How to Use Boku To Pay for Online Bingo
As most of you bingo players know, you need to deposit money to play online bingo. You’re probably already familiar with some of the most common methods: credit cards, debit cards, PayPal and even wire transfers.
But we’re always looking for ways to spend less time on the boring subject of payments, and even more time playing online bingo!
This is made possible with phone bill depositing via Boku.
What Is Mobile Phone Bill Depositing?
Mobile bill depositing uses your phone like a credit or debit card. It pays for your deposits using your mobile phone’s credit.
This is done in one of two ways:
1. If you pay for your phone’s credit with a contract, Boku adds the deposit to your contract bill at the end of the month.
2. If you pay via Pay As You Go, the deposit will be taken out of your available credit.
It couldn’t be any simpler!
So What Is Boku?
Boku enables this phone bill depositing by processing and charging the deposit payment, before passing it on to your online bingo website.
Boku is a widespread service that can be used for many other platforms, such as Google Play, Spotify, Windows Store and even Facebook.
Boku takes away the hours you might otherwise spend trying to make deposits. Instead of wasting precious time, use Boku and make that time count with your online bingo.
Who Can Use Boku?
If you have access to a mobile phone with either a contract, or Pay As You Go, you can use Boku. It doesn’t even matter what phone you have; whether it’s an old-school Nokia, or the newest iPhone.
You’ll no longer have to provide that long card number, or fuss around with multiple accounts.
Boku couldn’t make the process any easier for you. For those still sceptical however, we’ve put together a quick step-by-step guide for you to follow.
Boku Step-By-Step
There are only a few steps to take after picking Boku as your deposit payment method:
1. Enter Your Mobile Phone Number
This is one of the only things you’ll need to do in order to use Boku.
2. Respond To Text To Confirm Payment
You’ll be sent a text asking for confirmation to authorise the payment. You only need to reply with ‘Y’ (for yes). You’ll also need to provide a PIN.
If you change your mind, you can ignore the text, and the deposit won’t be charged.
3. Payment is Taken
You’ll be sent a text receipt, confirming the payment. If you have any difficulties/queries, the number for customer service will be provided in the text.
4. You Can Now Play Online Bingo!
Your deposit will appear in your bingo account, and you can now play online bingo to your heart’s content.
Boku Direct
If you find yourself using Boku frequently, you can upgrade to Boku Direct. Your mobile number will be saved, and future purchases will be billed to it automatically. It will save you time, and let you save your energy for online bingo! The steps are as follows:
1. Select ‘Pay by Mobile’ as your preferred method of payment
2. Enter and save your mobile phone number
3. Authenticate your mobile number with a PIN
4. Future purchases will automatically be billed to this phone
Well, now you know the ‘complex’ steps behind Boku. We’ll move on to look at the pros and cons, so you can decide whether Boku is the right fit for you.
Pros
Simplicity and Convenience
One of the selling points of Boku is that it is simple and convenient, which is what you need when you play online bingo.
By using Boku you don’t have to waste time making any accounts, and you won’t need to type out your loooong card number every time you get the online bingo itch.
Instead, you can use Boku to get the ball rolling and pave the way to your online bingo jackpot.
If you’re always on the move and don’t have your credit/debit card, but fancy a quick game of online bingo, use Boku instead. As Boku says, ‘No Card. No Bank. No Problem.’
If you change your mind about making a deposit, that’s fine - just ignore the text authentication. It won’t cost you a single penny.
Privacy and Security
A common mobile depositing myth is that it isn’t a secure or private method of payment. That isn’t the case; websites using this form of payment use encrypted depositing services.
Still not feeling sure about it yet?
Well, imagine your phone is hacked…
The only information the ‘hacker’ will gain is your phone number, as opposed to your sensitive and valuable bank details. Arguably, you might be better off using Boku!
Ease and accessibility
You take your phone everywhere with you, so deposit payments are just at your fingertips!
If the Step-by-Step process doesn’t set your mind at ease, think about the fact that you only need to send a text to make a deposit. We send texts every single day - it couldn’t be easier.
You can keep an eye on your deposit bills via your monthly phone bill. And if you use Pay As You Go, you can rest easy knowing you’ll never be over-charged - after all, Boku can’t take £20 out of your phone’s credit if you only have £10.
If you want to make things even easier, you can use Boku Direct, or Boku 1 Tap. Your information will be stored, and deposits will be made automatically. You won’t have to wait for anything!
Clearly, there are many advantages to using Boku. You’d be able to spend those extra, precious minutes (that you’d usually spend on payments) on at least one more game of bingo!
Cons
Deposit Limit
You can only make deposits of £30 a day with Boku. This deposit cap will be enforced across every website you use Boku for. If you use £30 on one website in a day, you can’t deposit any more until the next day.
By saving cookies on your device when you make a payment, Boku is fully aware of how much you spend. Unless you have two mobile numbers, you won’t be able to make your way past this deposit cap.
Now, if you’re a big spender, or you like to keep playing on and on through the night, this might be a huge disadvantage. You won’t be able to spend as much as you want, or find out if your luck really has run out.
But this might be a silver lining for some. If you’re a small spender, you won’t be affected. If you’re a bingo addict who sometimes spends a little bit too much, this deposit cap might help you keep your spending under control.
Withdrawals
It’s quite clear that you can’t use Boku for withdrawals like you can for deposits. If you win big, you won’t be able to use Boku to withdraw it - unless you really fancy adding some extra money to your phone bill for those long distance phone calls!
That leaves you with the option of waiting for a cheque in the mail (which could really test your patience), or providing the website with your bank details.
Arguably, if you really did win a huge jackpot, handing over your bank details might seem like a small price to pay. As such, it’s not really the end of the world.
Availability
Boku has much wider availability for mobile bingo sites (we’ll provide a list of these below) than for desktop sites, though for any internet-savvy users, it won’t be too hard to find a website accepting Boku payments.
Another disadvantage, is that Boku users won’t have access to the bonuses that users of other payment methods have. It’s clear that bingo websites need to expand their horizons to include the Boku demographic, and reward them.
Despite the lower availability, it can be very useful for when you have no money in your account. Payment methods like PayPal require you to have funds in your account already, whereas Boku can add it to your monthly phone bill. You can pay for it when it’s due at the end of the month.
Now, let’s head to the part you’re most interested in...
Which Bingo Websites Accept Boku?
Below is a list of just a few examples of bingo websites that accept Boku payments.
If these bingo websites don’t catch your eye, use your internet-savvy detective skills to find other online bingo sites that accept Boku. If you need some extra help, make use of BingoPort’s site reviews list to track down more.
Conclusions
Boku has its pros and its cons.
It's ultimately up to you to decide if it's the right fit.
If you don't mind playing on mobile bingo games, then Boku will be a good fit.
If you're not looking to change your bingo habits and only want to play on your favourite website, then Boku might not be such a good fit.
It's important to remember, though, that Boku has a life outside bingo. So even if your favourite site doesn't accept it at the moment, you could soon find yourself using it on Spotify, Facebook, Windows Store, and for gaming companies such as EA and Gameloft.
Boku is rapidly expanding, meaning that major online bingo sites should surely be accepting it no time. After all, businesses are seeing their sales grow three times or even eight times larger after introducing Boku.
You can find more information about Boku here.
Enjoy exploring all that Boku has to offer you...
