Maestro Casinos
Maestro is a payment method that should be second nature to most online bettors. The payment option is regarded as the most used debit card globally and found at most major banks. Almost all major ATMs and retailers accept it; it is the primary option for PoS in many countries, and, of course, Maestro is accepted by many online casino sites. However, the future may not be so bright for Maestro. In fact, it could be on its way out. Starting in July 2023, Maestro will be phased out by its owner (MasterCard) in favour of MasterCard Debit. However, until then, there is plenty of life left in the world’s most popular debit card.
Maestro is a handy banking option to use at online casinos. Because it doesn’t allow credit (it is a debit card), bettors can’t wager money they don’t have. They can’t fund or top-up their online casino account unnecessarily with sizeable deposit totals. This allows them to keep tighter control over their payments to casino accounts.
Obtaining a Maestro isn’t remotely challenging. If you have an account with a bank (and who doesn’t?), you will most likely already have a Maestro or another debit card. Maestro is typically offered when the credit card option at a bank is MasterCard (as opposed to VISA). If you’ve already got a Maestro card, you’re good to go. If not, check with your bank about the prospect of obtaining one.
Now let’s dive deeper into Maestro. We should look at its history, its purpose and why it works well in the online casino industry. Let’s begin by taking a trip down memory lane.
What is Maestro?
Maestro is one of the newest cards to appear in the West. It didn’t make its debut until 1991 when MasterCard launched Maestro as a debit card rival to VISA’s Electron option. Originally launched in the USA, the main purpose was to permit cash users to gradually make the switch to paying with card. Of course, the principal difference between MasterCard and Maestro is that cardholders were required to have the necessary funds on their card to purchase goods before doing so.
Maestro cards are debit cards, and they are attached to your bank account. This may be a savings account, current account, or other account options. There are cases where you can obtain a Maestro without having a bank account, though. These are known as prepaid cards and are offered by other financial institutions, such as e-wallets.
MasterCard is represented by the red and orange Venn diagram symbol. Naturally, Maestro features the same Venn diagram, albeit with a red circle on the left and a blue one on the right. Of course, this easily helps identify the two brands as being from the same parent company. While everybody knows that MasterCard is the parent company of Maestro, there is another player in the game that you may not be familiar with. The dark and light blue Venn diagram logo represents Cirrhus, which offers immediate deposit account access at ATMs across the world. However, this option isn’t so prevalent in the online casino world, where MasterCard and Maestro tend to reign supreme.
Brazil replaced Maestro with Redeshop; China has already adopted the MasterCard Debit option, as has Austria. Israel, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, and Romania don’t accept Maestro. While Ireland the UK tend to prefer Laser and Switch, respectively.
Over the years, VISA has gradually been replacing its Electron card with VISA Debit. Now, MasterCard is set to follow suit. As of July 2023, MasterCard will gradually prohibit the issuing of new Maestro cards, instead telling banks and card issuers to replace them with MasterCard Debit – a debit card that has started to spring up with regularity over the last decade.
How to Make a Deposit at Maestro Casinos
The Maestro casino deposit method is one of the simplest you can use to fund your casino account. In reality, you will likely already know how to do this. Making a casino deposit with MasterCard is basically the same process you would use to purchase goods at Amazon or another major online retailer.
Maestro is a widely accepted payment method to deposit with at casinos. You will normally need to use this option for both deposits and withdrawals. Players who wish to use this fund their account can select it from the options available and must then enter their card details when prompted. After confirming the deposit, casino players should see their funds land in their casino account within a few minutes at most. Ordinarily, there are no fees for depositing with Maestro at casinos.
You may come across deposit limits when funding your casino account. Most online casinos will typically have deposit limits that stretch from €10/€20 up to €5,000. Note that if you are sending money internationally with bank transfers using Maestro, you may encounter the odd fee for such payment. However, most top online casinos (the type we represent here) won’t hit you with any deposit fees themselves. To avoid this eventuality, we do recommend that you choose to play at our sites.
Once you’ve made the decision to sign up and deposit with Maestro at an online casino, there are certain steps you must take before you can deposit. We’ve detailed them for you below. Here’s what you need to know:
- Get Yourself a Maestro: Before you can use Maestro to deposit at an online casino, you’re going to need to obtain one. Get yours from your local bank as a debit card. Alternatively, if your bank doesn’t offer Maestro, then you can always obtain the card as a prepaid card option via an e-wallet or other financial institution.
- Find the Ideal Casino: Now, you need to find the ideal casino to play at. We strongly recommend that you check our list of approved Maestro online casinos here. Each has been checked and certified by our team for fair play. Moreover, they are guaranteed to accept Maestro for both deposits and withdrawals.
- Check Those Limits: After finding somewhere to play, we would encourage you to check the deposit limits associated with the payment method. Maestro payments should be processed with deposits worth as little as €10 up to €30. At the upper end of the scale, you should be able to deposit at least a grand with the method, while some online casinos let you fund your account by up to €5,000 a pop.
- Choose Maestro: Once you know what limits you are looking at, you can head over to the payment methods page and select Maestro as the option you wish to use. Now you can enter the amount you wish to deposit into your casino account.
- Make Your Deposit: Next up, you need to use your card to pay. To do this, enter your card details (or account details) into the boxes provided on the payment page. You can then confirm the transaction to use the card and process your payment.
- Claim Your Bonus: After the payment has been made, your funds should arrive in your online casino account within minutes. Next up, you can go about claiming your welcome bonus. Use this to boost your balance to play your favourite games at the online casino as a new player.
Maestro Deposit Fees
Ordinarily, you shouldn’t encounter any deposit fees when funding your online casino account. However, there may be occasions when Maestro or your bank may do so. In most cases, this will only be for processing international payments or transactions using a currency not accepted by the online casino. Apart from that, you shouldn’t expect fees of anything kind. However, that doesn’t mean that you won’t find withdrawal fees at online casinos. With that in mind, let’s look at withdrawing with a Maestro card next.
Withdrawing with Maestro
Making a withdrawal at online casinos using Maestro isn’t really very difficult, either. Again, you will be required to enter your card (bank account) details into the box provided. If you’re lucky, your casino will already have your card details on file (but securely and privately), and you won’t have to do anything more than click on Maestro and confirm your withdrawal.
Withdrawals made from online casino accounts when using Maestro will typically need to be worth more than, say, e-wallets or cryptocurrencies. We’re looking along the same sort of lines as VISA or MasterCard credit card withdrawals. Ultimately, we’d be surprised if you could withdraw less than €20 a pop. Withdrawal limits always tend to vary from online casino to casino, but we’d expect to be able to withdraw at least a few grand. Naturally, we prefer Maestro online casinos that don’t feature withdrawal limits, and you can find some of those with our recommended casinos.
Any withdrawals made when you use MasterCard aren’t going to be quick. In fact, players who withdraw and make use of MasterCard are looking at average transaction times of 2-3 business days. Sometimes, you may come across the odd site that can process your payment in under 24 hours, and there are some that take five or more working days to clear your payment. These aren’t common, though. Stick to the 2-3 business day rule for the payment method, and you’re likely looking at a fair timeframe.
Ordinarily, you shouldn’t expect any sort of transaction fees from safe and reputable Maestro online casino sites. However, players may note that this won’t always be the case. Some casinos do charge player accounts a percentage-based fee (2.5% up to 5%) or a fixed rate (€20 up to €50 or so) per transaction. This is especially true when international transfers and currency conversions are involved. The best to check out these potential fees when gambling online is to look at the payment options on the cashier page under your account settings.
Let us now look at how you can withdraw your winnings from your gambling site.
- Clear Wagering Requirements: If you have claimed a bonus and played gambling games with it, you will need to clear any outstanding casino wagering requirements before your withdrawals can be processed.
- Check Those Limits: Like on the deposits page, the withdrawals page will showcase the limits you have to fall within. Your withdrawal must be worth level with or over the minimum limit and below or on par with the maximum one. If it is, then proceed to the next step.
- Clear the KYC Step: Most online casinos want you to verify your identity before they will permit you to withdraw. With that in mind, be sure to clear the KYC step. This is done by handing over documentation to customer support at the casino. This most likely means a form of identity, proof of residence and proof of payment. This can take up to 24 hours but only must be done once before you withdraw for the first time from a gambling site.
- Choose Maestro: If you’ve made it this far, head over to the payments page and select Maestro as your chosen option. Enter the full amount you wish to withdraw from the gambling site.
- Enter Your Details: To use Maestro as your payment method, enter your card details into the box provided. Again, your online casino may already have solved this issue for you. If not, do it yourself.
- Wait for Your Winnings: After processing the payment request, it is just a matter of waiting for the withdrawal to arrive in your account. The transaction time involved here can vary from casino to casino.
Note that many top online casinos, including Maestro casinos, want you to use the same payment method for both deposits and withdrawals. If this isn’t possible at your gambling site (which is rare when using Maestro), you may be required to use banks transfers for one or the other. These can come with added fees, so check them out first.
Maestro’s Withdrawal Speed
Ordinarily, online casinos can typically process Maestro payments (withdrawals) within 2-3 business days. Some may get the job done in under 24 hours, but you certainly shouldn’t bank on this happening. Players may end up waiting 5-8 business days to withdraw their winnings from Maestro casinos, but this is rare with reputable sites.
Maestro’s Pros as a Casino Payment Method
Every casino payment method has its pros and cons, and Maestro is not different. Here are some of the perks of using your card to deposit (and withdraw) at your casino account:
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Safer than a credit card: It is safer to deposit with Maestro at an online casino that use a credit card. The main reason for this is that your Maestro card will only have a limited set of funds attached to it. Credit cards have far more, and if your card details are stolen, the impact will be felt less using debit cards.
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Decent Limits: Using a debit card to deposit at casinos will typically see you able to fund your account (or withdraw from it) with high limits. This is handy if you fancy yourself as something of a high roller player of casino games. E-wallets seldom have the same caps and limits on deposits and withdrawals.
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Widely Accepted and Convenient: Maestro is a widely accepted and thus convenient option for you to use at casino sites. There is a reasonably good chance that you already own a Maestro. Therefore, it shouldn’t take a lot of effort for you to use this payment option. Moreover, Maestro is used in over 90 countries and thousands of online casinos.
Maestro Deposit/Withdrawal Drawbacks
Not everything about Maestro is rosy. There are drawbacks with every casino payment method, and that is true when you use Maestro to play games. Here are the cons you need to be aware of when betting with Maestro:
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Slow Transaction Times: Maestro is not the fastest payment method that you can choose to use to bet at online casinos. In fact, the payment method is one of the slowest around. It can take between two and five business days for a transaction to clear, and that’s after any pending periods and KYC delays.
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May See Fees Applied: You may stumble across fees that are applied to Maestro transactions at casinos. It is not common to see debit card fees applied, but some sites (even decent ones) may charge you a fixed rate or a percentage-based withdrawal fee. This seldom happens with e-wallets.
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Not All Casinos Accept It: Not every online casino accepts Maestro. Most top sites most certainly do. However, there are always going to be a handful of betting sites that aren’t going to be interested in accepting Maestro. Ordinarily, if a casino accepts MasterCard, it will also allow you to deposit into your account using Maestro.
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KYC Verification Is a Must: Because you are using a bank card (or a prepaid Maestro), you will need to go through the casino’s KYC process before you withdraw. This is not troublesome but can be inconvenient for some. However, it is a safety procedure, so it isn’t supposed to be too easy.
It is also worth mentioning that as of the summer of 2023, Maestro’s days are set to be numbered. MasterCard is set to replace Maestro with MasterCard Debit. This card will work in the same way as Maestro, and while your Maestro cards may work for the next few years after that (if they were recently issued), eventually, the swap over to MasterCard Debit will occur.
Maestro Casino Bonuses
Unlike Skrill, Neteller, PayPal and a good number of e-wallet options, Maestro payments are usually valid for casino bonuses. Gambling sites like to offer deposit and free spin bonuses to their players, and by making a payment with Maestro, you’re putting yourself in good stead to receive such a bonus.
It is not uncommon to see Maestro players deposit and claim a first deposit welcome bonus, or indeed a welcome package shortly after joining a casino. Moreover, additional daily, weekly, or monthly bonuses could be up for grabs when you fund your account.
It is not that common to see Maestro applied to what are known as preferred payment method bonuses, but it is not totally out of the question. There are bonuses that allow players to claim a slight slice on top of their conventional bonus when they use their Maestro at casinos.
Irrespective of the bonus you decide to claim, there are things you need to pay attention to when it comes to gambling bonuses and promotions. Firstly, never expect bonuses and promos to come without wagering requirements and remember that you’ll need to clear those before you can withdraw. Secondly, be prepared that some games may not be valid with casino bonuses. You may also be limited to using bonuses with selected stakes involved. You can’t necessarily blow a whole bonus on just a few spins. Always check the terms and conditions of any bonus you intend on claiming before you do so to ensure that you aren’t going to be short-changed or surprised later.
Maestro Online Casino Games
Maestro casinos are home to all manner of online gambling games for players to try. As most casinos accept Maestro, you should typically expect to see every major type of game offered. These stretch from slots to sports betting, bingo to poker and much more besides.
As Maestro facilitates sizeable deposits and payments, you can use this option to wager on high roller games, low roller titles, or anything in-between. Choose to play at our casinos, and you’ll get to play at sites that offer thousands of games from two dozen developers. Here’s a brief look at what you can expect to see in these top domains:
- Online Slots: At our recommended Maestro betting sites, you can choose from gambling games that include fruit machines and classic slots, progressive jackpot slots, video slots, themed games, MegaWays games, Cluster Pays titles and much more besides.
- Table Games: Opt to play RNG (random number generator) versions of baccarat, blackjack, craps, dice games, roulette, table poker and more with our top casinos’ selection of CG-based casino table games.
- Live Dealer Games: If you prefer realism, our array of live dealer games will fit the bill. Here, you can interact with real-to-life human dealers who take control of the action while also competing against other players (in some games) and enjoying gameplay live over an internet video stream.
- Video Poker: If you prefer something simpler, then video poker games should fit the bill. These releases are aimed at players with virtually no experience of gambling and solely require you to form a winning hand to win.
- Instant Win Games: Anything that cannot be easily classified could end up in the instant win games section. These include dice, scratch card, keno, video bingo, fixed odds, and virtual sports games.
- Sports Betting: Many top Maestro casinos are also established sportsbooks, packing hundreds, if not thousands of selections with competitive odds across dozens of markets.
- Lottery/Bingo Games: Lastly, Maestro is a payment method that can be used to play lottery and bingo games aplenty. These dedicated sites are popular amongst UK based players.
Most of the games you can find at our recommended Maestro casinos can also be played for free as well as with real money stakes. Some are cryptocurrency-friendly, while most are optimised for mobile casino action on popular iOS and Android-powered devices.
Why Choose an Online Casino Offering Maestro?
As we’ve discussed above, there are many reasons why you might fancy trying your hand at games at a Maestro casino. The payment method can be used to deposit into a fund your account at thousands of sites and be used for withdrawals to boot. Maestro card is a user-friendly option for players who want to engage in gambling and want an option that is easy to use and that they may already have.
All that remains is for you to find the perfect Maestro betting site. Fortunately, we know a few casinos that will fit the bill. Don’t hesitate to head over to our recommended casinos page to find the best, most trusted and most secure Maestro gambling sites for players such as yourself.
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