Pending Withdrawals and Manual Flushing
What is a reverse withdrawal?
Reverse withdrawal is the term applied by online casinos to the waiting period imposed between the time you make a withdrawal request and that request being processed. During this time you are able to reverse the request i.e. instead of completing the withdrawal, the sum goes back into your casino account so that you can continue playing with it. The reverse withdrawal also known as pending withdrawal is important as it adds to the time taken from requesting a withdrawal from your playing account to the funds hitting your bank account or e-wallet. The periods vary considerably from site to site.
See our list of online casinos and their ‘pending withdrawal’ times in the table below
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If you do decide to reverse a withdrawal request the process is made very easy (deliberately so), and usually requires simply checking a box or clicking a button.
Why is there a reverse withdrawal period?
When you make a first withdrawal request, the reversal process allows the casino time to verify your identity. This is important for three reasons: the protection of players and to ensure they’re not the victims of identity theft, to reduce the risk of online gambling being used to launder money, and to ensure that underage players are not playing at a site.
Logic would dictate that after you have made an initial withdrawal and your identity has been successfully verified, there would be no need for reverse withdrawal periods to be imposed on subsequent withdrawals. Unfortunately, at the majority of sites this is not the case and you will need to continue to wait for withdrawal requests to be processed.
The reason for this, to put it bluntly, is that the casino is hoping you will change your mind. Naturally casinos wants you to continue playing and hope that by giving players this option they will reconsider their withdrawal requests and resume playing. Similarly, reducing the number of withdrawals it has to process reduces an online casino’s costs – both in terms of the time taken to complete withdrawals and in their own banking charges.
The fact that you can continue playing without the delay caused by first withdrawing funds, and then having to deposit them once more into your casino account is an advantage offered for the pending withdrawal process. This can also save you from paying the fees that are associated with some payment methods.
The big disadvantage of course is that you have to wait to get a hold of your own money. This wait will be added to further depending on the payment method you use. If you’re withdrawing using credit card or bank wire transfer there can be an additional 3 -5 working days added on top of the pending withdrawal period before the money hits your account.
This is why it’s generally advisable to use an e-wallet such as Skrill or Neteller to fund your casino account, as with these there is no additional delay – once the casino has processed your payment, funds are immediately available and accessible in your e-wallet account.
Can you reduce the pending time?
When you sign up at a new online casino, you should take the time to read the T&Cs to find out what their policy is regarding reverse withdrawal. Some sites have no pending period i.e., once you make a withdrawal request, the process begins immediately and you have no opportunity to change your mind and cancel the request.
All of the casinos we recommend also have loyalty and VIP programs, where once you attain higher levels of membership you benefit from faster withdrawal times with a reduced pending period.
Manual Flushing
There is also the option at some sites to request the removal of the reverse withdrawal facility directly with the casino. This process is known as manual flushing, and essentially means that the reverse withdrawal process is removed and any sum that you request to be withdrawn is not held by the casino as pending. This doesn’t mean that you get your funds straight away – the processing of the payment still needs to be made. Once you make a manual flushing request you no longer have available the option to reverse your withdrawal request.
You will need to make any manual flushing request directly to customer support, and it’s likely that you will meet with varying degrees of success (depending on the casino), but it is worth your while inquiring about this option in order to get access to your money faster.
Pending withdrawal trends
A growing number of casinos and software providers are heading towards shorter reverse withdrawal times and offering player-friendly manual flushing. Casinos now know that one of the most important considerations for players is being reputable and enabling players to get their money off the site ASAP. Still, there are some trends withing the casino industry even with ‘reputable’ sites. Generally speaking casino originating from Scandinavia running NetEnt (although not all of them) have zero or very short pending withdrawals, whilst Microgaming and Playtech sites virtually all have 24hrs+ pending withdrawals.
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Author: Tom Wilson
Chief editor and creator, Tom drives the direction of CanadianCasinos.ca with the goal to provide the best and most honest resource for online gambling enthusiasts in Canada