Interac vs. ACH

To be able to play across online casinos without worrying about the safety of your money, you have to use a decent, secure and reliable payment method for deposits and withdrawals. Plenty of such methods exist today, all offering different perks and downsides for different groups of players.

While the benefits may prevail, some methods come with fees, other with amount limits, and some are restricted to players from certain countries. To find the right one to suit you, would depend on your preferences as an online casino player, your budget and your country of origin. There are two payment methods available for different groups of players, which can deliver quite a pleasant online gambling experience, as they are low on fees, fast and easy to use. These are Interac and ACH. What makes Interac and ACH good payment solutions to use across online casinos?

Interac vs. ACH – Introduction

Interac and ACH are similar payment methods, really, although each is available to a different group of players. They are both safe solutions to use across online casinos and allow for cost-effective transactions. However, one is way more popular across online casinos than the other. 

Interac…

…is the popular banking method, offered across the world’s top international casino sites. It is a method that originates from Canada, established back in 1984. As such, it is the number one payment method across Canadian online casinos or casinos targeting players from Canada. Essentially, it is a national payment network and debit card system collaborating with over 200 major banks in the country, and operated by two non-profit organizations. Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation are comprised of payment companies, credit unions, trust companies, financial institutions and other related banking institutions. And as such, they allowed Interac to be virtually available to any Canadian citizen.

It was established…

…with the aim to provide Canadian citizens with fast, cost-effective and easy transactions, both offline and online. On that note, you’ll see three services provided by it: Interac Online, Interac eTransfer and the point-of-sale terminal solutions Interac Cash, Debit and Flash. Across online casinos, though, you’ll find Interac Online and Interac eTransfer. While the first one offers direct money transfer from Canadian banks, the second one uses online or mobile banking services to transfer the money from one bank account to another, via the email address or mobile phone number of the person sending or receiving the money.

Protected with…

…the latest SSL encryptions and fraud prevention systems, as well as the authentication factor, and in addition to the multiple supported platforms, Interac stands shoulder to shoulder with conventional payment solutions in terms of popularity across the country, providing users with effective, fast and safe transactions, for a fee that can go from $1.50 to not more than $4. This fee is introduced to cover the basic costs of the transactions and nothing more, considering the solution is operated by non-profit organizations.

ACH, on the other hand…

…is available only in the US. Its acronym stands from Automated Clearing House, so it should come as no surprise to learn that it is a payment processing system across the US which processes money when requested for and confirmed. Similarly to Interac, it comes with no or insignificant fees which makes it a very appealing solution to use across online casinos by US players. And that’s actually one of the primary reasons why these players choose to use it.

Due to the fact…

…that it takes a while for the money to be processed, however, ACH never gained the popularity across the US as much as Interac did in Canada, becoming one of the best possible payment solutions available for Canadians. It takes 3 to 5 days for any transaction to be processed, and this is something players are discouraged by. Nevertheless, considering it works on a simple principle, it is still a solution used by many US players.

The thing is…

…what ACH does is it moves that money from one bank account to another only after a sender sends a request for the transfer and the recipient confirms it. ACH automatically deducts the specified money amount from the sender's account after receiving the recipient's confirmation and sends it via a secure pathway.

Getting Started with Interac and ACH

As you could see, in terms of how they transfer money, Interac and ACH are quite similar. But, the process of getting started with them is rather different.

With Interac…

…you don’t need any prior registration or arrangement with your bank. All you need is an active bank account with one of the many Canadian banks that collaborate with it. You have over 200 banks to open an account with to use it. Provided you have an account, the next step would be deciding whether you’d like to transfer the money via your online or mobile banking platform. Then, request the transaction. Via an email or a text message, you will receive instructions, passwords and security questions and answers to complete the transaction.

As mentioned…

…any transaction you make would be subject to a fee that would only cover the basic costs of the transfer involved. There’s a flat $1.50 per transaction fee when you’re using this solution to transact online. The only time this fee is higher, of $4.00, is when you’re withdrawing money with it and your bank is not a participating institution in its network of banks.

Speaking of transactions, you should know that unless you make a deal with your bank, transactions with Interac are irreversible. There’s an option to reverse the transaction only if you present your case to the bank and the bank approves it.

Now, with ACH…

…no online banking or mobile banking platforms are needed. All you really need is an active bank account with a US bank. What you’ll need to do is put on a request to make a transaction via ACH, and with no or low costs, the money will be deducted from your account. Of course, first, ACH will ask for your permission. You would need to identify yourself and with that, you would approve the transaction. As soon as you confirm it, you will see the money get deducted from your account and transferred to the desired destination, or in this case, the US online casino.

Making Deposits and Withdrawals

Judging by the simplicity of how they function and how you can get started with each of them, it should not be hard to assume that making deposits and withdrawals with Interac and ACH would be fairly easy.

Deposits with Interac…

…are pretty intuitive. You just need to make a transfer request and wait for your text message or your email with instructions. Therefore, you'll need to log in to your chosen online casino and visit its Cashier/Deposit/Banking page. Once in there, click or tap on Interac’s icon. This is when a new window will open where you’ll need to log in to your mobile or online banking account.

The next step…

…would be entering the amount of funds you would wish to fund your online casino account with. Then, you’ll need to enter the security question you received on your email or via a text message. The casino, which is the recipient of the funds, would then need to submit the security answer. Once the correct answer has been submitted, Interac deducts the funds from your mobile or online bank account and transfers it to the casino. Thanks to the security question and answer required, this payment solution is bulletproof-safe one to use. No one but you and the recipient could even interfere with the transaction and you can rest assured that your money would be safe.

For withdrawals…

…Interac eTransfer is one of the Canadian players' first choice. That's because withdrawals with it are near-instant, and as soon as the casino approves the transaction, the money is transferred almost immediately. That is, if your bank is a participating one, and if not, it should arrive in 4 to 6 business days. Now, the process of withdrawing is just the same as with deposits. You would need to log in to your mobile or online banking account, and wait to receive the instructions. With the correct security questions and answers, the money you requested to withdraw from your online casino account would be transferred to you immediately, for the basic expanse of $1.50.

The process of depositing with ACH…

…was basically already explained, although it would cost nothing to summarize it again. You would have to log in to your online casino account and go to its Cashier section. Look for ACH's logo and click or tap on it. When the new window opens, you would just need to specify bank account and enter the amount of money you'd wish to deposit at your online casino account. As soon as you identify yourself and confirm your transaction, ACH will deduct the money from your specified bank account. 

However…

…keep in mind here that, contrary to Interac, ACH will not process the money instantly, but in a few days. As explained, this is the main reason why players interested in transacting with it are often discouraged, because they would need to wait for a couple of days before they can actually play their favourite online casino games. Add to that the fact that so many other alternative payment methods exist that offer instant deposits, and you’ll see why ACH is not players’ preferred deposit method.

Believe it or not…

…though, ACH is a vastly-used solution when it comes to withdrawals. Considering most withdrawal methods take up to a week to process cash outs, it does not bother players to wait a couple of days before they’re able to see their winnings on their bank account. It seems like they are not as impatient with withdrawals as they are with deposits.

ACH is used for withdrawals…

…especially when it comes to cashing out massive sums of money, won by players who have hit a jackpot prize. These players usually have to wait for months to receive million or multimillion prizes won on progressive jackpot slots. They receive batches of money fitted to the monthly withdrawal amount limits. But, not with ACH.

With ACH, players can withdraw the whole sum they won, since it comes with no withdrawal limits. Add to that the fact that it securely moves money from one bank account to another, and you’ll see why it is a method chosen for withdrawals by many. Needless to say, the withdrawing process is the same as the deposit process, so all you have to do is request the withdrawal, wait for the casino to approve it and in a couple of days, you’ll have the money on your bank account.

Advantages and Disadvantaged of Interac and ACH

One of the most important shared advantages…

…you get with both Interac and ACH is that they are both available as deposit AND withdrawal methods. They are also both safe, moving money from one account to another via secure pathways, and they are both cost-effective, charging insignificant transaction fees.

Also, they are both pretty straightforward to start with and use, and no account registration is needed to start using either, only an active bank account.

On the other hand…

…they are both very restrictive when it comes to country eligibility. One is only available for Canadians, the other for US players.

Interac comes with the additional disadvantage of irreversible transactions. You would have to go to your bank and specifically request to reverse the transaction, but even then, you cannot be 100% sure the bank would approve it, you can only hope.

ACH has a major downside, as well, and that is the processing time which can take 3 to 5 business days for both deposits and withdrawals. While players can accept that time frame for withdrawals, they cannot for deposits.

Nevertheless…

…they are still both excellent solutions to move money to and from online casinos for their respective groups of players. If you’re a Canadian or a US player, make sure you consider them as your potential payment options.