SnapScan betting sites

What SnapScan is

SnapScan is a South African payment app built around QR codes. Standard Bank took a majority stake in its developer, Firepay, in 2016, and today the app is one of the country’s best-known ways to pay small businesses, market stalls and online shops by phone. You add a bank card to the app once, then scan a SnapScan code and approve each payment with your PIN.

Betting sites added SnapScan so players could pay by card without typing card numbers into a cashier. The site shows a SnapScan code, you scan it, and the money moves from your card through SnapScan to the bookmaker.

Where you can deposit with SnapScan

In our data SnapScan is accepted by seven brands: 1Win, Supabets, Easybet, TicTacBets, LottoStar, Playbet and SuperSportBet. Most of them are South African licensed bookmakers; 1Win is our featured casino and holds a Curaçao licence.

LottoStar is worth knowing about if you play lottery-style bets: it takes SnapScan as well as Zapper and SID Instant EFT, so it’s one of the more flexible sites for app payments.

How to deposit with SnapScan

1. Download SnapScan and register with your cellphone number. Add a debit or credit card; most South African bank cards work.
2. On the betting site, choose SnapScan in the deposit menu and enter the amount.
3. Scan the code with the SnapScan app. On mobile, tap the SnapScan button to open the app instead.
4. Confirm the amount and enter your SnapScan PIN.
5. Go back to the betting site: the deposit has already reflected.

If a payment fails, it’s usually your card’s online limit or a 3D Secure check that wasn’t completed. Nothing is charged unless the payment completes.

Withdrawals

You can’t withdraw to SnapScan. Each of the brands above pays winnings out by bank EFT, and several have faster options:

• Ozow payouts at Easybet and TicTacBets, often within two hours.
• E-wallet and crypto payouts at 1Win.
• Standard bank EFT everywhere, usually one to three working days.

Make sure your FICA documents are approved before you ask for your first withdrawal; it’s the most common reason for delays.

Fees, limits and speed

• Fees: free for the payer, and none of the brands in our data add a fee.
• Limits: the site’s minimum deposit and your card’s daily online limit both apply.
• Speed: instant.

Who it suits

SnapScan suits players who already use the app and want a card payment that keeps their card details private. It’s also a good habit-breaker for people who’d otherwise save their card on a betting site: you approve every deposit by hand, which makes it a little easier to stay within a budget.

If you don’t have a card, SnapScan isn’t for you. Cash vouchers like 1Voucher and OTT Voucher work at far more sites. If you want deposits straight from your account, use Capitec Pay or Ozow.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Card details stay in the app.
• Instant and free.
• Works with most South African bank cards.
• Every deposit needs your PIN.

Cons

• Deposit only.
• Needs a card and a smartphone.
• Accepted at fewer sites than Ozow or vouchers.
• Scanning from the same phone you bet on is fiddly.

SnapScan alternatives

Zapper is the nearest equivalent, accepted by eight brands in our data including Hollywoodbets and 10bet. Scan to Pay (Masterpass), now called Scan to Pay, works through banking apps. Capitec clients can also scan SnapScan and Zapper codes from the Capitec app. Compare every method on our payments page.

Keep deposits within what you can afford to lose. Betting accounts let you set daily, weekly or monthly deposit limits, and the NRGP offers free help on 0800 006 008.