Ontario Interac betting sites & sportsbooks 2024

Interac e-transfers are now the most popular way for Canadians to move money online.  In 2022, Canadians used Interac e-transfers 1.06 billion times to send money to friends and family, or to pay for goods and services. Very simply, if you have an email address and account at a Canadian bank or credit union, you can instantly send or receive as little as a $10 dollars, up to $10,000 dollars to or from anyone else that has an email address and a Canadian bank account.  The fees for using Interac e-transfers tend to be no higher than a dollar, or, depending on your banking plan, they can be completely free.

The low cost, convenience and security of Interac e-transfers is what makes them the most sought-after payment method with regard to online sports betting providers in the newly legal Ontario market.  However, despite Interac's immense popularity, several official iGaming Ontario providers failed to offer it as an available banking method of choice when they launched their suite of online betting and casino products.  So the key question is; which official iGaming Ontario betting sites support Interac e-transfers?  After we answer that, we'll explain how it works to use Interac for sports betting payments, but know that it works very quickly.  Deposits essentially land in your betting account instantly, and withdrawals generally land back in your bank account in 2 hours or less.

Why do Ontario bettors generally prefer Interac e-transfers & debit solutions over credit cards?

Simple.  There are high interest rates and fees associated to credit card payments made to all manner of gaming sites in Ontario.  When an Ontario bettor deposits money via their credit card, it is seen by the bank and card company as a "cash advance".  From the moment of the transaction, even if you are a person that always pays your balance every month, you will see interest charges of 25% or higher on the amount you've deposited.  Plus, there will be a flat cash advance fee from the card provider of around $5.  When you add it all up, credit cards are one of the most expensive ways to deposit money at a legal Ontario sportsbook. Compare this to Interac, where fees might be a dollar, or free, depending on your banking plan.

iGaming Ontario betting sites & apps that support Interac e-transfers

Note that all of the legal Ontario sportsbooks that we recommend do offer Interac e-transfers for both deposits and withdrawals. Their apps also work to simply "confirm Interac payment requests", which is an even easier process, that we explain below.  This is a key part of whether or not we recommend a given Ontario sportsbook brand.  Interac is simply so popular, it needs to be accepted by any betting brand to get a thumbs up from us at SNBET.  The service is too cheap, too fast and too secure for a betting operator not to support it.  These are the legal Ontario betting brands that we recommend, with Interac:

#1 bet365 Ontario  #2 Betway Ontario  #3 BetVictor Ontario  #4 Sports Interaction Ontario  #5 Unibet Ontario  #6 BetRivers Ontario

There are several Ontario licensed betting brands that we do not recommend for one reason or another.  If you have a particular brand in mind, and you are curious as to the reasons why we do not recommend them, we've reviewed them and you can read about them here.  For some of which, we are relatively neutral. In our opinion, they are simply not at the high level of those operators that we recommend.  Note that if we did "like" any of the brands listed below, we could promote them just as easily, as they all have affiliate marketing programs, but we stick to promoting the brands that we feel truly are the best for Ontarians.  Here are the Ontario betting brands with Interac that we do not recommend:

888sport Ontario  Bet99 Ontario  BetMGM Ontario  Bwin Ontario  FanDuel Ontario  Fitzdares Ontario  LeoVegas Ontario  NorthStar Bets Ontario  PointsBet Ontario  Royal Panda Ontario  theScore Bet Ontario

iGaming Ontario sportsbooks that did NOT support Interac at launch

We can't believe anyone would try to operate in Ontario without Interac's various payment methods, but there are three sportsbook brands in Ontario that did not offer it as a payment method at the moment of writing. They are Bally Bet Ontario, Caesars Sportsbook Ontario and DraftKings Ontario.  What's the common thread between them?  They are all brands that moved to serve Ontario only, branching out from various US state markets. They never served the rest of Canada from "grey market", "off shore" jurisdictions.  Thus they really have little knowledge about the Canadian sports betting market and our preferences in many respects.   These sportsbook brands did not move to offer Interac e-transfers because in their move north, they simply looked to plug their US platform in for use in Ontario.  Since Interac is not used in the USA, their plug and play strategy for Ontario meant that the most popular payment method would not be available in the province. 

Think we're kidding about the sort of "plug and play" Ontario strategy?  Go visit the DraftKings site for yourself.  It will automatically detect if you are in Ontario, but then go to the bottom of the page and click to "Get Help" to access their customer support & FAQ pages. Then click the "Deposits & Withdrawals" icon.  You will note that the next page with all the payment method details are marked as being for the "US". 

Awesome!!

Just what a player in Ontario wants to see on their help page.  That's why we have a really tight list of recommended brands for Ontario.  Even though there are many licensed operators in the province, too many treat Ontario as an afterthought, or just another US state.

How to deposit at Ontario betting sites via Interac e-transfers

It's super simple.  From within your betting site, you will go to the "cashier" area, or simply look for the "deposit" button, which will lead you to all your deposit options.  From there, select Interac e-transfers.  Then, input the amount of money you intend to deposit where prompted.  Once you've confirmed this as your desired amount, your betting app or site will show you two items of importance.  The email address for where to send your e-transfer in the corresponding amount, and a reference code for you to paste into the "notes" area of your transfer.  Then, simply login to your online banking, click to make an Interac e-transfer and enter these bits correctly to make your transfer.  The copy and past function is best to avoid making an error.  Once you send the e-transfer, assuming all your details have been input correctly, the funds should land in your account essentially instantly. 

How to deposit via Interac using Ontario betting apps (it's even easier)

When you use one of the legal Ontario betting apps, paying with Interac is even easier than paying by an e-transfer. When you are using a mobile betting app and looking to pay via Interac, you don't need to send an e-transfer, you simply "confirm an Interac payment request."  From your sportsbook app, simply look to make a deposit from your cashier area, and select Interac. Then your betting app should ask you how much you wish to deposit, so you enter the amount.  It will then show you various logos for all the major banks.

Tap your bank, and if you have that bank's app on your phone, you can simply enter your banking details to login into the app, and you will be prompted to confirm your payment to the given betting company.  Tap to confirm the payment and that's it.  The funds will be in your betting account instantly.  Having your bank's app on your phone makes this process completely seamless. However, you can also login to your bank's website to confirm the Interac payment request.

Are there fees to use Interac with betting sites or apps in Ontario?

From the perspective of the betting operator, no.  If you look to deposit $200 into your betting account, the $200 will land as you intend and the betting site will not deduct a fee for this.  Now, your bank or credit union is another matter, as they may very well charge a dollar or so as a fee for facilitating the e-transfer.  This fee will be deducted from your bank account, not the e-transfer balance that has been sent.  Some banking plans include an unlimited or fixed number of free Interac e-transfers or payments per month.  If this is the case for you, there will be no charge to deposit to Ontario sportsbooks. 

When it comes to using Interac to withdraw funds from your betting account back to your bank account, again, there should be no fees from the betting site.  Furthermore, we are not aware of any financial institution that charges a fee to receive an e-transfer.  So if you withdraw $500, you should get the full $500.  Note that the email address that you use to deposit, will need to be the email address that is used for your withdrawal.  This is standard procedure for anti-money laundering practices.

What are the deposit & withdrawal limits via Interac for Ontario sportsbooks?

On the low side of things, the minimum amount that can generally be deposited or withdrawn via Interac is around $10. At some sites, the limit might be around $20.  The reality is that if your limit for play is at this level, and you are wondering if you can deposit with this little, really, you probably should not be gambling at all.  The bank feet to deposit $10 via Interac will likely cost you a dollar.  That's a 10% fee on the money you are moving, which relatively speaking is pretty high.  If you are truly at this level of expenditure, save your money.

For the other end of the spectrum, for those that have more discretionary income at their disposal, the maximum transaction amount via Interac can vary widely.  First there is the issue of the settings and permissions associated with your own bank account for e-transfers.  Most people's bank accounts may actually have a natural limit to send $3,000 or $6,000.  You can however ask for this to be increased to be able to send the maximum of $10,000 for a single outbound payment.  These same limits tend to be in force at the given Ontario Interac betting sites.  Some may have transaction limits at $3,000, while others like bet365 have $10,000 deposit and withdrawal limits via Interac.

What is Interac Online & which banks support it?

Depending on the payment processor that is used by your chosen Ontario online sportsbook, players may have access to make deposits via "Interac Online" in addition to Interac e-transfers.  As of the date of writing, April 2, 2023, Interac Online, was only supported for customers of Royal Bank or TD Bank.  If you are with either of these banks, you may choose to deposit to your betting site via this method. 

What's the difference between Interac e-transfers and Interac Online? 

With the latter, once you confirm the amount you wish to deposit via Interac Online, a new browser tab or window will open for where you will be able to login to your bank account and follow the prompts to complete the payment.  Once completed, the money will be in your betting account instantly.  Everything is confirmed & completed online.

This is a slightly quicker way to pay over e-transfers, and it reduces the possibility of a mistake in creating your e-transfer.  With an e-transfer, you must ensure to enter the the correct email address, the correct amount of money for transfer, and the correct reference code in the notes.  With Interac Online, you don't need to input anything in these three ways, so it takes away the chances for user errors, as the whole process is one that is simply about confirmation of the transfer you initiated in the sportsbook cashier. 

Back to top of page