In the early days of internet gambling getting money in and out of the gaming sites was pretty easy. You used your credit card to deposit and then back again when you wanted to withdraw your monies. Due in part to fraud but more specifically due to pressure from US legislators that option is (largely) no longer available: the credit card companies, or rather the banks behind them, have backed away from internet gaming for the foreseeable future.

After a bit of uncertainty a new solution has emerged that provides almost universal funding access to the internet gaming sites without the direct involvement of the credit card companies: third party accounts or "transfer sites" as they are sometimes called.

The idea behind third party (3P) accounts is deceptively simple: you sign up at one of the 3P account services --such as Neteller, Firepay or Citadel-- and deposit money to that account from your credit card. From there on in it acts as a virtual bank account from the casinos point of view. When you register with a casino or poker room you fund your gaming account from the 3P account. And when you make a withdrawal from the gaming site it goes back to your 3P account. The credit card companies are no longer directly involved with the gambling sector so they're happy and you can move your money freely to and from your 3P account so you're happy too. Everybody wins.

The best news is that getting paid can be even easier than depositing money. For instance Neteller has offered an "instant" checkout process whereby they'll guarantee that your withdrawal from a casino or poker site will be "instantaneous" if you funded that account from Neteller to begin with. In truth most people report a delay of minutes or even a few hours but that's a far cry from the days or weeks that used to be the norm when dealing with credit card funded transactions. Unfortunately this service is only available at a few casino or poker sites but it's reasonable to expect that that will improve over time.

On the withdrawal side it's advisable to set up your 3P account such that it has access to your checking account at a bank. Once the 3P service has verified your bank account transfers to and from are fast and painless.

The success of the 3P services has been significant, but it isn't flawless. Neteller for instance is quite picky about identity verification. They want you to be living and logging on from the same address that appears on your credit card and bank account. If you're not then things can get sticky, very sticky. Be prepared to fax copies of your passport, birth certificates, driver's license and so forth in order to satisfy their security department's requirements. And there's no point arguing that they're not supposed to ask for that kind of documentation: they'll simply say that they're "unable to serve you at this time" and that's that. They've in control in this situation and they know it.

To find out what funding options are available to you simply check your casino or poker room's site. They usually list the funding and 3P options that they offer right on the front page.