Bank transfer betting sites: ordinary transfers and Pay by Bank compared

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How to read this comparison

The table puts two kinds of bank payment side by side for every bookmaker we cover. An ordinary bank transfer is a payment to or from your bank account using account details, labelled Bank Transfer, BACS, Bank Wire or Fast Bank Transfer. A Pay by Bank route is an open banking payment you approve in your banking app, sometimes called Instant Bank Transfer. Where a bookmaker lists both, it gets two rows. Trustly is a separate provider with its own Trustly comparison.

Times are shown by stage: operator processing is the bookmaker’s own review, payment transfer is the bank’s part, and a single stated time is one figure whose stage the operator does not separate. Each figure is what the operator says, with the date we checked it. We did not make test withdrawals.

Bank transfer and Pay by Bank at UK bookmakers

Ordinary bank transfers and Pay by Bank: the difference

Most one-off UK bank transfers travel over the Faster Payment System, which works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, subject to what each bank offers.⁸⁸ Pay.UK says the money is usually available almost immediately, sometimes taking up to two hours, and that some payments take longer, especially outside normal working hours.⁸⁹ Bacs Direct Credit, the batch system organisations use to pay many people at once, runs on a three-day cycle: files go in on day 1 and reach recipients’ accounts on day 3.⁹⁰

Pay by Bank is an open banking payment. Instead of typing card details, you approve the payment in your bank’s app or online banking, a regulated payment initiation provider connects the merchant to your bank, and the money moves over Faster Payments.⁹¹ You should never be asked for your bank login, PIN or password by anyone other than your own bank.⁹² Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky Bet and William Hill say they work with TrueLayer, as do Smarkets’ terms.^958626887

The official open banking pages we used describe paying a merchant. None describes how a merchant pays you back, so how a Pay by Bank withdrawal travels is something each bookmaker has to state. Pay by Bank also depends on your bank: Betfred says that if your bank is not listed you need another method, and Kwiff warns of possible problems depositing through Wise Pay by Bank.¹⁴³⁹

Why bank transfer withdrawals can take working days

A bank withdrawal has to clear the bookmaker’s review before any bank moves it, and that review often runs on working days. Coral and Ladbrokes say internal review takes approximately up to 24 hours, Monday to Friday, and that their Fast Bank Transfer then takes 2–4 business days.^33344041 BetVictor processes bank transfers requested on Friday, Saturday or Sunday on Monday.²⁰ Matchbook processes one bank wire per client per day, Monday to Friday, then says receipt usually takes 3–5 business days.⁵⁰

The payment route matters next, and few bookmakers say which one they use. Betfred labels its bank withdrawal BACS and says it usually takes three working days.¹² BetVictor and talkSPORT BET describe “UK Domestic BACS” arriving within 1–3 working days.²¹⁷⁵ Under payment law, an electronic payment only has to reach the receiving bank by the end of the business day after the paying bank receives the order, and since 30 October 2024 a paying bank with reasonable grounds to suspect fraud may delay a payment until the end of the fourth business day.⁹³ A receiving bank can also be unable to post a payment straight away.⁸⁸

Names are no guide to speed. Coral’s and Ladbrokes’ “Fast Bank Transfer” is stated at 2–4 business days after approval. Paddy Power gives two different answers: standard bank transfers take 1–5 days on one help page,⁵⁶ while its payment FAQ says UK GBP bank transfer withdrawals requested before 10.30am arrive the same day.⁵⁷ The longest stated figures belong to Smarkets, at 5–10 business days and only once all other withdrawal options are exhausted,⁶⁵⁶⁶ and William Hill, which states 3–5 working days but asks you to allow up to 10 working days before contacting it.⁸⁵

To count a stated period across weekends and bank holidays, use the working-day calculator or read withdrawals at weekends and on bank holidays.

Pay by Bank withdrawals: the conditions behind “instant”

Betfair, Paddy Power and Sky Bet ask you to allow at least 90 minutes for a first Pay by Bank withdrawal, say later ones should be instant, and allow up to three linked bank accounts.⁹⁵⁸⁶² Smarkets states 6 hours of processing and then instant receipt, although an older Smarkets article still says within 12 hours.⁶⁵⁷⁰

The money usually has to go back where it came from. Betfair and Spreadex require an earlier Pay by Bank deposit,¹¹⁷² while bet365, 10bet and Midnite pay back to the bank account used to deposit.¹³⁵³ Sky Bet is the exception that points the other way: it suggests Pay by Bank for customers whose card or payment method does not accept withdrawals.⁶³

Several listings leave the withdrawal side unclear. Betway describes its TrueLayer route for deposits only, and QuinnBet lists Open Banking as a deposit method without withdrawal details.²⁶⁶⁰ LiveScore Bet and Virgin Bet list Pay by Bank, but their withdrawal tables show “Bank Transfer” with 2–3 working days of transfer time.^46488183 Coral and Ladbrokes confirm Pay by Bank withdrawals but publish no time for them.³⁷⁴⁴

Confirmation of Payee and name matching

Confirmation of Payee is a name check for UK payments: when a new payment is set up, the paying bank checks the name given against the sort code and account number. The result is a match, a close match, no match, or unavailable. For a joint account, any one of the registered names is enough.⁹⁴ Pay.UK says the check does not guarantee that fraud will be detected.⁹⁴

bet365 is the only bookmaker in our research that says it runs a Confirmation of Payee check on bank withdrawals, to confirm the details match a personal account in your name.³ Others set their own name rules. BetMGM UK and BetUK pay bank transfer withdrawals only to a UK bank account in your name.¹⁷¹⁹ Midnite checks ownership the first time you deposit from a new bank account.⁵⁵ Paddy Power asks for a bank statement and photo ID before your first bank transfer withdrawal, and William Hill asks for proof of the bank account and ID on every bank transfer withdrawal.⁵⁷⁸⁵ Provide documents only through the bookmaker’s own account pages or support channels; verification and withdrawals explains these checks.

We found no official rule requiring every bookmaker payout to pass a name check. Where a bookmaker states one, a mismatch is a common reason for a declined withdrawal.

Related questions

Can I deposit by ordinary bank transfer?

At fewer bookmakers than you might expect. William Hill stopped bank transfer deposits on 30 March 2022, and Coral and Ladbrokes say they do not take deposits by Fast Bank Transfer.³³⁴⁰⁸⁵ Where manual deposits are accepted, the bookmaker’s reference matters: bet365 asks for your username as the reference and states 2–10 banking days, and Paddy Power also asks for your username.⁶⁵⁷

Do bookmakers charge for bank transfers?

Most state no fee of their own, with exceptions. Matchbook sets a £500 minimum for bank transfer withdrawals and says they may be subject to fees.⁵⁰ Spreadex charges £25 for same-day CHAPS, and Betfair says that going over the daily limit on how much you can send by standard transfer could mean rejection and a fee.⁷⁷² Your own bank may also charge. See withdrawal limits and fees.

Why was my withdrawal sent by bank transfer when I chose another method?

Bank transfer is the usual fallback when the deposit method cannot be paid. bet365 uses it when it cannot pay back to the deposit method or that method is no longer accepted, and William Hill uses it when a method is non-withdrawable.⁹⁵⁹⁶⁹⁷ Betfair points customers whose method does not accept withdrawals to bank transfer.⁸

Bookmaker guides and help

Each bookmaker guide shows every method that bookmaker lists, with stages, minimums and sources: for example bet365, Coral, Paddy Power, Sky Bet and William Hill. If a bank withdrawal is late, start with pending withdrawals. For the quickest stated route at each bookmaker, see fast withdrawals compared.