How payment exclusions work

How payment exclusions work in brief

A payment exclusion is a line in a bonus's terms that says deposits made with particular methods won't qualify. The method itself isn't banned: the casino still takes the deposit, it lands in your cash balance, and you can play with it or withdraw it. What you lose is the reward the deposit was meant to trigger, whether that's free spins or a deposit match.

Exclusions usually target e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill and Neteller, and prepaid methods such as paysafecard and prepaid cards. Debit cards are excluded far less often. This guide explains the mechanics behind that, and sits within our casino bonus guides. If you're about to deposit and want a quick decision, our guide to choosing a payment method for a bonus is the practical companion to this one.

Where payment exclusions sit in bonus terms

Exclusions normally appear in the offer's significant terms, the short summary shown with the headline offer, and again in the full terms. The wording comes in a few common forms, and each one works slightly differently.

Our guide to reading a significant terms box shows where these lines usually appear on a promotion page and what else to look for alongside them.

Payment exclusions in our partner offers

Here is what each partner's welcome offer says about payment methods, as last checked on 5 October 2026. All five offers are for 18+ new customers and terms apply.

Moneybookers is the old name for Skrill, which is why it still appears in some lists. Coral and Ladbrokes are run by the same company, LC International Limited, so their lists are very similar. The payment pages for Coral, Ladbrokes and 10bet go method by method.

How payment exclusions work from deposit to reward

Behind the scenes, the casino's systems record which method funded each deposit. When you meet an offer's conditions, the promotion engine looks back at the qualifying deposit and checks it against the offer's rules. In outline, the sequence runs like this:

1. You opt in to the offer, so the account is flagged as taking part.
2. You deposit, and the cashier records the payment method alongside the amount.
3. If the offer needs a qualifying bet, such as £10 on slots, you place it.
4. The promotion checks that the deposit met the minimum, came after the opt-in and didn't use an excluded method.
5. If every check passes, the spins or bonus funds are credited; if the method check fails, nothing is added and your cash balance is unaffected.

That's why the method only matters for the deposit the offer looks at. Using PayPal for a later, unrelated deposit doesn't take away a bonus you've already received through a qualifying one. It also explains why exclusions can feel sudden: the deposit goes through without any warning, and you only find out when the reward doesn't appear. If that has happened to you, see why a bonus wasn't credited.

Which deposit is checked: worked examples

The type of offer decides how much an exclusion can cost. With a first-deposit offer there's only one qualifying deposit, so a mistake is usually final. With a deposit-and-bet offer the wording sets which deposit counts, and the terms on the day decide whether a second try is possible.

Some numbers help keep the stakes in proportion. Coral's 100 spins are worth £10 at face value, and at a typical slot return of around 96% they'd pay back about £9.60 on average, with no wagering on the winnings. Ladbrokes' full 500 spins are worth up to £50 at face value. Casumo's £10 bonus on a £20 deposit needs £100 of wagering, which at a 4% house edge costs about £4 on average. None of this is money you're owed: it's the expected value of a promotion, and real results swing widely.

Grey areas: phone wallets, prepaid debit and vague wording

Apple Pay and Google Pay

Phone wallets aren't named as excluded by any of our partners, but they don't hold money of their own: Apple Pay and Google Pay pay with a card stored on the device. If the card behind the wallet is a prepaid card, a "prepaid cards don't qualify" clause may still catch the deposit. Our Apple Pay bonus and Google Pay bonus pages cover this.

Prepaid-style debit cards

Some cards look like debit cards but are issued as prepaid or e-money cards, including cards linked to e-wallets. Neteller's own terms, for example, describe its card as spending only the funds held in the account. Whether such a card counts as a debit card or a prepaid card for a bonus is the operator's call under its terms, so ask before relying on one. See prepaid cards and bonuses.

"Certain debit cards"

Coral's exclusion of certain debit cards doesn't say which. Consumer law helps a little here: section 69 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says that where a term could have different meanings, the meaning most favourable to the consumer prevails, and terms must be transparent. In practice, the sensible step is to ask support in writing whether your card qualifies before depositing, and keep the reply.

UK rules on how payment exclusions must be shown

Casinos are allowed to exclude payment methods, but they're not allowed to hide the fact. Several rules overlap:

• Advertising Code: CAP rule 8.17 requires significant conditions to be stated clearly and prominently where leaving them out is likely to mislead. The ASA's guidance on free bets and bonuses (opens in a new tab) summarises a July 2024 ruling against William Hill Online in which an excluded payment method sitting in the small print among the full terms wasn't prominent enough.
• Licence conditions: LCCP 5.1.9 (opens in a new tab) requires all significant conditions of a marketing incentive to be shown transparently and prominently at the point of sale and in adverts, with full terms no more than one click away online.
• Transparency guidance: the Gambling Commission's transparency guidance (opens in a new tab) says putting key information only in the website terms isn't enough, and extra terms mustn't be hidden in a separate tab or window.
• Consumer law: under section 62 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (opens in a new tab), an unfair term isn't binding on the consumer. Our page on unfair terms explains the test.

Taken together, an exclusion that only appears deep in the full terms, and not near the headline offer, is the kind of thing regulators have challenged. Our pages on significant conditions in ads and ASA rulings on casino bonuses list the cases.

Why casinos use payment exclusions

Operators don't usually explain their exclusions, so treat any single explanation with caution. The pattern is clear, though: the methods left out are mostly those that sit between the casino and your bank, such as e-wallets and prepaid vouchers. Those layers can make it harder to link a deposit to one verified person and one bank account, which matters for promotions limited to one per person or household. Payment costs may also play a part for some operators.

Whatever the reason, the effect for you is the same, and it isn't a judgement on the method's safety. PayPal, Skrill and Neteller are regulated e-money or payment services in the UK. The question of why PayPal deposits are excluded is answered separately, and the Skrill and Neteller bonus page looks at the e-wallet side more closely.

Payment exclusions vs payment bans

It helps to keep three different restrictions apart, because they work in very different ways.

So if a method is refused outright, that's not a bonus exclusion. A declined credit card is the credit card ban at work, and a declined debit card may be your own bank's gambling block, which you can read about in our guides such as the HSBC gambling block.

Used an excluded method? What to do next

If you've deposited with an excluded method, your money hasn't gone anywhere. Under Gambling Commission guidance, a customer's un-staked deposits remain their property. Practical next steps:

• Contact support promptly, explain what happened and ask whether the offer can still be applied. Some may say no, and that's within the terms if the exclusion was clearly shown.
• If you'd rather not play without the bonus, withdraw the deposit. Withdrawals normally go back to the method you used.
• Don't open a second account to try again. Multiple accounts break almost every casino's terms and can lead to winnings being voided.
• If you think the exclusion wasn't shown clearly, raise a complaint with the casino first; our guide on how to complain about a bonus sets out the route to an independent adjudicator.

Partner offers and their payment exclusions

Seen through the lens of payment exclusions, the three offers below line up differently. Each is for 18+ new customers, terms apply, and none changes the long-run cost of play.

• PlayOJO, fewest restrictions listed: its key terms name no excluded deposit methods. New UK customers outside Northern Ireland who join through the designated offer link and deposit £10 or more for the first time get 80 free spins on Big Bass Bonanza at 10p, with cash winnings and no wagering.
• Coral, longest exclusion list: Neteller, PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, prepaid cards and certain debit cards won't trigger it. With a qualifying deposit and a £10+ slots bet between 1 October 2026 and 1 February 2027, you get 100 free spins at 10p to accept within 48 hours and use within 7 days, with no wagering on the winnings.
• Ladbrokes, e-wallets and prepaid out: deposits by PayPal, Paysafe, Neteller, Skrill, Moneybookers or prepaid card don't count. Deposit another way and spend £10+ on slots for 50 spins at 10p a day over 10 days (up to 500), each day's batch claimed by 23:59 and valid for 7 days, no wagering.

If you plan to use a debit card, ask Coral's support whether yours is affected by the "certain debit cards" wording before you pay in.

18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Decide a budget before you play: set a budget. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.