Using a Scotiabank Account for Internet Gambling in 2023

Table of Contents

• Brief History of ScotiaBank – How Scotiabank rose from humble beginnings to “Canada’s most international bank”.
• Scotiabank Branch Locations – Learn about Scotiabank’s 950+ branches and 3,700+ ABMs in Canada, plus international offices in 45+ countries.
• Financial Offerings – Discover all the different ways Scotiabank provides account and credit/debit card services to its customers.
• Success of iGaming Payments – Find out why Scotiabank is known for its intolerance of payments to international online gambling websites.
• Other Ways to Pay w/ Scotiabank – ScotiaCard gambling payments have a low success rate, but we’ll teach you other ways to deposit and withdrawal with a Scotiabank account.
• The Bottom Line – A concise summary of Bank of Nova Scotia’s online gambling opportunities and obstacles.

Scotiabank Then and Now – A Tale of Acquisitional Growth

Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in Halifax in 1832. It was a bustling town in those days; by far the largest in all of Nova Scotia, which was, at the time, home to well over half of Upper Canada’s entire population (approx. 161,700 out of 263,550). Trans-Atlantic trade was critical to the region’s economy, and the primary intent of the bank’s founders.

Over the next hundred and fifty years, much of the bank’s growth came by way of new branch openings. In 1883 they made their first acquisition, taking over Union Bank of Prince Edward Island. Very few acquisitions took place after that, with the only major purchases being Metropolitan Bank of Canada (1914) and the Bank of Ottawa (1919). It wasn’t until 1994, almost two decades after the official Scotiabank rebranding, that the board took on a genuine acquisitional stance towards growth. 

First, it was an investment strategy, beginning with the purchase of Montreal Trust Company (1994) and National Trust Company (1997). Soon enough, it became a method of achieving global enterprise. From 1997 to 2018, Scotiabank bought up bank networks in Great Britain, Mexico, Peru, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile. Today, the bank serves more than 23 million customers, from over 2,000 branches and 3,700+ ABMs, spanning 46 countries.

Scotiabank Branch Banking Locations in Canada

According to branch records at time of writing, Scotiabank operates 973 branches and just over 1,100 ABMs in Canada. Branch locations exist in all 10 provinces. Two of the three territories, with the exception of Nunavut, also boast a Bank of Nova Scotia branch, but they’re scarce, to put it mildly. You’ll find just one in the Northwest Territories, situated in the capitol city of Yellowknife. Similarly, a single branch occupies the main thoroughfare of Whitehorse, Yukon.

• Alberta (137)
• British Columbia (134)
• Manitoba (31)
• New Brunswick (38)
• Newfoundland and Labrador (36)
• Northwest Territories (1)

• Nova Scotia (52)
• Ontario (437)
• Prince Edward Island (7)
• Quebec (62)
• Saskatchewan (37)
• Yukon (1)

Bank of Nova Scotia Accounts and Bank Card Services

Scotiabank supplies a full financial product suite. From personal, savings and business accounts, to credit and debit cards, to borrowing and investing – Scotiabank has it all (except prepaid cards, oddly enough).

Canada’s iGaming community will find a Scotiabank chequing account and/or bank card fulfills all their international payment needs; indirectly perhaps, but fulfilling nonetheless. 

Account Services

Opening a new account with Scotiabank is quick and painless. All you need is a verifiable identity. You can even set it up over the web. Once you’re account is open, you can manage it online through the Scotiabank website or convenient mobile app.

Scotiabank Bank Accounts

Choose from personal, savings, student accounts and more. Every Scotiabank account features online and mobile access, mobile cheque deposits, a Visa debit with Interac Flash, mobile payment options (Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay), and free credit score check.

Chequing Accounts

• Scotiabank Basic Plus Bank Account:
       “Basic Account with Value-Added Features” ($11.95/mo; $0 w/$3k balance)
• Scotiabank Preferred Package:
       “Our Most Popular Features” ($16.95/mo; $0 w/$4k balance)
• Scotiabank Ultimate Package:
       “Offers Homeowners More Value” ($30.95/mo; $0 w/$5k balance)
• Scotiabank Student Banking Advantage:
       “Worry-Free Account Matched for Student Life” ($0.00/mo)
• Scotiabank Getting There Savings Program for Youth:
       “Building Healthy Financial Habits Early” ($0.00/mo)

Savings Accounts

• Scotiabank Savings Accelerator Account:
       “Grow Your Savings Faster” (IR 0.20-1.30%)
• Scotiabank Money Master Savings Account:
       “Everyday Savings Account” (IR 0.01%)
• Scotia U.S. Dollar Daily Interest Account:
       “Make Your US Dollars Go Further” (IR 0.00-0.05%)
  

Credit Cards

Scotiabank really shines when it comes to credit card selection. They offer multiple brands, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Each card has a target audience, benefiting everyone from average individuals and students, to shoppers, travelers and cash back connoisseurs. Due to membership and/or enrollment qualifications, we’ve categorized credit cards designated for partner brands and students at the bottom of the list.

Success Rate of Gambling Online with Scotiabank

Following a change to its policies and user agreements in 2017, the institution no longer supports bank card or EFT online gambling payments at international websites. An exception is carved out for domestic gambling sites authorized by provincial regulators. So, you won’t experience any payment issues gambling at Canada’s provincial iGaming sites. Unfortunately, our personal experience and ongoing research indicates no payments are making it to/from offshore gambling site.

Success Rate: 0%

The text of the Scotiabank Day-to-Day Banking Companion Handbook, current as of March 2023, clearly states:

What this means is that; 1) Scotiabank can automatically decline to facilitate any payment to/from an unauthorized gambling website, [e.g. operating from outside Canada, without a provincial licence]; and 2) in extreme cases, Scotiabank can, at will and without notice, freeze a member’s account for depositing to or withdrawing funds from any unauthorized gambling websites.

Long story short, it’s not even worth attempting to make a direct deposit with your Scotiabank account or card. This applies only to direct payments between Scotiabank and online gambling operators outside Canada. For reference, a direct payment is a purchase made with a Scotiabank credit card, debit card, or bank wire transfer (EFT).

That’s not to say you simply can’t gambling online with Scotiabank. There are a number of indirect ways you can still use your Scotiabank account to gambling online. We’ll discuss these in the next section.

Other Methods of Scotiabank Deposits & Withdrawals

You can still gambling online with a Scotiabank account, so long as you facilitate your payments indirectly. How do you send or receive an indirect payment? By funneling the funds through another method first.

Most people would simply turn to an eWallet, but they can be slow, expensive, or both. Scotiabank has partner relationships with a number of inter-banking network systems that provide much faster and cheaper, if not entirely free, payment solutions. They include Canadian exclusive banking options like Interac, iDebit and InstaDebit. 

Interac

Interac is Canada’s number one payment solution, hands down. It’s so commonplace in today’s market, and yet, many people don’t even know they’re using it. Built in 1984 by the Big Five Banks of Canada, Interac started out as a way for those banks to transfer money between their branches faster, more securely, and without any fees. Now, the same advantages of Interac are available to all of Canada. Best of all, when you make an Interac Online or Interac eTransfer payment, Scotiabank doesn’t scrutinize it. Thus, Interac iGaming payments always work, and rarely cost anything. 

iDebit

iDebit is another bank-to-bank payment method exclusive to Canada. When you choose iDebit, you’re creating a direct link between the merchant and your Scotiabank account, but without alerting Scotibank of the payment’s purpose. If it’s not labeled for “gambling purposes“, it won’t be rejected. Essentially, iDebit shields the transfer from the bank’s prying eyes, and at the same time, shields your banking details from the gambling website. Just like Interac, you won’t need to register an iDebit account to use it. iDebit is already integrated into your Scotia online banking account, so it just works.

InstaDebit

InstaDebit is virtually the same as iDebit. It shields your bank info from gambling sites, and your gambling payments from Bank of Nova Scotia. However, there are two very distinct differences. First, users will need to register an account with InstaDebit before they can use it. Second, there are small fees attached to some services. When registering, account verification can take a few days, but once it’s done, the service works flawlessly to secure payments to/from online merchants. Plus, most online gambling sites that accept InstaDebit deposits also support InstaDebit withdrawals.

The Bottom Line

Scotiabank is one of the least receptive banks when it comes to online gambling at international websites. The bank is known for its unwavering intolerance of Scotiabank Visa online gambling deposits and bank wire withdrawals. Try as you might, expect a 100% rate of failure. We don’t recommend trying at all, since the bank explicitly reserves the right to freeze your account without notice.

But it’s not all bad news. Thanks to less restrictive banking network solutions like Interac, iDebit and InstaDebit, you can still gamble online with a Scotiabank account as your funding source.