This article is about using the payment processor PayPal to add funds to or withdraw funds from your online sportsbook account. If you’re looking for information about other banking options with Tennessee online sportsbooks, see our full Banking Guide.
By now it’s likely you’ve heard of PayPal, one of the most well-known online wallets and payment processors in the world. This online wallet offers secure services, third-party verification, and the ability to send or receive cash quickly and easily. All you’ll need to sign up with PayPal is an email address and a valid bank account, and you can start sending money to friends, using PayPal as a third-party verifier for online purchases, or most importantly, fund and withdraw funds from your Tennessee online sportsbook account. In case you’re new here, sports betting became legal in Tennessee in 2019.
Best TN Sportsbooks With Fast Banking
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All Tennessee Online Gaming Sites Accepting PayPal
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What’s Good About PayPal?
- Versatility: PayPal is accepted at thousands of online merchants, including a good portion of the available sportsbooks in the Tennessee market. Hundreds of millions of users use PayPal for online shopping and other banking, including online wagering sites.
- Security: PayPal is trusted by millions because of their safe and encrypted online wallet. Using PayPal to fund or withdraw from your online sportsbook account is a great idea if available, not only because of its SSL encryption but because multi-factor authentication (i.e.: having to log in to your PayPal account that’s linked to a password-protected online sportsbook) is perhaps the best way to protect your financial data from attacks.
- Speed: Using PayPal is fast. Your bank account or card will be linked directly to PayPal, making transfer of funds quick and easy– no need to re-enter your personal details. Often, these transactions will post immediately to your online sportsbook account, again making PayPal one of the best options for banking with wagering services.
- Zero cost: Some online banking providers and even your financial institution may charge fees for using online banking services. Many checking accounts still have monthly fees. PayPal, however, is completely free for transactions you would be using for purposes here- there’s no surcharges or membership fees to use the protected payment processing features of this service.
How to Set Up Your PayPal Account
Setting up a PayPal account is very straightforward. Most users can be up and running with a debit card linked to a PayPal account within minutes. You’ll need access to your banking details for your checking or savings account, so have your debit card or a check on handy if you want to directly link your card or checking account to PayPal. Then, fill in the necessary details, including your preferred email address to link to PayPal, password, and contact details.
Note: PayPal users wishing to make transactions to/from an online sportsbook in TN will need to be using a personal PayPal account, not a business account.
Agree to the terms, and PayPal will prompt you to link a debit card to your account for fast purchases. This form of two-factor authentication through PayPal is largely considered to be safer than directly entering your card details into a random merchant’s website, so it’s highly recommended that you link a card to PayPal and use it for your purchases. Some online betting platforms will directly accept PayPal as well.
If you’re directly linking a bank account to your account, PayPal will make a few small deposits and withdrawals directly to your account for confirmation purposes (less than 20 cents USD, will be completely refunded). Enter these specific amounts into your Wallet to confirm that they match the amounts that PayPal deposited, or click “Confirm Instantly” to confirm that the bank account linked to your PayPal account is the correct one.
Overall, PayPal makes it straightforward and easy to sign up and start using this online wallet– no wonder that PayPal is used for over 10 billion transactions per year.
Adding Funds to Your PayPal Account
Adding funds to a PayPal account usually takes no more than a few clicks if you’ve followed the above steps and linked a debit card or bank account to your online wallet. Simply choose PayPal as a payment option in the banking section of your preferred online sportsbook, enter the amount, and confirm to add funds to your online wagering account quickly.
Check with your preferred online sportsbook to see if they offer PayPal as a deposit option. Of course, in order to use PayPal to fund your online wagering account, you’ll need to either withdraw through your linked debit card or bank account, or have an existing balance in PayPal to continue.
Withdrawing from TN Online Sportsbooks to Your PayPal
Withdrawing directly to a PayPal account is a great option when available, as it offers multi-factor authentication while also being a bit quicker than other withdrawal methods. Navigate to the banking section of your online sportsbook account and select PayPal as a withdrawal amount.
Generally, PayPal is only available for use as a withdrawal method in Tennessee if you’ve used it to previously fund your online sportsbook account. In other words, if you fund your account with a Play+ card for example, you will not be able to withdraw to PayPal.
Additionally, there are often restrictions on withdrawal amount: you can only withdraw amounts equal to what you’ve deposited. If you win $200 on a $100 bet, for example, you would only be able to use PayPal to withdraw the initial stake of $100, and that’s only if you used PayPal as the method to deposit this stake.
Once you’ve requested this withdrawal, funds typically take 2 business days to appear in your PayPal account balance, although it may hit your account even sooner.
Cashing Out from PayPal
PayPal is an online wallet capable of holding an account balance, making it a great way to set aside cash for online transactions. In many cases, you’ll also be able to withdraw to your PayPal account from an online sportsbook. When you want to send those funds from PayPal to an eligible payment method, you would “cash out” from PayPal and transfer said funds to a usable banking method like the following:
- Bank transfer: Sends funds directly to your bank account with no fee, typically taking about one business day.
- Visa/Mastercard: Withdraw funds to an eligible debit or prepaid card in about 30 minutes for a small fee plus a percentage of the transfer.
- The PayPal debit card enables users to access account funds instantly. Users can cash out a maximum of $400 a day via ATM using the PayPal debit card, in addition to working anywhere MasterCard is accepted.
- If you’re not in a rush and prefer a paper check, PayPal will send you a check in your requested amount via US mail for a small, fixed fee.
The Tricky History of PayPal and Online Wagering
As online wagering in the US has its own sordid background, it’s not surprising that some payment providers got caught up in regulatory issues when offering payment services to betting platforms. PayPal was one of these providers to have issues with offshore gambling platforms in particular, online gambling sites based in other countries which are not recommended for use today, but were popular in the US in the early 2000’s.
Terms of Federal Wire Act Unclear in Digital Age
As the issue of offshore gambling became more apparent, US regulators looked at the money flow to these online betting providers and determined that payment processors offering their services to these sites in the US were in violation of federal law. PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002, and in 2003 settled a case with the U.S. attorney in Missouri for $10 million in response to claims that they had violated the Wire Act of 1961.
To be fair, the internet was in its adolescence in 2003; plus, the terms of the Wire Act and its application to offshore gambling sites weren’t as clear as they are now. Today, online betting sites are confined to single states or must apply for licensure to offer wagering in said states, as the Wire Act still prohibits “the transmission of interstate or foreign commerce.” Essentially, wagering money can’t cross any borders, state or international.
Looking Forward
PayPal, ever conscious of legality and wanting to keep above board, didn’t again provide payment options for any kind of betting in the US until 2015. A few websites in New Jersey and Nevada were able to start offering PayPal as a payment option in 2015, and now with more and more states enacting their own online wagering legislation, the service is making itself available elsewhere.
As online sports betting earns legal status in more and more states, we’re expecting PayPal to be made more widely available as a cashier option for online wagering services. It’s unlikely but not impossible that the federal government will tighten restrictions as more states go live with online sportsbooks, but PayPal already has set a precedent in recent years for offering secure payment options in accordance with all state and federal restrictions.
Final Considerations
PayPal has had its issues with online gambling, but the industry was young and many providers had trouble navigating the murky, undefined political waters therein. As legal online sportsbooks and other wagering services are now more well-defined, and payment processors all over the globe are getting a better handle on how to provide payment services to customers of all kinds, PayPal is one of the securest and best ways of funding or receiving funds from legal betting providers. Fast transaction times and an extra layer of security mean that PayPal, when available, should always be considered by novice to experienced sports bettors looking for an online wallet worth its salt.