Outside of Coral Betting ShopI’m willing to bet (no pun intended) that there are quite a few people out there that are casual punters and place bets with online bookmakers that have on-street shops, but don’t connect the two things in their heads. People place bets online, people place bets in shops. Not everyone realises that the wins you get online have winnings attached that can be withdrawn from shops, nor that you can make a payment to your online account at the counter of the high street shop.

We disassociate these things, often placing one type of bet with our online account and other bets with the real-life version of those online bookmakers. Here, I’ll tell you how they’re linked and which shops boast the ability to interlink your online account with the high street store. Hopefully as I do so, what I’m talking about will become clearer for you!

Which Bookies Link Online to In-Store?

Not every bookmaker that has an online presence also has a shop on the high street that you can pop into, so if you haven’t seen a Betvictor shop near you, for example, then there’s no point in wandering along hoping to be able to withdraw your winnings from that weekend’s accumulator. What makes things more complicated, though, is that some bookies are linked together thanks to mergers and acquisitions that have taken place over the years.

That means that Betfair customers, say, might not see a shop with ‘Betfair’ on the front of it but can still make a deposit into their online account courtesy of the fact that the company has joined forces with Paddy Power and Paddy Power does have a high street presence. Not making much sense? Here’s a handy table that will tell you which bookmaker has a real life banking option and how it’s done:

Bookmaker High Street Presence? How Many Shops? Can You Deposit to Online Account? Can You Withdraw from Online Account? What’s the Service Called?
Coral Yes ~1800 Yes Yes Coral Connect
Ladbrokes Yes ~2300 Yes Yes The Grid
William Hill Yes ~2300 Yes Yes William Hill Plus
Betfred Yes ~1300 Yes Yes – As Long As You’ve Deposited In-Store No Name
Paddy Power Yes ~130 Yes Yes PaddyPower Cash Card
Betfair No – Can Be Done In Paddy Power Stores ~130 Yes No None

A Closer Look at Each Company’s System

As is often the case with such things, there’s a lot more to how each company does things that the above table can demonstrate. Here’s a more in-depth look at what each bookmaker does and doesn’t allow you to do in terms of using their physical locations for the purposes of banking.

Coral – Coral Connect

Coral ConnectThe Coral Connect system is designed to be all-encompassing, removing the need for you to worry about how you place your bets. Whether you bet online on a desktop computer, using the company’s mobile app, with a telephone account or by popping into one of their stores, all of your funds will be in the same place. Obviously, you need to remember to give the person in the shop your Coral Connect card if you’re wanting to the funds in your online account, otherwise they won’t have a clue that you’ve got one!

With Coral Connect, you can deposit cash in one of their shops, of which there are just shy of two-thousand, before then using that cash to make bets online. The reverse of that is that you can collect any winnings you’ve got from a bet you made online when you’re in the Coral shop. It’s pretty much immediate too, with the withdrawal being available almost as soon as the bet you placed has been settled. This is ideal if you’re on your on your way out for the night and need some funds! On top of all of that, you’ll also get access to offers that exclusive to those with Coral Connect cards.

Ladbrokes – The Grid

Ladbrokes the GridThe Grid is Ladbrokes’s answer to Coral Connect, making things different by taking them to a slightly more technologically advanced stage. You can do the same things as Coral in terms of depositing cash into your online account in-store and withdrawing winnings in any of the two-thousand plus Ladbrokes shops around the country, but you can also use their app to keep track of the bets that you’ve placed in-person rather than on your mobile.

When I talk about using advanced technology, that’s because you can scan your betting slip with your mobile and track your bets, as well as Cash Out accumulators when you’re on the go. The app can allow your phone to operate as your Grid card or fob, too. When you place bets using the Grid or use your card in the machines in-store you’ll earn points, with points giving you the chance to win prizes. You’ll also get free bets and other offers emailed or sent to you via text, meaning that it makes sense to get yourself a card for the Grid if you’ve got a Ladbrokes account.

William Hill – William Hill Plus

William Hill PlusWilliam Hill Plus is the classic bookmaker’s take on the same subject as the Grid and Coral Connect. What you can do is virtually identical with the only real difference being the bookie you’re doing it with. It’s perhaps closer linked to Ladbrokes than Coral, thanks to the fact that you can deposit and withdraw funds as well as keep track of the bets you’ve made in-store, including having the ability to Cash Out bets you made in the shop and have the winnings go to your online account.

You can use funds in your online account to make bets in-store, without the need to withdraw money and place bets with cash. The William Hill Plus app also allows you to keep track of countless sporting events, with in-depth statistics readily available. There’s also a Live Scores feature, meaning that if you’re considering whether or not to Cash Out a bet then you’ll have a good idea what’s taking place in the event that you’ve bet on. William Hill Plus is designed to be a one-stop-shop for your betting needs, wherever you place said bets.

Betfred

Betfred Pay In ShopIt probably tells you quite a lot about Betfred’s approach to things that haven’t given the ability to do stuff with your online account in-store a fancy name. Their approach is far more functional than fun. You can withdraw funds from your Betfred online account, for example, but only if you’ve deposited funds into that account in a shop first.

You can only make one withdrawal a day and if you want to take out more than £250 then you’ll need to give the store twenty-four hours notice. Of all of the various schemes and systems, Betfred’s is one that feels as though they’ve done it because other companies have, rather than because they think it’s a way to win customers.

Paddy Power – PaddyPower Cash Card

Paddy Power Cash CardWhen it comes to Paddy Power, it’s important to realise that there are two different cards on offer from the Irish bookmaker. Paddy Power PPlus is a pre-paid MasterCard that you can link to your Paddy Power online account balance and then use it in normal shops, like Tesco or Curry’s, or to withdraw money from cash machines. It’s different to the Cash Card, which can be used to make withdrawals from your Paddy Power online account when you’re in a Paddy Power shop.

The Paddy Power Cash Card can also be used to make deposits into your online account, but the PPlus Card can’t be. The Cash Card can also be used to earn loyalty Rewards, which will see you given the chance to win prizes and other benefits. If you’re wondering, you can have both a Paddy Power PPlus Card and a Paddy Power Cash Card, so there’s no need to limit yourself on what you can do. In terms of the competition, this feels more like a halfway house between Betfred’s lack of interest in a link between their shop and online services and the all-in methods of Ladbrokes, Coral and William Hill.

Betfair

Betfair Paddy Power Pay InsA lot of bookmakers that don’t have high street shops just don’t bother with any kind of link between their online accounts and the real world, so it’s admirable that Betfair have at least tried to find a way to bring them together.

Sadly, it’s a bit of a half-hearted attempt, offering you the ability to deposit money into your Betfair account by going into a Paddy Power store with your Betfair account number and some ID and asking them to do it for you, but you can’t withdraw any money from your online account. It’s better than nothing, but it’s unlikely to persuade you to bet with Betfair over other companies.

Are There Fees to Pay?

The short answer to this question is ‘no’. The slightly longer answer is that it depends which company you’re using and what you want to do with your account. For straight depositing and withdrawing, you won’t encounter any fees, but if you wanted to use your PPlus Card for transactions involving the Foreign Exchange, as an example, then you’ll be charged a 1% fee.

What Else Do You Need to Know?

There are minimum deposits and withdrawals involved with each of the various systems offered by bookmakers. With William Hill and Betfred both the minimum deposit and minimum withdrawal amount is £10, whilst it’s the same figure to deposit money with Betfair and Paddy Power. Paddy Power’s minimum withdrawal amount is just £1, which is the same as Ladbrokes’s minimum deposit. Ladbrokes’s minimum withdrawal amount is the same as the minimum deposit and withdrawal for Coral, which is £5.

When it comes to the most you can withdraw in a day, each company has a different approach to the matter. Obviously, it’s not applicable to Betfair, but Betfred are the next lowest at £250. Coral will let you take out £500, with Paddy Power and Ladbrokes setting their maximum withdrawal per day at £1000. William Hill are by far the most generous, letting you take out a maximum of £5000.

Should You Use Betting Shops to Deposit and Withdraw Funds?

There’s no right or wrong answer to the question of whether or not you should deposit and withdraw funds in a physical betting shop. A lot of it depends on how much you tend to bet and what you normally do with your winnings. If you’re the sort of person who likes to withdraw their winnings and just keep their original stake rolling over, then this will almost certainly allow you to do that much quicker than waiting for bank transfers or debit card withdrawals to come through. Likewise if you like to head out for a night on the tiles with some cash in your back pocket then the ability to get your hands on that day’s winnings will serve you well.

If, on the other hand, you’re not very disciplined at stopping yourself from putting on a bet if you’re inside a betting shop then heading there to withdraw your funds probably isn’t the smartest idea. That’s also true if you’re not very good at keeping track at what you’ve spent your money on, thanks to the ability to deposit cash into your online account in-store. Yes you’ll be able to place bets with that money, but if you had £50 left over from doing a big shop and went to the betting store to pay it into your online account you might not remember what happened to it later. All told, I think the ability to deposit and withdraw in-store makes life much easier, but you’ll have your own reasons for either liking or hating the fact that you can do it.