What’s Trustly & How Does It Work?
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Payment Method Type | Account to Account Banking (A2A) |
Year Founded | 2008 |
UK Office Location | London, UK |
Global Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden |
Founders | Joel Jakobsson, Carl Wilsson, Lukas Gratte |
CEO | Johan Tjärnberg |
No. Of Company Employees | 700+ |
Revenue | £182 Million (2022) |
In formal terms, Trustly belongs to the category of "Account to Account" (A2A) payment solutions and operates within the open banking ecosystem.
In simple terms, Trustly acts as a middleman, facilitating easy payments between your bank account and UK online casinos.
You don’t need to provide any info, input a credit card’s details, or register an account. Trustly is merely a portal that adds an extra layer of security to your transactions.
In many ways, Trustly is similar to a digital wallet, but without having any taxes involved.
Remember
Trustly works well on both desktop and mobile devices. You can safely use it to pay in UK online mobile casinos.
Getting Started With UK Trustly Casinos
If you want to play at a UK Trustly casino, I will show you how it’s done step-by-step.
Keep in mind
Before you continue reading, let me tell you that you do not have to register an account with Trustly before using it. You can pay with it straightaway (provided you have funds in your bank account, of course).
Depositing Funds With Trustly
- Choose a UK online casino that accepts Trustly from this page.
- Log in to your player account.
- Head to the “Cashier” section.
- Select Trustly as your desired deposit method.
- Choose your bank from the list of available options. You will be redirected to your bank’s website.
- Log in to your bank’s internet banking system.
- Input the amount of funds you want to deposit.
- Confirm the transaction.
- Wait for the transaction to complete. Your money should be available in your player account straightaway.
Withdrawing Funds Via Trustly
- Follow the same first 3 steps as above.
- Select Trustly as the withdrawal method.
- Choose your bank from the list. You will be redirected to your bank’s website.
- Log in to your bank’s internet banking system.
- Set the desired amount of cash you wish to withdraw.
- Confirm the transaction.
- Wait for the transaction to be complete.
Keep in mind
Withdrawals take a longer time to process, compared to deposits - up to 2 days. This is mainly because it takes time for casino operators to verify your identity and your account. Nothing to worry about.
All About Trustly & Its Features
Cardless Payments
Trustly’s biggest feature is that it allows you to make cardless payments directly from your bank account (well, with it as an intermediary).
You don’t have to use a credit card or digital wallet whatsoever.
Open-banking solutions such as Trustly are common picks for online gambling. They are often considered safer, faster, and more discreet than traditional payment services.
Remember
Using Trustly costs nothing. It charges no fees.
Freak Note
As Trustly eliminates the need to carry a physical credit card with you, it also helps the environment.
The more things go digital, the more can nature breathe (e.g.: less waste, less production materials, etc).
How Strong is the Trust in Trustly?
Would you put your trust in a company called Trustly? Well, its founders surely hoped so when choosing its name.
According to my research, many indicators suggest you should trust it, including:
It Stood the Test of Time
Its longevity stands as a testament to its trustworthiness. Had it not been a good payment service, it would never have lasted for so long.
Widely Accepted in UK Online Casinos
Trustly’s widespread adoption by companies is an indicator of trust as well that speaks for itself.
Licences, Certificates & Other Security Documents
- Licenced and regulated by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority
As a Swedish company, it is only natural that Trustly strived to gain a licence from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen). And it obtained it.
This regulatory body has users’ safety and privacy in mind - so they can sleep tightly at night. It acts when something is amiss.
Example
When the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority found out that Trustly had not complied with regulatory requirements and Sweden’s Anti-Money Laundering Act, it quickly acted and fined the company.
- Has a European Payment Services Provider (PSP) licence
Trustly also has a European licence to provide payment services per the 2007 and 2015 payment directives.
- Other security details
Trustly went the extra mile regarding security. Here are some examples:
- Has a TÜV Saarland certificate
- Maintains a 780 BitSight score (higher than the industry’s average of 720)
- TLS encryption, scoring an A rating on Qualys SSL Labs Test
- Its servers are hosted at ISO 27001 certified facilities
- Implements 7 Web Application Firewalls to protect data on its servers
- Uses EDR/XDR technology to combat malware attacks on its servers
Honorable Mention
For a transaction to go through, you must authorise it yourself. This protects you against fraudsters.
Trustly’s Help Center: Where Are The Operators?
I expect a company of this calibre to offer its users a great customer service system. Even if I lower my expectations, trying to be reasonable, I want to receive Live Support for my issues.
Unfortunately, that is not the case with Trustly. This company only assists you in these ways:
Should I Use Trustly? Pros & Cons
UK Trustly casinos are popular, that much is for sure. But opinions are subjective, as you well know.
You can see the general benefits and drawbacks of using this service in the table below.
Pros | Cons |
Payments from your bank account | Payments are not direct, they use an intermediary |
Does not store banking credentials | Not all banks support it |
Easy & fast transactions | Transactions can encounter delays |
No registration needed | Customer support is not always reliable |
Does not charge fees | Banks may impose transaction fees |
No need to install a dedicated app | No live customer support |
Licensed by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority |
Accepted at many UK gambling websites |
Leader in UK open banking payments for iGaming |
Shaky Trustworthiness & Poor Online Reputation
There are three sides to every story: what Trustly says, what its users say, and what Freak says. Just kidding, of course.
Now, jokes aside, the truth is always somewhere in the middle. But, before I tell you what my two pennies are on the matter, let me briefly walk you through the facts.
Bad User Reviews Galore
I noticed that online users ripped the company a new one with their bad reviews on the UK Trustpilot website. At the time of writing this, about 60% of them left a 1-star review.
Interestingly enough, the reviews are very black or white. Most people rated the service 5 stars or 1 star, and very few chose the in-between options.
Author Input
This means that users were very biased when rating Trustly. If one thing went badly, even slightly, with the company, they rushed to rate it 1-star.
A medium rating would be more reflective of what the service actually is like.
What Do Users Say Trustly Is Guilty Of?
The user complaints generally refer to payments being late (sometimes more than 7+ days), and sometimes never seeing their funds at all, despite the transactions going through.
Also, as expected, users are unhappy with the Customer Support service - claiming that it takes its sweet time providing help.
How Does Trustly Defend Itself Online?
The responses from Trutly on Trustpilot are automated and not written by humans.
They do not address the users’ concerns directly; instead, refer them to the Help Center page on the official website (where you don’t get live support anyway).
Author Note
These replies are practically useless if you ask me. So much for inspiring trust!
Happy Customers
It wouldn’t be a fair review if I didn’t mention the good ratings as well, now, would it?
Users claimed that the bad ratings put them off from trying the service out, but many were happy to have trusted their gut instincts - and not the complaints of those who had bad experiences with Trustly.
Moreover, many users praise the Customer Support system, saying that although they encountered issues while using the service, the Support operators helped them in no time.
And lastly, well, some users had no issues whatsoever with Trustly and did not need to get in contact with Customer Support.
Freak Coming To Trustly’s Defense
When judging Trustly, keep in mind that not everybody is tech-savvy enough to use it properly.
Also, you know how long the Terms & Conditions pages are; few of us go through them in detail. Maybe sometimes we miss one important aspect written there, and that’s why our payments don’t go through.
What I want to say is that human error is also a thing, so take what you read about this service with a grain of salt.
Also, remember that bad luck happens to the best of us - and we, gamblers, know it best.
Author Note
People are more likely to write reviews when things go bad, rather than when they go well. If they go well, they sometimes just keep using the service or product, and don’t feel the need to share their positive experience with others.
Payment Service Alternatives That You Can Trust
Author Note
I cannot get enough of the wordplay of Trustly’s company name - hope you don’t mind me.
There are many other UK casino banking services available out there. If Trustly doesn’t quite hit the spot for you, here are some other options that I recommend you check out.
Payment Service | Service Type | Details & Features |
Apple Pay | Digital Wallet | - No withdrawals
- No fees
- Worldwide renown
- Only available on iOS devices
- Biometric authentication
- Pre-installed app
|
Boku | Direct Carrier Billing | - No withdrawals
- No fees
- Well-known in the UK
- No bank account needed
- Payments billed to your phone
- No app
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Neosurf | Prepaid Card | - Withdrawals via the optional myNeosurf account
- No fees
- Cash payments
- No bank account needed
- The app is optional
|
Author Note
Out of the three options above, I recommend you go for a UK Boku casino. Its ease of use is incomparable, in my opinion.
Extending Your Trustly Usage To Other Areas
If you feel comfortable using Trustly for online gambling, you might wanna take advantage of it for other things, too.
Here’s a general overview of what else you can pay via Trustly for:
- E-commerce: you can pay for online goods with Trustly.
- Travelling: you can pay for your vacations with it, too. The company collaborates with famous air travel companies such as airBaltic and Norwegian.
Author Suggestion
I have noticed quite a number of online complaints from users who attempted to book plane tickets via Trustly and encountered issues with it.
One of my friends had it happen to them as well, and they did not manage to get it fixed in time before the plane’s departure.
With that in mind, I don’t advocate using it for this purpose.
A Freaky History Lesson On Trustly
Although Trustly became more popular in the past decade, it has been around for a long time now.
Origins and Early Days
For starters, you should know that Trustly was not always Trustly.
While there isn’t common knowledge about its exact first name, according to Wikipedia, it was Glue Finance (I’m not pulling your leg, it’s true).
Now that we got that out of the way…
Trustly’s story started in 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden. The brains behind it were Joel Jakobsson, Carl Wilsson, and Lukas Gratte.
First Collaborations & Recognitions
At first, Trustly was mainly known in Sweden, its home country. However, it had a fast expansion outside of it within a couple of years.
Another notable moment from this period is that, in 2014, Trustly established partnerships with two big forces in the financial industry: PayPal and Groupon.
Through these partnerships, users can nowadays use the services together to top up their accounts.
Growing Into an Industry Leader
Trustly’s times as an independent company came to an end on March 14, 2018, when Nordic Capital bought it.
One year later, Trustly AB merged with PayWithMyBank and formed the leading global Open Banking Payments network.
During this period, after multiple acquisitions of companies activating in the open banking ecosystem, Trustly received further critical acclaim.
Trustly Today
In recent times, Trustly has made some strategic moves, preparing for the future, including:
Warning Note
Pay n Play does not comply with the UKGC’s regulations, therefore it is not available in UK casinos.
This is because it allows users to play without creating casino accounts (and without verifying their identity, basically).
Extra Statistics
If you’re into data and numbers, here are a couple more that I gathered from the official Trustly website.
Category | Number |
Operating Countries | 33+ |
Connected Banks | 12,000+ |
Merchants | 8,300+ |
Consumers | 650 Million+ |
Transaction Volume | £35 Billion+ |
Does Trustly Live Up To Its Promises?
I think Trustly delivers and that it’s a reliable payment service for UK online casinos. Would I use it? Probably not, as I greatly value getting fast support for my inquiries and issues, and Trustly’s Help Center is lacklustre. If you try out UK Trustly casinos, I wish you good luck!