Paysafecard: a route that only leads inwards

How the code works

A Paysafecard is a prepaid code: you buy it at the point of sale with cash or a card and enter only the string of digits when depositing. No connection arises between the playing account and your own bank account — that is why this route, at 90 searches a month, is noticeably in demand by Swiss standards.

There is no way back

What goes in does not come back the same way. A withdrawal to a prepaid code is generally not provided for; the balance then leaves the playing account by transfer or by a settlement unit. Anyone depositing with Paysafecard should therefore choose the way back in advance, not at the moment something is there to withdraw.

Ceilings and denominations

Codes come in fixed steps, and usually only a limited number can be redeemed per deposit. For larger amounts the route becomes awkward — several codes, several entries, and a different way back at the end anyway. For small amounts, by contrast, it is the most direct of them all, with no spread and no network fee.

When the code is worth it

The prepaid code suits a reader who fixes an amount in advance and does not want to exceed it: what is not on the code cannot be deposited. That does not replace a limit in the account, but it works in the same direction — setting your own limits.

Why the code works as a boundary

The prepaid code has a property that appears in no promotional copy and is, for some readers, the most useful of them all: it bounds itself. Buy a code for fifty francs and you can deposit fifty francs and not a centime more — with no detour through an account setting, no waiting period and no possibility of raising the ceiling in the heat of the moment. That does not replace a limit in the playing account, but it works in the same direction and takes effect before an account even exists. Anyone using that side effect should still settle the way back in advance, because nothing comes back onto the code.

The first three places with number, status and score.

The code runs in one direction only: inwards. Which cashiers carry which route stands in the ranking; the overview of all the routes is under Payments.

Paysafecard is one of five routes that come into question from a Swiss account. Which one is cheapest depends less on the name of the route than on the number of conversions it demands — and on whether the way out and the way back are the same.

Common questions