Create your account at an IL sportsbook

This is the first step you have to do, to create an account at a legal online sports betting site in Illinois. Besides your personal information, such as your full name, mailing address, and your age, you will also have to add your preferred payment method.

2. Enter your prepaid cards number, expiry date, and CVC

Once you choose the prepaid card method, you just fill in the regular details: the card's number, its expiration date, and the CVC code. It works just like any ordinary credit card.

How to withdraw from a sportsbook in IL using a prepaid card

If you wish to use a prepaid card as a withdrawal method, you have to do a few extra steps. You can read more about them about them below:

1. Make sure your prepaid card has a bank account attached to it.

A sportsbook cannot load you money on a prepaid card just like that. You need to link the card to your bank account if you wish to use it for withdrawals.

But just like any other pay card, the prepaid card has privacy and safety guidelines that protect all your sensitive data. Actually, it is preferable to use this one instead of a credit card, because this one does not give direct access to your banking information.

2. Withdraw directly to your prepaid cards account

Once you win bets, and you have all of your profits at your sportsbook balance, you can withdraw it directly to the account you have for the prepaid card. Nevertheless, you should pay attention to the transaction fees.

The sportsbook will not charge you any, but the bank probably will. In the case of prepaid cards, the charges are high most of the times.

The benefits of prepaid cards when betting on sports

A prepaid card has many benefits. It makes online gambling so much easier and safer.

Secure & private

First and foremost is the safety and privacy of the whole process. A prepaid card is not directly attached to your bank account. You create a special account that it is linked to bank one.

But the transactions happen via the prepaid account. This makes it so much easier to keep things out of sight, in the sense that there are no bill statements to show your transactions to anyone.

For example, you may not want your bank to know that you gamble, or if there is a joined bank account, you may not want the second person to know how much you invest in your hobby.

It helps you keep track of your betting habits

Another great benefit of a prepaid card is that it helps you keep track of your betting actions and gambling activities because you have to reload it every time the money runs out. In the case of a credit card, you can get carried away and gamble uncontrollably.

That will cause you serious financial problems. But a prepaid card does not allow you to overspend because you have to load it with your own money. Moreover, the fact that you can see in your prepaid card account a lost of your transactions helps you understand your gambling habits.

So, in general, it gives you much bigger control and prudence in your gambling, which is the key to healthy and profitable gamble!