E-Wallets for iGaming: Skrill and Neteller Explained

Ask a long-time online poker player how they move money and the answer is often one word: Skrill. Or Neteller. E-wallets for iGaming are the payment method that grew up alongside the industry, and for a large slice of players they are still the default.

An e-wallet sits between the player's bank or card and the operator. The player tops it up once, then funds a dozen sites from the same balance without handing card details to any of them. For deposits that works well. For withdrawals it works better - e-wallets are usually the fastest way to get money off a gambling site.

This guide covers what e-wallets are, why Skrill and Neteller dominate iGaming, what they cost, and where they now sit against open banking and cards. Facts verified as of August 2026.

What is an e-wallet in iGaming?

An e-wallet is a digital account that holds a stored balance and moves it between the player, their funding source and the operator. In iGaming it acts as a buffer: the player loads it from a card or bank, then deposits and withdraws in seconds without re-entering payment details.

Term: e-wallet. Definition: A regulated electronic money account that stores a prepaid balance and lets the holder send and receive payments online without exposing their underlying card or bank details.

The two names that matter in gambling are Skrill and Neteller, both owned by the Paysafe Group. Others exist - PayPal in a handful of licensed markets, ecoPayz's successor Payz, MuchBetter aimed squarely at gambling - but Skrill and Neteller carry the bulk of the volume, especially in poker, casino and cross-border sportsbook.

Why do Skrill and Neteller dominate iGaming?

Because they were among the few payment companies willing to serve gambling from the start, and the industry built its habits around them. Neteller processed poker money in the early 2000s when banks and card schemes were wary of the sector, and that head start turned into a network effect that never really faded.

Three things keep them entrenched. First, coverage: a player can fund one wallet and use it across almost every operator, which no single bank method matches. Second, speed on the way out - a withdrawal to an e-wallet often lands the same day, against several days for a bank transfer. Third, distance from the player's bank statement, which some players value for privacy and others for avoiding a bank's gambling block.

That last point cuts both ways. The same buffer that shields a deposit from a bank's gambling MCC filter is exactly what makes regulators uneasy, because it can weaken the affordability and source-of-funds checks an operator is meant to run. More on that below.

How do Skrill and Neteller work for deposits and withdrawals?

The player loads the wallet from a card, bank transfer or local method, then pushes funds to the operator instantly. Because the balance is prepaid, the deposit is a push payment - the money is already there, so it clears at once and cannot be charged back like a card.

For the operator that push model is the quiet advantage. A card deposit can be reversed weeks later through a chargeback; an e-wallet deposit cannot be pulled back by the player through the card networks, because no card sat directly between the wallet and the operator. Friendly fraud that plagues card deposits is much rarer here.

Withdrawals run the same rail in reverse. The operator sends the payout to the player's wallet, usually within hours once the account passes checks, and the player then moves it to their bank or spends it. Speed on payouts is the single biggest reason players keep an e-wallet - as covered in our guide to iGaming withdrawal processing, the first payout a player makes shapes whether they come back.

What do Skrill and Neteller cost?

Costs land in three places: the player's deposits, the player's currency conversions, and the operator's processing agreement. The headline retail figures are published, but the fee that quietly hurts is currency conversion.

On the player side, Skrill and Neteller apply an upload fee on many funding methods - commonly up to 2.5% depending on region and method - and a currency conversion fee of 3.99% over the wholesale rate whenever a payment crosses currencies, per Skrill's published fees and Neteller's fee schedule. A player depositing in euros to a site that settles in dollars can pay that spread twice - once in, once out - without ever seeing a line item that names it.

On the operator side, the pricing is a commercial merchant agreement, not the retail rate card, and it varies with volume, region and risk. E-wallet acceptance typically costs more than a bank rail like open banking but buys reach into player segments that will not use anything else. Whether that trade is worth it depends on your player base, which you can model against other methods with our payment cost calculator.

Skrill vs Neteller: what's the difference?

Very little, by design. Both are Paysafe products on shared infrastructure, and Paysafe has been aligning their pricing - Skrill's bank-withdrawal fee was brought into line with Neteller's during 2025. The differences are at the edges, not the core.

Skrill tends to be marginally cheaper for European players because some local upload methods and SEPA deposits carry lower fees, while Neteller has historically leaned harder into poker and crypto-adjacent audiences. Both run a VIP tier that cuts fees and lifts limits for high-volume users, and both issue a prepaid Mastercard for spending the balance offline.

My honest read: for most operators the choice is not Skrill versus Neteller, it is whether to offer one, both, or neither. Offering both adds little cost and captures brand loyalty that runs surprisingly deep among players who have used the same wallet for fifteen years.

Are e-wallet deposits excluded from bonuses?

Often, yes. A large share of operators exclude Skrill and Neteller deposits from welcome bonuses and promotions, and the exclusion is written into the terms rather than hidden.

The reason is bonus abuse economics. E-wallets make it cheap and fast to open, fund and cycle money across many accounts, which is precisely the behaviour bonus hunters exploit. Excluding them is a blunt defence, and it frustrates legitimate players, but it persists because the alternative is tighter per-account controls that cost more to build. Where a judgement call is being made, that is one - and it is the operator's, not the wallet's.

Are Skrill and Neteller regulated?

Yes. Both operate as authorised electronic money institutions, not as unregulated apps. In the UK, Skrill Limited and Paysafe Financial Services Limited (which trades as Neteller, FCA reference number 900015) are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011.

For players in the European Economic Area, the services run through Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited, authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland as an electronic money institution. You can confirm any of this yourself on the FCA Financial Services Register and in Paysafe's regulatory disclosures.

Being e-money regulated matters for one thing above all: safeguarding. Customer funds sit in segregated accounts, separate from the firm's own money, so a player's balance is protected if the provider fails. That is a different promise from bank deposit insurance, and worth understanding - the term is defined in our payments glossary.

Where do e-wallets fit against open banking and cards?

E-wallets win on player loyalty and payout speed; they lose on cost and on the regulatory scrutiny that a buffer between player and bank now attracts. In several markets the newer bank rails are eating into their deposit share.

In the UK, credit card gambling has been banned since April 2020 under the Gambling Commission's rules, and funding an e-wallet with a credit card to then gamble is caught by the same principle. Open banking, meanwhile, moves money straight from the player's bank at high approval rates and low cost, with the affordability signals regulators want built in. It does not carry the same brand loyalty, but for a UK-facing casino it is often the cheaper deposit.

The pragmatic position is not either/or. E-wallets stay in the mix for the players who insist on them and for fast payouts; open banking and locally acquired cards carry the volume where cost and compliance matter most. The right blend is a market-by-market question, and the iGamingPayments.ai directory lists providers by region and method so you can see which wallets and rails a given market actually supports.

Frequently asked questions

Are Skrill and Neteller the same company?

Effectively, yes. Both are brands of the Paysafe Group and run on shared infrastructure, which is why their fees and features have converged over time. They keep separate brands because player loyalty attaches to the name, but the accounts, safeguarding and regulation sit under the same parent.

Why do casinos exclude e-wallet deposits from bonuses?

Because e-wallets make bonus abuse cheap and fast - it is easy to open, fund and cycle money across many accounts. Excluding Skrill and Neteller from promotions is a blunt way to cut that risk. It penalises legitimate players too, which is why some operators are moving to per-account controls instead.

Can I fund a gambling e-wallet with a credit card?

In Great Britain, no - credit card gambling has been banned since April 2020, and topping up a wallet with a credit card to then gamble is caught by the same rule. In markets where credit card gambling is still allowed, you often can, but the card issuer may treat it as a cash advance with a fee and interest from day one.

Is my money safe in an e-wallet?

Skrill and Neteller are authorised electronic money institutions, so customer funds are held in segregated safeguarding accounts separate from the firm's own money. That protects your balance if the provider fails, but it is not the same as bank deposit insurance - it is safeguarding, a different mechanism.

What happens if I withdraw to a different method than I deposited with?

Most operators enforce a closed-loop rule: they return winnings to the method you deposited with, up to the deposited amount, for anti-money-laundering reasons. So an e-wallet deposit usually means an e-wallet withdrawal, at least for the first tranche. Anything above the deposit may route to a bank transfer depending on the operator's policy.

Are e-wallets cheaper than open banking for operators?

Usually not. Open banking moves money directly from the player's bank at low cost and high approval rates, while e-wallet acceptance is priced for a higher-risk, higher-service rail. E-wallets earn their place through player loyalty and payout speed, not price - which is why many operators offer both.

Do e-wallet deposits count towards affordability checks?

They can complicate them. Because the wallet sits between the player and their bank, it can obscure the true source of funds, which is one reason regulators scrutinise e-wallet flows. A responsible operator still runs source-of-funds and affordability checks regardless of the deposit method used.

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