What a Cashback Bonus Is

An online casino cashback bonus is a percentage of the total amount of money that players lost and are credited back to them as a cash or bonus. For example, during any given month there may be $1,000 in total loss for all of the players who play at a particular online casino and then receive a 10% cashback for that month or 10% of their total monthly loss.

When determining the amount of the Casino Cashback Bonus at the end of the qualifying period (daily, weekly or monthly), the calculation is done on the net amount of cash lost or won by the player, and in the case of Casino Bonuses, they are only applied to Real Money real money play. Some casinos apply restrictions, such as not allowing certain game types, or limiting the cash amount to casino withdrawals. Some casinos have an "opt in" policy for players to participate in their cashback and can limit their cashback bonuses to specific currencies, or to a specific group of people.

Once a player receives a cashback bonus from an online casino, they are subject to wagering requirements, time restrictions and some exclusions based on how the cashback was credited to the player's account. In addition, the various deposits at the online casinos also have different deposit rules and requirements that limit how easily the players to cashout their cashback bonuses.

How Cashback Is Calculated

Important mathematical principles are used to determine a final return in most situations. In addition, most bonuses that provide cashback are based on a net loss scenario - that is, total stake amounts (minus) total win amounts on eligible games plus any withdrawals made during the promotional period before the calculation occurs. Although some gaming operators use the concept of “theoretical loss”, which calculates RTP for each game and uses it to determine the theoretical loss as opposed to an actual net loss, it is much less frequent and must be properly addressed in the terms of the promotion.

Additionally, when a casino provides cashback bonuses, it may exclude winnings from specific bets, such as winning the jackpot, or exclude losses from certain types of bets placed on specific games, such as bonus buys on selected games. Because there are different calculations used for establishing the value of the cashback, it is therefore possible for two casinos that advertise the same percentage rate of cash-back bonuses to each generate different amounts of cashback credits for identical wager patterns.

Net loss and exclusions

In most net loss calculations, voided bets, cancelled rounds, and other promotional play will not count; additionally, cash back online casinos exclude from their net loss calculations any stakes that were placed using bonus funds, so only cash wagered is used to calculate net losses. The most common game types excluded from net loss calculations include progressive jackpot slot machines, some live dealer casino games, and certain high RTP video poker games. 

If a cashback casino bonus applies only to a specific selection of games, typically that selection is based on the provider supplying the games; some of the providers typically included in the eligible list for cashback bonuses include NetEnt, Microgaming, Pragmatic Play, Play'n GO and Evolution, with variances determined by operator and location.

Caps and minimum thresholds

There are cashback bonuses (also called “rebate”) that usually include a limit on the amount that can be earned (for example, there may be weekly limits based on EUR, GBP, or CAD). Additionally, it is not uncommon to have minimum net loss thresholds that must be met before a cashback bonus is paid. A cashback bonus with a low percentage and high maximum would be beneficial to someone who plays many games. Conversely, if one earned a high percentage but had a small maximum, the bonus would likely generate a very limited return after quickly meeting the threshold.

When Cashback Applies

An event-based cashback offer can also exist, an individual casino may establish a required timing for awarding daily and/or weekly cashback bonus offers; typically, a daily cashback bonus will be awarded at a set time (for example, 12:00 AM UTC (Universal Time Coordinated)) and a weekly cashback bonus could be settled on Monday for the previous week (i.e., Monday through Sunday) of play, however, in some cases such as in the event of non-compliance with online gambling laws, the casino will be required to withhold the bonus payment until the account has been verified.

Many casinos now operate event-based cashback bonuses tied to special events such as wagering on an event-based tournament, launching a new provider, or promotional offers on a live dealer casino. An event-based bonus may establish a different qualification period for the bonus than a daily or weekly bonus and/or the eligible games (example: roulette only) could restrict the games that qualify for an event-based bonus to a limited number of slot games (for example: a group of slot games).

Opt-in and eligibility

Players who meet the loss limit may also have their eligibility impacted by the opt-in rule as it relates to receiving cashback bonuses; if for example, a casino requires a player to have activated a cashback bonus prior to wagering by using the promotions area of the account to do so and have requested a withdrawal previously, they cannot receive a cashback bonus because they are not in the same residence as the primary account holder. 

European online casinos also usually categorize their cashback offer into different sublicensed entities/group according to the specific licensing/country of their operating organization(s) (e.g. Gibraltar, Malta, Isle Of Man) as the applicable country's regulations will affect both how a casino will present any cashback bonuses offered to the customer and if that customer has met the eligibility requirements to receive that bonus. There are many other restrictions to eligibility in each jurisdiction as well from local government/agency specific directives in addition to limits imposed by their responsible gaming, self exclusion and/or affordability testing requirements.

Credit Types and Restrictions

There are different ways Cashback is provided which can be in the form of cash, bonus funds, or free spins. Cash will generally be available for immediate withdrawal, but in some cases, there will still be a limit on how much you can withdraw on a daily or weekly basis. Bonus funds generally require you to wager before you can withdraw them, and wagering requirements will vary widely between different operators and different types of players.

Some cashback bonus casinos will provide you with a portion of the credit as cash and the other portion as a bonus. Another common practice with cashback bonuses is that a portion of your cashback will be held until you complete the minimum number of wagering cycles on eligible games before you can access that part of your credit.

Wagering and game contribution

Turning bonus funds into cashable amounts depends on the amount of turnover required, as determined by the wagering rules. For example, with regard to slots, 100% of each wager contributes toward the turnover, whereas with table games, only 0%-20% of each wager counts toward the turnover; there are even some live dealer games that do not contribute at all toward a person's turnover toward cashing out of their bonus funds. A cashback bonus online casino may also have a maximum bet size limitation while the cashback bonus is valid, such as the maximum dollar amounts for each spin bet or each hand bet.

The amount of time available to complete the wagering requirements for a cashback bonus is also an important consideration. For example, if a cashback bonus will take an individual 24, 72, or 7 days to complete, if their time period for completing the wagering has expired, they will no longer be able to cash out with the remaining bonus after they finished their wagering.

Free spins as cashback

 Casinos that offer cashback bonuses may offer "free" spins—rather than awarding a cash credit to your account—on specific games or types of slots, where the value will be determined by what your total stake was for the spin and how volatile that particular slot is. So if you received a "free" set of 50 spins (50 x fixed amount), there will be many different results (or outcomes) from those 50 spins and either the winnings from those spins will be "capped" or they can be "converted" to either cash within your casino account (with a corresponding play-through requirement) or as a "bonus."

Games Commonly Included

A variety of standards exist for qualifying to obtain cashback bonus funds with most being geared towards video slot machines because of their relative ease to track & having simple rules for contribution. Live gaming dealers can be part of a casino's cashback bonus program, such as blackjack and/or roulette, but in some cases the contribution amounts for those games will be less than the slot totals, and at times the offer might only apply to some tables.

If an internet casino offers cashback bonuses, they may limit video poker games because video poker games normally have the lowest house edge as well as providing the highest RTP rate. That way, the casino can attempt to control breaches of the bonuses offered. Some casinos also prohibit buy-a-bonus type of play on video slots because these types of plays create a fundamentally altered return on player and expected average payout.

• Starburst by NetEnt
• Gonzo’s Quest by NetEnt
• Book Of Dead by Play’n GO
• Sweet Bonanza by Pragmatic Play
• Big Bass Bonanza by Pragmatic Play
• Immortal Romance by Microgaming
• Lightning Roulette by Evolution
• Crazy Time by Evolution
• Monopoly Live by Evolution
• Dream Catcher by Evolution

Payment Methods and Timing

 payment type/s used. Operators may credit the cashback to the player prior to actual withdrawal of any money only if the wagering has been completed and the necessary documentation has been validated. The removal time will depend on the evaluation process conducted by the operator, the type of payment used (e.g., cheque, ACH, credit/debit card, etc.) and the payment type that was used.

Most operators offering cashback bonuses or other forms of incentives provide a wide variety of payment options for players. Players may choose from several different types of cards (credit/debit), bank accounts (checking/savings), e-wallets (PayPal, Neteller, Moneybookers, etc.), and cryptocurrencies. However, while some payment types provide relatively faster withdrawal times, they may have higher fees or may require more extensive verification before a player may access their funds. Cashback bonuses may also only apply to deposits made using specific payment methods and may not apply to the use of prepaid debit cards.

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Skrill
• Neteller
• PayPal
• Bank Transfer
• Trustly
• MuchBetter
• Paysafecard
• Bitcoin
• Ethereum

Terms That Change the Outcome

Small provisions can affect how much cash back will be earned. Item caps determine how much credit will be given for high-loss periods, and Minimum Loss Thresholds establish a level below which the player does not qualify for any positive return. Restrictions can limit which sessions are used in determining cash back – specifically sessions on progressive slot machines, or specific live dealer tables.

Another provision is that some casinos may utilize "negative carryover" where if the net win during a week is positive, it would offset net loss from the previous week, thus potentially resulting in no cash back to the player the following week. Generally, the provisions related to negative carryover are included in the promotional rules, however, they can often times be easily overlooked.

Max bet and irregular play

A wagering limit might be in place and will limit the maximum amount that can be wagered using any bonus cash, so if the maximum amount has not been adhered to, the amount of winnings may be reduced, or you may lose the entire bonus. Sometimes you may find that "unusual play" clauses appear in the terms and conditions of your cashback casino and can include things like low-risk hedging across all of the games, or switching from high to low volatility games in order to hit less risk for meeting play-through requirements.

In online casinos offering cashback bonuses, these automatic checks can include flags for unusual sized bets, rapid changes in stake, as well as repeated patterns of using specific low variance strategies on eligible games.

Cashback Compared With Other Bonus Types

Online casino cashback bonuses are different than other types of bonuses, such as deposit match bonuses or free spins. Unlike a traditional welcome bonus (which is typically a first deposit offer with a specified match percentage and a set number of times you must wager the total amount), cashback is an ongoing bonus based on your results over time. A no deposit bonus typically comes in the form of free spins or a small balance of cash that you receive after creating an account with an online casino but does not come with an actual deposit.

While you may be able to take advantage of both types of casino bonuses, the promotion that is currently available to you will determine if you can use one over the other. For example, some casinos do not allow players to have more than one bonus at one time, which means that you may not be able to use a cashback bonus if the welcome bonus is still active. Other casinos will allow players to have both a cashback bonus and a deposit bonus at the same time, but will only calculate the cashback bonus on cash wagers placed at the casino and not on any play made with bonus funds.

Stacking and priority rules

Some casinos apply the oldest casino bonus balance first when determining whether or not your cashback has been earned from the previous day’s gaming session. Thus, how quickly your credit from the cashback bonus can be withdrawn by you is greatly affected by this rule. Some casinos will view any free spins winnings as casino bonus funds or ‘wagering’ before they issue the cashback based on an average daily winning.

Once a casino has issued your cashback based on the relevant rules concerning promotion ranking, these subsequent promotions may not be eligible for any type of promotional withdrawal until after you have completed your initial promotion’s required wagerings.

Examples of Realistic Outcomes

A casino offers a 10% cashback bonus on net losses for a week, essentially giving players 2 days of play for the price of one. Each week's net loss amount is verified after the week ends; therefore, a player who loses $100 today will receive a total of $100 worth of cashback at week's end based on each of their eligible wagers. When determining the total amount of the cashback, the maximum total that may be issued as cashback will be limited to their weekly cashback amount and will not include any additional loss amounts. The amount of the player’s next week's wagering credit for the current week's total may also exceed the total amount of their current week's cashback by several times.

If a player has a cashback at an online casino calculated to be based on net loss after that week subtracting from their net loss, if they withdraw funds in the middle of the week then they will have lower net losses than at the end of each week, therefore the cash bank will be reduced, based on how much was withdrawn. The operator also can apply a negative carry over, resulting in having any profit in the current week reducing their cashback for the next week, if that statement is included in their bonus rule.

Licensing and Player Protection

The licensing authority has an influence on the presentation of promotions and on the resolution of disputes. Many online casinos in Europe are licensed by either the Malta Gaming Authority or the UK Gambling Commission, but there are many others that are licensed by Gibraltar, Isle of Man and Curaçao. Depending on the license, requirements such as how cashback promotions are presented, how complaints are escalated and the form of identity verification required prior to cashing out may be affected.

For example, cashback bonuses offered by casinos that are licensed under stricter jurisdictions may require the player to be verified before any of the bonus funds can be converted to cash and may have limitations on the amount of funds deposited as well as the value of the sessions played that will indirectly determine eligibility by limiting total wagering during any qualifying period.

• Malta Gaming Authority
• Uk Gambling Commission
• Gibraltar Regulatory Authority
• Isle Of Man Gambling Supervision Commission
• Curaçao Egaming

Responsible Gambling and Limits

Cashback offers have the potential to impact safer gambling tools (e.g., deposit limits, loss limits, and session limits) by reducing the qualifying volume of a player's account, or modifying how much of a threshold must be cleared before becoming entitled to receive cashback.

Some operators have exclusions for play in cool-off periods from being included in the cashback calculation. Most self-exclusions will also terminate any outstanding credit due to the player based on a promotion.

A cashback bonus online casino may have other restrictions on account eligibility based on reviews for "affordability checks" and/or enhanced due diligence, which will impede (or possibly prevent) an account-holder's ability to withdraw funds from the account while performing a review for eligibility (or not eligible?) and/or waiting for the completion of a review, and some operators will not release bonus cashback credits until such reviews have been performed.

Closing Notes on Cashback

A cashback bonus has many features that will define the aspects involved: Method of calculation, qualifying games, caps and conversions. The advantage of a casino cashback bonus as cash, with nowagering, is very straightforward as compared to the transaction being as bonus funds with a playthrough requirement and an expiration. The end result of the transaction will determine at what point after a deposit the player can remove funds and whether or not any winnings from the credit that are created multiple from a credit will have a cap on them.

Before opting in look at the amount of time it takes for settlement and how to check the amounts involved. Some casinos will show on their promotion page the period of time that the bonus is included in the qualifying window (for example Monday 00:00 - Sunday 23:59 in the time zone of the account) and then the casino will credit the account for the bonus within 24 - 72 hours. In the terms and conditions if the words "voided bets", "bonus balance wagers", or "reversed transactions" have been used, treat these adjustments as types of transactions that would be used to derive the calculation of the final net loss to be used for the cashback bonus calculation.

Keep, if possible, a record of the deposits made to the casino, the amount of money withdrawn from the casino, and what type of games were played during the period of time in which the cashback calculation is being used. Keeping a simple record of the date, amount, and type of game will make it easier for you to reconcile any discrepancies with your credited amount if it appears that your credited amount is lower than expected. A casino may apply different contribution rates to your deposits for slot, table, and live dealer games.