Bookmakers Apple Pay

What is Apple Pay?

Apple Pay is the payment service built into the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. You add a debit, credit or prepaid card to the Wallet app and confirm each payment with Face ID, Touch ID or the passcode. It holds no money of its own: every deposit is charged to the card behind it, and the bookmaker receives a device-specific number in place of your card number.

Apple launched it in the United States on 20 October 2014 with the iPhone 6. When you add a card, the issuer creates a Device Account Number for that device, which is stored in the Secure Element chip and never on Apple’s servers. Apple says it does not keep the original card numbers or any transaction data that can be tied back to you, and does not sell transaction data to advertisers.

Bettors use it for two reasons: nothing is typed in the cashier, because the payment is confirmed on the phone, and it works in the bookmaker’s app as well as in Safari. Its limit is the other direction: Apple Pay only sends money, so the bookmaker pays winnings back to the card you deposited with or by bank transfer.

How to set up Apple Pay

1. Check your country and your bank. Apple Pay works in the countries and regions on Apple’s list (101 entries on 19 October 2026) and only with cards from participating banks. If your bank is not on board, the card cannot be added; Apple’s advice is to ask the bank.
2. Add the card in Wallet. Open the Wallet app on the iPhone, tap the plus button, choose Debit or Credit Card and hold the card near the phone, or type the details by hand. You need an Apple Account on the device and Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode.
3. Verify with the bank. The issuer may ask for more information or make you download its app before it approves the card. It then creates the Device Account Number that the phone will use instead of the card number.
4. Pick a debit card for betting. Payouts come back to the card you deposited with, so choose one you can receive money on, in the currency of the bookmaker. In the United Kingdom and Australia a credit card is refused for gambling; elsewhere the issuer may bill it as a cash advance.
5. Pay the bookmaker. Choose Apple Pay in the cashier, type the amount and confirm with Face ID, Touch ID or the passcode on the phone, or with Touch ID on a Mac. The deposit is on the betting account at once.

What it costs

Apple charges nothing: its FAQ answers the question of fees with “No. Apple does not charge any fees when you pay with Apple Pay.” Bookmakers rarely add a fee on Apple Pay deposits either. What you pay is whatever the card behind Apple Pay would cost on its own, and that depends on the issuer, not on Apple.

What an Apple Pay deposit costs

Read on 19 October 2026 on the Apple Pay page of apple.com (FAQ on fees) and on the Apple Pay security and privacy overview of support.apple.com. Apple publishes no figures for what card issuers charge; the cash-advance figures are those reported by the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on 16 December 2024 for American cards. For a European card, look in the card’s own tariff.

Deposit and withdrawal times

Deposits are instant. The bookmaker’s cashier confirms the payment as soon as the phone does, and the money is on the betting account at once, as with any card deposit; the minimum and maximum amounts are those the bookmaker sets for cards.

Withdrawals cannot go to Apple Pay, because it only sends money. Bookmakers pay winnings back to the card you deposited with, where their payment provider can refund that card, and otherwise by bank transfer to an account in your name. Count the bookmaker’s approval time plus the days your bank takes to post a card refund.

Where you can use it

Apple’s list of countries and regions that support Apple Pay had 101 entries on 19 October 2026: every EU country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, the United States and Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and thirteen other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, South Africa and the Gulf states. Russia, Turkey, Nigeria, Kenya, Indonesia and Thailand are not on it. Whether a bookmaker offers Apple Pay then depends on its licence and on its card acquirer, so the method appears in some cashiers and not in others.

• United Kingdom. Credit cards have been banned for gambling since 14 April 2020, and the ban covers money routed through a wallet. Add a debit card to Wallet.
• Australia. Since 11 June 2024 wagering sites may not accept credit cards or, in the regulator’s words, “funds linked to a credit card (including digital wallets)”.
• Browsers other than Safari. In Safari, Apple Pay works on the web everywhere the service is available. In Chrome or Firefox you pay by scanning a code with an iPhone or iPad running iOS 18 or later, and Apple notes that this is “not available in all markets”.

If your country is not on Apple’s list, the card itself still works in the cashier: you lose the confirmation on the phone, not the card.

Apple Pay and welcome bonuses