Regular, real money online casinos are prohibited in Australia right now. But those of you seeking Apple Pay online casinos in Australia do have viable alternatives to choose from – and they’re called sweepstakes casinos.
Sweeps sites offer casino-inspired games that are powered by virtual currencies instead of cash. These gaming sites let you play slots and tables using entertainment-only Gold Coins (GC) and sweepstakes style Sweeps Coins (SC), on a no purchase to play basis. While optional GC bundles can often be purchased using Apple Pay, too. Here’s what you need to know.
Sweepstakes casinos run on a two-level virtual currency system where GC power just for fun play, and SC can be entered into sweepstakes style games, where the SC you accumulate can be redeemed for real-world prizes once you’ve satisfied the site’s minimum SC redemption and playthrough rules. For example, top sweeps site Roo Vegas currently sets an SC playthrough requirement of 1x, and a minimum redemption limit of 50 SC.
That said, we’ve found that most sweepstakes online casinos in Australia and elsewhere that support Apple Pay won’t let you use it as an SC redemption method. Instead, they tend to offer Apple Pay as an option for purchasing additional GC bundles on their sites instead, on a strictly optional basis. Let’s look at how this works.
Like we said in our intro, both old and new sweeps online casinos in Australia come with a no purchase to play policy as standard. And this means that you don’t have to purchase GC packages using any payment method if you don’t want to – you can simply kick back, and claim free GC and SC bonuses to fuel your gameplay instead, if preferred.
Nevertheless, Apple Pay remains a very popular GC purchase option in the sweeps world – largely on account of it being easy to use, and transactions being processed very quickly.
Here’s how to use Apple Pay at sweeps online casinos in Australia to opt into buying a GC bundle:
Nine times out of ten, sweeps sites don’t offer Apple Pay as an SC redemption method. However, top rated brands like Roo Vegas make it dead easy for you to redeem eligible SC for prizes via other means, by following these steps:
Apple Pay itself is generally dead easy to set up. You’ll just need to add an eligible debit or credit card to the Apple Wallet app that comes pre-installed on your iPhone or iPad, then complete any verification checks triggered by your bank to start using the service.
But before you can use Apple Pay at sweeps online casinos, you’ll usually need to complete Know Your Customer (KYC) checks with your preferred sweeps site, too. Some brands will require you to upload ID and proof of address on signup. While others may prompt you to verify yourself when making your first GC purchase or SC redemption instead.
The good news? These checks are really simple. You’ll need:
The rules vary from site to site, mind. Sometimes, you might also need to snap a quick “live” selfie that matches your ID photo, too, for example. So, make sure it’s a good hair day, just in case.
As it stands, we found there’s only one sweeps site that accepts Apple Pay on GC purchases in Australia right now. Here’s a bit more info about it.
Roo Vegas has a lot going for it. The site offers no-nonsense Apple Pay integration, for starters – we found you can use Apple Pay seamlessly to opt into GC purchases here, which is great if you enjoy gaming on your iPhone or iPad.
What’s more, Roo Vegas grants all new AU players a no purchase necessary bonus on sign up, which we found is good for 500,000 Roo Coins (RC) and 10 Spin Coins (SC) at the time of writing.
There are daily reloads to sink your teeth into afterwards, too. While spending $9.99 on your first optional RC bundle can currently get you 1.5 million RC and a 30 free SC bonus.
To top it all off, the site offers more than 1,000 games, too – which include slots, tables and live dealer experiences.
As we’re sure you know already, Apple Pay has been around for a while now. Here’s a bit about the payment method’s history:
Apple first launches Apple Pay in the US.
The service expands internationally, reaching Australia and other countries.
Sweepstakes casinos – initially available in the US – begin accepting Apple Pay as a GC purchase option.
Roo Vegas makes history down under as the first sweepstakes online casino in Australia with Apple Pay support.
Unsurprisingly, Apple Pay isn’t the only GC purchase payment method supported by Roo Vegas, or other sweepstakes casinos you may encounter elsewhere.
Here are some of other popular payment options you might run into in the sweeps world, and how they typically compare in terms of transaction times and availability:
| Payment method | Popular at sweepstakes casinos? | GC purchase waiting time? | SC redemption processing time? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Pay | Yes. | Usually instant. | N/A. |
| Google Pay | Yes. | Usually instant. | N/A. |
| VISA | Yes. | Usually instant. | N/A. |
| MasterCard | Yes. | Usually instant. | N/A. |
| Skrill | Yes. | Usually instant. | 1 to 3 working days. |
| Bank transfer | Yes. | 1 to 3 working days. | 1 to 7 working days. |
If you want to use Apple Pay at online casinos in Australia, here are the key things you need to keep in mind:
Sweepstakes casinos are without doubt the best legal alternative to real money online gaming in Australia right now. And if you want a sweeps site that supports Apple Pay, we think your best option is Roo Vegas – which offers full Apple Pay integration on RC purchases, 1,000+ games, and some very competitive bonus offers.
If you’d like to give Roo Vegas a go for yourself, you can register using any of our official links in today’s article.
Yes – sweepstakes online casinos are legal in Australia, as these virtual currency-powered, no purchase necessary gaming sites are subject to different rules than traditional, “real money” casinos are. Just note that you can’t play cash-based games with sites like Roo Vegas. All gameplay takes place using GC and SC instead.
Yes – it’s widely trusted and also offers instant processing on GC purchases with Roo Vegas at the time of writing. Although sweeps sites don’t usually support Apple Pay on SC prize redemptions. So for those, you might want to consider Skrill or direct bank transfer instead.
If you came here looking for the fastest payout online casinos in Australia, it’s important to be aware that virtual currency based sweepstakes casinos don’t support conventional deposits and withdrawals as you and us know them. Instead, they offer opportunities to purchase optional GC bundles, and redeem eligible Sweeps Coins for real-world prizes. As it stands, Roo Vegas is the fastest sweeps site we’ve seen for both in AU, offering instant processing on RC purchases with most payment methods, and handling SC redemptions within an average of one to five working days.
