We all know that bookmakers are very quick to accept your cash but often, they have not always been as fast when giving it back. It has always felt rather unfair, and one-sided, that deposits were instantaneous but withdrawals could take days, or even weeks at some unscrupulous sites. Thankfully, the situation today is much better than it once was with punters, on average, now able to receive their winnings in much less time. Despite overall improvements, there are several factors that will impact the speed of any payout, so individual experiences can still differ significantly.
If you are a player who likes to have money in your account quickly, we would recommend staying on this page to find out the best way of getting a rapid pay out. Thanks to improved banking and technological advancements, you can now often have the cash back in your account virtually instantly and certainly well before the deposit moves from the pending area of your online statement to being a confirmed debit.
Factors That Impact Withdrawal Time
There are five main factors that influence withdrawal time so we will start by looking at these individually. All can play a major part in how quickly you get your cash; sometimes you can have your money in minutes but in extreme cases you might be waiting over a week and potentially even longer.
The Bookmaker
Part of how fast a customer receives their money is always down to the bookmaker and not solely the payment provider processing the funds. This is because the bookmaker must approve any withdrawal before the process begins. Now, a bookmaker can choose to have a more automatic system set-up but it may be that they process some, or all, requests manually.
Even if there is an automatic system, this will still typically flag certain withdrawals and stop them from happening without approval from a member of staff. So, no matter where you bet, the bookmaker will have a person, or team (depending on its size) responsible for approving payouts. How well staffed a bookie is in this area will heavily influence when your payment is approved. Some bookies state that payments are usually approved between 24-48 hours but many are much faster than this.
In the past, bookmakers would purposefully hold-off processing withdrawals in order to give customers the chance of cancelling the payment if they changed their mind. The process, know as reverse withdrawals, was permanently banned by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). It was felt, rightly in our view, that bookies used this facility to try to encourage punters to bet – and lose – their funds, rather than withdrawing them. This was done under the pretence of giving customers the better service of removing the need for multiple deposits, when, in fact, it was all too often a cynical ploy to prevent winners from pocketing their profits.
With the overdue change made by the UKGC, there is no longer any incentive for bookmakers to purposefully delay payments to their UK customers. Although this is no longer a factor, at least in the UK, some bookies simply happen to be slower than others due to less staffing or more inefficient processes.
Payment Method
Where possible, any withdrawal you wish to make will need to made to the same account that placed the deposit. So, if you deposited £100 using your Visa debit card and ended up winning £200, you could not ask for your winnings to be paid into your PayPal account. This is standard policy for UK bookmakers and something that helps keeps customers safe as it stops someone easily stealing your money if they manage to access your online betting account.
It is something we wanted to mention because it means the payment method you initially choose for a deposit will dictate how quickly you can receive your funds. This itself is due to the fact there are wide differences between how quickly payment methods can process transactions. The below table gives you a general guide of how long several popular payment methods take for processing, not including the bookies’ approval time.
| Payment Method | Processing Time |
|---|---|
| Debit Card | 2-5 banking days |
| Some Visa Debit/PrePaid Cards* | Instant |
| Bank Transfer | 2-5 banking days |
| PayPal | Under 24 hours |
| Neteller/Skrill | Under 24 hours |
| Rapid Transfer | Instant |
| Apple Pay | 2-5 banking days |
*Although this does not apply to all Visa cards, many are eligible for ‘Fast Funds’ meaning you can get paid in under 30 minutes at certain sites.
The gold standard as far as we are concerned comes via the Fast Funds facility. More and more bookies are offering this and we hope that it will rapidly move from being the gold standard to the industry standard. Most sites say that the withdrawal should be with you inside two hours, though some boldly claim just 30 minutes, whilst others are more conservative and say up to four hours. Thankfully, and impressively, in our experience such withdrawals have always been virtually instant. It really is a great feeling to land a big win and then have the funds sitting in your account that same evening, with no concerns about anything derailing your bet or payout.
Time of Withdrawal
Following on from the above, it is very possible that the timing of your withdrawal request can impact how long it will take to get your money. For instant payments it does not matter as these are typically processed automatically but if your selected method takes three working days on average, then a Friday request will not arrive until Wednesday as Saturday and Sunday are not working days. If you decide to take out the funds on Monday though, you would expect to be paid on Thursday.
You may also find that some smaller bookmakers only approve withdrawals between certain times, for example 9am and 5pm or not during the weekend. Even when using a faster payment method, missing these deadlines can mean waiting longer for your money than you need to.
Withdrawal Limits
Players betting inside the UK are not subject to withdrawal limits. The UKGC explicitly states that “there must be no restrictions on the maximum amount of money a player can withdraw at any time”. In addition, they add that players cannot be charged for withdrawing their full balance so should you record a big win, there should be no obstacles stopping you receiving the full funds.
Players gambling outside the UK may find though that they cannot access a big win so easily. We have come across many sites that impose daily, weekly and monthly withdrawal limits. A fairly standard example is €4,000 a day, €10,000 a week or €40,000 a month for a standard player. The bookie may choose to increase these limits for VIP customers but if not, you could find you have to make several withdrawals before receiving all your funds. Other online bookmakers simply state that withdrawals over a specified amount will be paid out in instalments.
Identity Verification
Thanks to the UKGC, the problem of verification documents blocking a withdrawal is much less of an issue for UK players than it is elsewhere. In other parts of the world, you may find that you can place bets, win money but you are stopped from cashing out until you have supplied verification documents. If you do not happen to have these, or cannot provide them, then you will lack any way of accessing your funds and your account will most likely end up blocked.
As with the concept of being able to reverse withdrawals, this did nothing to help the player but did mean that those with funds in their account were more likely to use them to bet, rather than wait to complete verfication. Bookies used to paint this as them being careful about ID checks and security but surely such checks would be better taking place beforea deposit, no after.
Thankfully it is now the case that bookmakers operating in the UK though have to verify the name, address and date of birth of every customer when they register. Usually this can be sorted automatically but if not, you will be asked to provide proof of your identity before you start betting, as seems reasonable. In the vast majority of cases, this removes the demand for any verification checks once a withdrawal is made.
Now, it is possible for a minority of players that a bookmaker may require some additional information from them. Should this happen, bookmakers should act quickly, rather than just waiting to see if the customer ever ends up making a withdrawal. Guidance from the UKGC states “a request made by a player to withdraw funds from their account must not result in a requirement for additional information to be provided if the operator could reasonably have expected to have requested this earlier.”
Is There Anything That Will Stop Me Receiving My Money?
In most cases no, but bookmakers do have the right to put a payment on hold if they have detected some unusual activity such as a large increase in the quantity or value of bets. Similarly, funds can be withheld if there are any genuine suspicions that the funds are being used for illegal activity such as fraud or money laundering. Outside of this though and there should be nothing that stops you receiving the money you have requested in a timely fashion with little or no hassle.
Are Cash Withdrawals Possible?
So far, all our focus has been on online bookmakers and online transactions. If you prefer to bet at a physical betting shop, you will simply be paid out in cash when you return to the store with your betslip. It is possible, however, with a small number of online bookies, to be paid out in cash for bets you have placed online. For this to happen, it needs to be a bookie with a high street presence, otherwise they have no means of giving you the cash.
For the select bookies that support this feature, what usually happens is that you will be handed a card that is linked to your personal account. You can make withdrawals and deposits using this card and any transactions will be reflected whenever you log in to your account online. Effectively, it ends up acting like a debit card, only no banks are involved at any stage. If using the card, you can collect any winnings in store, as soon as a bet has settled.
If attempting to claim a particularly large win, be aware that limits can apply for these cards, for example £2,000 a day. Additionally, you may find yourself limited by the actual amount of cash present in the store, especially if your local branch has suffered a punishing day. That said, for some punters who like the feel of real, paper cash in their hand, and have a betting shop nearby, this facility does allow for the raid withdrawal of funds.