ACH vs. uPayCard

Leading online casinos have long lists of payment methods available on their sites, and ACH and UPayCard are present across most of them. These are two entirely different payment solutions, suited for different types of online casino players, yet, both extremely secure and providing players with smooth transactions. With different characteristics, accepted countries and terms of use, the two solutions are great alternatives to one another. If not satisfied with what the one can offer, you can always choose the other one. So, let’s take a look at what they have to offer so you can decide which one is better for you to use. Which one to choose, ACH or UPayCard as your online casino payment method?

About ACH and UPayCard

If looking for convenient, easy to use, but above all, safe, payment solutions for online gambling purposes, you need to consider ACH and UPayCard. Although fundamentally different, the two are quite popular among online casino players, as they can really provide you with seamless transactions. What’s most important about them is that they are both great alternatives to credit cards, so if playing from a jurisdiction where credit cards are banned, like the UK, you can easily use one of the two and still play at your favourite online casino.

ACH is short for Automated Clearing House, which means it is a payment processing system that makes sure your money gets from your bank account to the desired destination in a safe way, without you worrying about anything or putting too much effort for the transaction to be completed. Since it works directly with banks, it processes your transaction as soon as you request it, with the aid of other third-party financial institutions involved.

The difference between sending your money from your bank account to your online casino site directly and sending it via ACH is in the processing times. ACH speeds up the money transfer process.

The issue, however, lies in the country acceptability, as ACH is only available in the US. Unless you’re a US player, who has an account with a US bank, you cannot use it. But if a US player, playing across online casinos for years, you know that ACH is one of the most trusted methods among players from the country. It is definitely the safest, to say the least, but also the most convenient one for effortless deposits across online casinos.

ACH does all the hard work for you, making sure your transaction goes through without you needing to visit your bank to request it. But because there's actually hard work to be done, don't expect your deposit to arrive instantly on your online casino account. And while players are concerned with this, and would prefer using a method that allows for instant deposits, they don't mind waiting for the money when they request withdrawals with ACH. In fact, ACH is one of the US players’ favourite withdrawal methods. No matter how long withdrawals with it take, players are certain that the money will arrive directly on their bank account safely, and that’s all that matters.

UPayCard is an entirely different payment solution. In fact, with it, you get a two-in-one payment method, since it functions both as a virtual prepaid card and an eWallet. Contrary to ACH, which is only available in the US, UPayCard is available all across the globe, except the US and a few other countries. This is when the part "they are great alternatives to one another" kicks in since if you are a US player, you cannot use UPayCard, but you can use ACH. In addition to the US, UPayCard is not available in Afghanistan, Aruba, Moldova, North Korea, Bahrain, American Samoa, and Angola. These eight are the only countries where you cannot use this solution.

Assuming you’re playing from any other country than these eight, pay close attention, as UPayCard is a really extraordinary solution to use. It is incredibly popular across the online gambling industry due to many reasons. Even though when it first started, it came with many fees, hearing users’ complaints, it reduced the fees, and became an unrivalled solution to use across online casinos. Today, it only charges for adding money and cashing it out from your account, for the issuance of the second virtual and first physical card, and foreign exchange. To get your first virtual card and create your eWallet account, you won’t need to pay fees, not even monthly fees later.

It kept on evolving and improving its offering and allowed users to use it charging only the basic fees for the most seamless online banking experience. In fact, today, it is one of the most useful solutions across online casinos. Mainly because it allows transactions with both digital and fiat currencies. It accepts many digital and over 20 fiat currencies, including Swedish krona, Canadian and Australian dollars, and UK pounds. But it also accepts Ethereum, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and it has recently added Litecoin and Ripple.

With so many great things on offer, it is no wonder it has become such a popular solution across online casino sites. In fact, you may not find it at every single site, but you will definitely find it across most online gambling websites.

Getting Started with the Two Solutions

Both of these solutions are fairly easy to get started with and quite intuitive to use later on. But what you need to know is that you’ll get a hang of them really quickly, and enjoy them more than you have ever enjoyed any other solution.

Getting started with ACH, contrary to most other solutions, won’t involve the creation of a separate account. You won’t need to register for an account, verify it and fill it with money, no. Provided are a US player, with a US bank account, you can start using ACH right away, without lifting a finger.

Now, what ACH does is it deducts money from your bank account, upon your request, obviously, and sends it to the desired destination, which you specified. And for withdrawals, it deducts the money from the online casino account and adds it to your bank account, upon the casino’s approval. It takes nothing more than that. As long as the approvals are in place, ACH will take care of everything.

With UPayCard, on the other hand, you will need to create an eWallet account, if you wish to make withdrawals with it. If using it for deposits only, you would only need to apply for your virtual prepaid card. But having them both would be the most convenient, as you never know when you’ll need one or the other solution. So, just visit its official website and follow the instructions:

1. Click on the Sign-Up button.
2. Specify your full name, birth date, email, phone number and home address.
3. To verify your account, attach a scan of an ID document.
4. Fund your account using POLi, Neteller, Payeer, Skrill or QIWI, or using your virtual UPayCard card, if you already have it.
5. Start making your deposits across online casinos!

You have probably noticed that you must attach a scan of an ID document. That’s because UPayCard s monitored and approved by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and complies with the KYC rules, so identification verification is mandatory. But it’s for your own good, too, as it adds another layer of protection to both your personal details and your money.

If you haven’t applied for your virtual prepaid card yet, follow the intuitive steps on its website to apply for one. Once your card is ready, you can use the same payment methods to fund it with money like the ones you used for the eWallet, plus wire transfer. As soon as you have both of them ready, you are ready to start depositing across online casinos.

Using ACH and UPayCard Across Online Casinos

Long story short, using ACH and UPayCard for deposits and withdrawals across online casinos would be a piece of cake. They are both extremely easy to use and involve no complicated procedures.

So, let’s start with ACH. To make a deposit with it, you would need to do the following:

1. Head over to the casino’s Banking/Cashier page and find ACH’s logo.
2. Click on its logo, and enter your bank account details.
3. Specify how much you wish to deposit and wait for ACH to ask for your confirmation before it deducts that amount from your online bank account.
4. As soon as you confirm the request, ACH will deduct the money.
5. In a matter of days, the money will arrive on your online casino balance.

Withdrawals are done pretty much the same way, but this time, the casino will need to approve the payment in order for ACH to process it. Bear in mind that the casino will need to check whether you have any wagering requirements left unmet before it confirms the transaction. But rest assured that your withdrawals with ACH would be the best, especially if you’ve won a jackpot prize since it will process the whole amount, and not divide it into segments! For instance, if you won $2 million, instead of getting it in smaller batches, you will get them all in just a few days, all at once! See now why it is US players' most favourite withdrawal method?

To make a deposit with UPayCard, you would first need to decide whether you’ll use the virtual card or the eWallet address. Then, do the following:

1. Go to the casino’s Banking/Cashier page and from the list of accepted methods choose UPayCard.
2. If depositing with the eWallet, enter your account with the required credentials, and specify how much you wish to fund your casino balance with.
3. If depositing with the prepaid card, enter the card information and then enter the amount you wish to deposit.
4. In both cases, just confirm the transaction and the money will land on your online casino balance in an instant.

If you wish to make a withdrawal with it, though, you would need to use the eWallet account, as you cannot cash out your winnings using the prepaid card. Go through the same steps as described for depositing, and you’ll request a withdrawal with your UPayCard eWallet.

Advantages and Disadvantages

One of the most obvious things about these two solutions is that one is available only on the US market and the other one is not available in the US at all. So, as a US player, you have your doubts resolved: use ACH, because UPayCard is not available in your country.

As a US player, consider using ACH because it is extremely safe, collaborating with leading banks in the country, and doing all the hard work for you, transferring money to the preferred location, wherever you want to. On the negative side, though, this transfer takes a while, up to five days, and that's something that bothers many players when it comes to deposits. But on the plus side, it is something that they're not bothered with when it comes to withdrawals since ACH can process any amount of money at once, not in batches. So, it is the perfect solution to use if you win a jackpot prize!

As a non-US player, meaning a player from any country other than the eight excluded countries, UPayCard is the method to use. It is accepted all across the world, and it can provide you with more benefits than you can count. It allows for transactions with both fiat and digital currencies, it is accepted across most leading online casinos, and deposits with it are instant. It basically has no flaws, since it has reduced its fees and only charges the very basic ones, to cover the basic costs.

Therefore, you have two different payment solutions, meant for different players to choose from. The decision is yours to make. Compare their pros and cons, and decide which one would suit you better. Whichever that is, you can rest assured that you’ll get a seamless online gambling time with it.