Boku vs Paypal Logos

Although loyal readers of MobileSlots4U will know that we’re true fans of Boku mobile phone billing, there are plenty of other banking options out there. One of them is the PayPal e-wallet, a widespread payment system and a way of paying for goods and services online. Yet, how does it compare to Boku, what are it’s advantages and disadvantages when it comes to making payments at mobile casinos? We pit Boku against PayPal in this showdown article and reveal the winner at the end.

Payment methods aren’t created equal, but certain ones fit some people more than others. That’s why you should consider this article to be written from the perspective of a casual mobile phone gambler, who values convenience, small fees and the gameplay itself as opposed to using mobile gambling to earn a living. Actually, we would never recommend that you rely on mobile casinos to give you a monthly income — that’s not only irresponsible, but also prohibited by many casinos themselves. Now, let’s see how well Boku and Paypal do when we put them through their paces.


 

Round 1 — Availability

Tick Mark IconYou have to understand that there are many different kinds of mobile players out there. While some will love and enjoy playing at giant casinos with massive welcome bonuses, such as Mr Green or Leo Vegas, others will truly appreciate the unique experience that smaller, ’boutique’ mobile casinos provide.

So when it comes to the prevalence of Boku and PayPal at all mobile casinos, things look a bit patchy. Boku is the preferred method of banking at smaller casinos, although large ones also sometimes feature it (think TitanBet and PaddyPower). On the other hand, PayPal can be found at casinos much more varied, although smaller and small/medium sized online casinos will often have Skrill or Neteller e-wallets instead of PayPal.

In sum, we can’t call this round to the favour of either method — it’s a draw when it comes to the availability. It simply depends too much on what sort of mobile casinos you go after and to reiterate, you can bet on finding Boku at casinos that proclaim to be mobile-first. Meanwhile, PayPal is often added by casinos that want to have as many payment methods available, so more medium and large sized casinos.

 

Round 2 — Costs

Money IconLet’s break this round down. First, you’ll be glad to find out that the costs of mobile phone deposits are absolutely and totally free. Boku doesn’t pass any of the costs of carrying out mobile phone billing transfers to the users, but to the operators instead. While we go into the very detailed specifics, the casino and the mobile operator both take a cut of the fees, while the users can consider themselves lucky and fee-less.

And then PayPal. The absolute majority of modern casinos that allow you to pay with this e-wallet won’t charge you any fees. That’s good news, isn’t it? That said, using PayPal itself comes at a cost. It will take a certain percentage or a set fee for transferring funds into your PayPal account or for making payments online. While they aren’t extortionate fees, it will all add up in the end and will take a small chunk of your total gambling budget.

So, if you deposit £10 at a mobile casino with Boku, you can rest assured that you’ll get to play with the entire £10. Meanwhile, if you’re using PayPal to deposit at a mobile casino, you might actually see a bit less than £10 end up in your casino account when you consider the costs of owning and using a PayPal account itself. This, in our eyes, sways the round clearly in the favour of Boku.

 

Round 3 — Withdrawals

Withdrawal IconAn exciting part of playing at mobile casinos is when there comes a time to withdraw funds after a massive win. And it’s not just about the speed at which a mobile casino deals with a withdrawal, but the methods of withdrawing that it offers too that are important.

Let’s just clear the air and say that withdrawals aren’t possible with Boku. It’s due to the technical difficulties that the mobile network or landline operators would incur when it would come to adding cash onto your phone bill. Perhaps, they’d even have to hand money over to you at the end of the month if you win a particularly large sum. Wouldn’t that be a little bit absurd? Of course, a network operator isn’t a bank and shouldn’t be dealing with transactions like that. So although it might be a pain to get your withdrawls sent via a bank transfer or a cheque, we understand why Boku withdrawals aren’t possible.

To cut to the chase, PayPal wins the round of withdrawals simply because it facilitates them. Sometimes, the mobile casino will ask for you to pay a nominal fee for withdrawing to PayPal, but more often than not, it’s not the case. Usually very quick and free, withdrawals with PayPal are very easy to conduct and reach your account in a matter of a day or sometimes even a couple of hours. When you compare that to the major inconvenience of waiting around for a bank transfer to clear or a snail mail cheque to arrive, PayPal wins this round hands down.

 

Round 4 — Convenience

Relaxing Icon

Ah, what we wouldn’t do for for some peace of mind. That’s why we’ve included this round in this Boku vs PayPal showdown, as the speed, simplicity and the ease of the financial transaction all matter greatly when you are picking and choosing which banking method to use.

Boku was already simple to begin with, but when they introduced Boku 1 Tap, they’ve made things that much easier. Using it doesn’t require you to input all of the information time and time again. Instead, the system saves your phone number so all you’ve got to do when you come to deposit at a mobile casino is select Boku and get your confirmation text right away.

On the other side of the barricades is PayPal 1 Touch, a similar system that spares you the inputting of personal information. Although it might look like this round is a draw, as both methods offer a ‘one touch’ payment, Boku clenches the victory because you don’t have to register for an account with them. Anyone can simply decide to use Boku and be able to do so without having to remember any extra account details, passwords and the like.

 

Round 5 — Security

Security IconIt would spell disaster to any online payment operator if they didn’t take security extra seriously. Both Boku and PayPal have layers and layers of security that ensure their customers are protected. Namely, Boku requires only your mobile phone number to make a payment — simple, quick and highly secure. There are no bank account details, sensitive personal information or any credit card security codes to share online. Plus, whenever you want to make a deposit at a mobile casino, you’ll get a message with a code to authorise that payment as an added layer of security.

Meanwhile, PayPal is more traditional in a sense that it requires for you to associate and input details of a bank account and/or bank card when you want to transfer funds to your PayPal account. This means sharing sensitive information online that could potentially lead to you losing money due to fraud. However, PayPal does have a 24/7 monitoring system in place and a highly regarded fraud protection plan.

Ultimately, it is up to you to choose whether you want to be sharing your personal and banking information online with a third party. However, we know that we’d pick Boku in terms of unparalleled security in an eye-blink, which is why it wins this round too.

 

Final Verdict

Gavel IconAll in all, this has been a show-down of two excellent payment methods. Yet, tallying up the rounds reveals that when being judged on these specific five criteria, Boku wins. Congratulations! Not only is it a highly convenient way to deposit at mobile phone casinos, but it’s also ultra-secure and costs you absolutely nothing. Plus, more and more casinos see it as essential to have and to offer to their players, so the availability is good too.

On the other hand, PayPal is a super convenient e-wallet, but requires you to share financially sensitive information online and charges you fees. Let’s be honest — no one wants to pay more than they absolutely have to in this day and age, so it’s a major drawback of PayPal. That said, it can process withdawals which is its one-up on Boku, but if you don’t mind getting sent cash via a bank transfer, Boku is the way to go.