When a Canadian bank treats a casino deposit as a cash advance, you pay a fee on the spot and interest from the day it posts, with no grace period and no rewards. On a $300 deposit repaid after 30 days that’s about $9–$11 at big-bank terms before you place a bet.
Fee per deposit: $5 at CIBC (none for Quebec residents), the greater of $5 or 1% at BMO and Scotiabank, 1% ($3.50 minimum, $10 maximum) at TD. Bank by bank
Interest: 22.99%–23.99% at BMO, CIBC, TD and RBC, from the day the deposit posts; paying your statement on time doesn’t stop it. How interest works
Rewards: none on the cards we checked. Why
Which casino deposits count as cash advances?
Every online casino payment on a Visa card is coded as gambling before it reaches your bank. Visa’s Merchant Data Standards Manual (PDF) requires a merchant that takes online gambling payments to use merchant category code 7995 (“Betting, including Lottery Tickets, Casino Gaming Chips…”) for all its transactions.
Your bank then applies its own rules. TD’s cardholder agreement, 599186(0326) (PDF) lists casino gaming chips and gaming transactions, including betting, as cash-like transactions and says “We treat a Cash-Like Transaction as a Cash Advance.” Section 2 of RBC’s credit card agreement, 15912 (01/2026) (PDF) defines gaming transactions as cash-like, and section 4 lets RBC prevent “Transactions connected to online gambling”. BMO’s disclosure names gaming transactions outright (see the table below).
So a casino that says it charges no deposit fee doesn’t change anything: the advance fee and the interest come from your bank. Your bank can still decline the payment. For the full rule at each bank, see what your bank allows.
What each bank charges
| Bank | Fee per casino deposit | Cash-advance rate | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMO | 1% of the deposit, minimum $5 | 23.99% on most cards (21.99% in Quebec) | Cost-of-borrowing disclosure, 2 Jun 2026 (PDF); rates and fees |
| CIBC | $5 in Canada, $7.50 outside Canada; none for Quebec residents | 22.99% on most cards (21.99% in Quebec) | Summary of rates and fees 11995-2026/10, 14 Oct 2026 (PDF) |
| Scotiabank | The greater of $5 or 1% | Your card’s cash-advance rate | Credit card fees, effective 1 Feb 2026 |
| TD | 1%, minimum $3.50, maximum $10 (Cash Back Visa Infinite) | 22.99% (21.99% in Quebec) | Information box, undated (PDF); product page |
| RBC | Not in the agreement: check the information box that came with your card | 22.99% (Cash Back Mastercard) | Agreement 15912 (01/2026) (PDF); product page, read 31 Oct 2026 |
At BMO’s terms a $300 deposit left for 30 days costs $5 in fees plus $5.92 in interest: $10.92 before any bet. At TD the same deposit costs $3.50 plus $5.67, which is $9.17. On a $1,000 deposit both banks charge a $10 fee. Example only; your card’s fee and rate will differ.
Minimum fees make small, repeated deposits expensive: three $100 deposits at BMO, CIBC or Scotiabank cost $15 in fees, against $5 for one $300 deposit. If the casino’s payment processor is outside Canada, your bank may charge its foreign fee even when the cashier shows Canadian dollars (CIBC’s is $7.50); ask your bank before you deposit.
Interest starts the same day
“There is no interest-free grace period with cash advances,” says the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) in How credit cards work: you pay interest from the day of the advance until you pay it back in full. The banks’ own documents say the same. BMO’s disclosure gives “no interest-free grace period on … cash advances, including cash-like transactions and gaming transactions”, and TD’s agreement charges interest on cash advances from the transaction date “even if you pay your outstanding New Balance in full by the Payment Due Date”.
Outside Quebec, TD’s agreement also charges interest on the cash-advance fee from the day it posts. At BMO’s 23.99%, a $300 advance costs about 20 cents a day in interest until it’s paid.
Paying it off
Pay the advance in full as soon as it posts. If you only make the minimum payment, it may not reach the advance at all. FCAC’s guide to paying off your credit card says: “Typically, your minimum payment will apply to the portion of your balance with the lowest interest rate.” Anything you pay above the minimum goes either to the part of the balance with the highest interest rate or proportionally across the whole balance; your cardholder agreement says which (TD’s sets out its method in sections 4.4 and 4.5).
So if you already carry a purchase balance, a casino advance at 22.99%–23.99% can keep growing while your minimum payments clear the cheaper purchases. At BMO’s terms, $300 repaid after 7 days costs $6.38; left for 60 days it costs $16.83.
Winning doesn’t undo the cost
The cash-advance fee is not reversed by a later withdrawal, and accrued interest stays. At Jackpot City, Royal Vegas, Ruby Fortune and Spin Casino, winnings go to Visa, Interac e-Transfer or eCheck; Betway returns them to your deposit method where possible. A payout is a new payment to you, not a refund of the advance: even when it lands on the same Visa card, the fee and the interest already charged stay on your statement. See how each casino pays winnings.
The casino’s side of the fee
A casino’s own fees are a separate question from your bank’s. Here is what each Ontario casino we review publishes, A–Z.
| Casino | What its pages say about fees | Review |
|---|---|---|
| Betinia | The terms allow deposit and withdrawal fees but list no card charges; e-wallet deposits are described as free. | Betinia review |
| Betway | The terms say payment charges may apply; amounts are not published. | Betway review |
| Jackpot City | The FAQ says no internal fees; section 7.4 of the terms allows withdrawal charges. | Jackpot City review |
| LuckyDays | No deposit fee (help centre); withdrawal fees not published. | LuckyDays review |
| Royal Vegas | The FAQ says no deposit or withdrawal fees; section 7.4 of the terms allows withdrawal charges. A separate inactivity fee applies to dormant accounts. | Royal Vegas review |
| Ruby Fortune | No fee on standard transactions (payment FAQ); section 7.4 of the terms allows withdrawal charges. | Ruby Fortune review |
| Spin Casino | No full fee schedule; the terms reserve the right to charge for withdrawals. | Spin Casino review |
From each casino’s Ontario payment pages, FAQ and terms, read . A casino’s “no fees” never covers your bank’s cash-advance fee.
How to avoid the fee
- Pay from your bank account. Interac e-Transfer draws on your chequing account, so there’s no cash advance. Jackpot City, Royal Vegas, Ruby Fortune and Spin Casino list it for deposits and withdrawals, and Betinia lists Interac for deposits. Compare the two in Interac e-Transfer vs credit cards.
- Don’t route the card through a wallet. A credit card behind Apple Pay is still your credit card, charged by the casino under the gambling code, and Visa’s manual requires a payment that loads a gambling wallet to carry the same code.
- Ask your bank to lower or remove your cash-advance limit, so a casino deposit on credit can’t go through.
- Set a deposit limit in your casino account before your first deposit.
Check the casino is in iGaming Ontario’s directory before any deposit.
Do casino deposits earn rewards?
No, not on the cards we checked. TD’s Cash Back Program Terms, s. 2.1 (PDF) pay nothing on cash advances, including cash-like transactions, and the RBC Cash Back Program Terms (PDF) leave cash advances, gaming transactions included, out of the purchases that earn. Other banks’ programs are compared in do casino deposits earn credit-card rewards?
Put your own card’s fee and rate into the cash advance calculator to work out your own cost before you deposit.
Before you decide, read Should you use a credit card? and how casino borrowing can affect your credit score, and check what your bank allows. Using a credit card because your own money has run out is a warning sign, not a payment choice. Gambling problem? ConnexOntario is free and open 24/7: 1-866-531-2600 (or text CONNEX to 247247).
Sources
Each document below was read on 21 October 2026 unless a later date is shown.
- How credit cards work (FCAC, page dated 15 Oct 2025) — read 31 Oct 2026
- Paying off your credit card (FCAC, page dated 15 Oct 2025) — read 31 Oct 2026
- Visa Merchant Data Standards Manual (Visa) (PDF) — read 31 Oct 2026
- TD Cardholder Agreement, 599186(0326), March 2026 (PDF) — read 31 Oct 2026
- TD Cash Back Visa Infinite information box, rest of Canada, undated (PDF) — read 31 Oct 2026; all TD agreements: td.com/agreements
- TD Cash Back Visa Infinite product page and Quebec page (rates stated as current 30 April 2025)
- TD Cash Back Program Terms and Conditions (TD, undated) (PDF) — read 31 Oct 2026
- RBC Royal Bank Credit Card Agreement, 15912 (01/2026) (PDF) — read 31 Oct 2026
- RBC Cash Back Mastercard product page — read 31 Oct 2026
- RBC Cash Back Program Terms and Conditions (PDF) — read 31 Oct 2026
- BMO cost-of-borrowing disclosure (product transfer), 2 June 2026 (PDF) — read 31 Oct 2026; BMO rates and fees
- CIBC Credit Card Summary of Annual Interest Rates and Fees, 11995-2026/10, current as of 14 October 2026 (PDF) — read 31 Oct 2026
- Scotiabank credit card fees, effective 1 February 2026
- iGaming Ontario: regulated operators and gaming websites