The short answer

Skrill is an international e-wallet: you load money into a Skrill account and pay merchants from that balance, so the merchant never sees your bank or card details. We check the payment pages of every licensed bookmaker we review, and none of them list Skrill for deposits or withdrawals.

What Skrill offers South Africans

South Africa appears in Skrill’s country list, but the service is limited here in ways that matter to a punter:

• Bank withdrawals: Skrill’s help centre lists banks it does not support for withdrawals. The South African banks on that list are Capitec, FNB (FirstRand), Nedbank, Bidvest Bank and Old Mutual. If you bank with one of these, you would struggle to get money out of Skrill and into your account.
• International transfers: Skrill’s bank withdrawal process asks for your bank’s SWIFT code, the code used for international payments, so money leaving Skrill comes in as a cross-border transfer.
• Crypto trading: Skrill’s crypto availability table shows that crypto trading is available to South African users, but that has nothing to do with betting.

Check Skrill’s fees for South Africa before you open an account for any purpose.

If you already have a Skrill balance

Do not try to move a Skrill balance into betting through a third party. Instead, check Skrill’s help centre to see whether your bank can receive a withdrawal, take your money out to your own account, and then deposit at a licensed bookmaker with one of the methods below. It takes an extra step, but your money stays in regulated, traceable channels the whole way.

Why offshore “Skrill bookmakers” are not an option

The sites that advertise Skrill to South African punters are foreign operators without a South African licence. The National Gambling Board says online gambling is illegal in South Africa except on licensed operators’ platforms, that offshore platforms not licensed here operate unlawfully, and that people who gamble illegally have no legal protection and may have their winnings forfeited. An e-wallet does not change that.

The closest alternatives to Skrill

People choose Skrill for privacy, speed and quick withdrawals. Licensed bookmakers cover each of those in other ways:

• Privacy on deposits: vouchers bought with cash keep your bank out of it. 10Bet lists a R5 minimum for voucher deposits. See voucher betting sites.
• Fast bank deposits without card details: Ozow and Capitec Pay. See Ozow betting sites.
• Familiar card payments: debit and credit cards are listed by most bookmakers we review. See Mastercard betting sites.
• Fast withdrawals: several bookmakers pay out to cash-send services such as FNB eWallet, Nedbank Send-iMali and Standard Bank Instant Money. The payout options are listed on each review.

See our payment methods hub for every option. Set deposit limits before you start, and if gambling is causing problems, call the National Responsible Gambling Programme free on 0800 006 008.

Frequently asked questions