iKoruna was a semi-popular payment method that allowed users to complete online transactions and money transfers. In other words, it was another e-wallet service. Based in Prague, iKoruna serviced millions of customers while specializing in international transactions, including sportsbook deposits and payouts. While they were never the most used service out there, they did make a name for themselves thanks to the swiftness and ease with which they could complete currency conversions. While no longer operational, it’s useful to know the ins and outs of how it worked, along with potential alternatives. That’s what we’ll cover here.

Our deep dive into iKoruna betting sites will include all of the following: 

• How did iKoruna betting work?
• Why did sportsbooks stop accepting iKoruna?
• Alternatives to iKoruna

iKoruna facts – How Did It Work?

iKoruna worked essentially like any other e-wallet. You would create an account, deposit money into it and then use iKoruna as an intermediary to complete transactions all over the world—just as you would with Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, etc. 

Unlike other e-wallets, iKoruna did specialize in currency conversion. There would be a small fee, but you could transfer euros into a United States bank account without much of an issue. Other services either charged much more for currency conversions or just wouldn’t do them because they only operated within a specific territory.

Signing up with iKoruna didn’t require you to enter payment information, but you needed it if you were going to send or receive money. You could deposit funds into your account using credit cards, bank accounts, wire transfers and even prepaid cards. That money could then be sent to just about anywhere or anyone in the world.

What Happened to iKoruna?

iKoruna has been shuddered for quite some time now. Their website isn’t even active anymore. While they never issued a specific reason for their closure, it’s not hard to discern: The competition became to difficult.

Other e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller and PayPal have cornered the market of online transactions. They are more widely available, easier to use and available to people in more territories. iKoruna was an international product, but it was still accessible on a limited basis. Customers in the United States, for instance, could only receive money and not send it. 

Plus, as far as sportsbooks go, iKoruna never became a mainstream payment method. If an online gaming site accepts one e-wallet, they typically take all of them. It didn’t work that way for iKoruna. They weren’t usable at every sportsbook, and actually using it often required you to initiate and process deposits and withdrawals over the phone, making for a more inconvenient transaction flow.

Contrary to many other e-wallets as well, iKoruna never gave you the option of opening a line of credit. Not all customers are looking for that pay-you-later model, but having the choice is valuable. It makes monitoring your account easier, because you don’t have to worry about spending only the amount that’s sitting there.

To nutshell it all: Too much competition coupled with limited availability and a lack of benefits relative to their rivals put iKoruna in a tough, ultimately untenable spot.

Are E-Wallets Like iKoruna Hard to Use at Sportsbooks?

This is a double-edged-sword topic. As we already mentioned, iKrouna was difficult to use with online bookies. They weren’t accepted everywhere, and customers need to go through extra steps to push their transactions through.

This is not the case for pretty much any other e-wallet. Most can be used wherever e-wallets are accepted. And in the vast majority of cases, you don’t have to take any extra steps. Deposits and withdrawals can be processed entirely online, without speaking to a customer service representative. The speed with which these transactions are completed is also quicker. Reviews show that iKoruna took a little more time to process money you were sending and receiving.

Which Sites Accepted iKoruna?

iKoruna isn’t in service anymore, but it’s still important to know which sportsbooks accepted them. Because if an online gaming site took them, the chances are good that they’ll take whatever e-wallet alternative you pivot to next. Here are our five favorite former iKoruna betting sites:

• Ladbrokes
• Bovada
• Sports Interaction

What Are Some Alternatives?

Figuring out an alternative to iKoruna isn’t especially difficult. The world is littered with reliable e-wallet services. Chief among them: PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Venmo, Apple Pay, Android Pay, Ecopayz, Samsung Pay, Click 2 Buy and Zelle.

If you’re in the market for an e-wallet that offers the option of using credit—following the appropriate check—then your options are a little slimmer. Our top choices in this case would be PayPal and Click 2 Buy.

Betting Strategies for E-Wallets Like iKoruna?

There is only one betting strategy worth mentioning for e-wallet gamblers: Deposit bonuses.

Getting free money on your first transaction is always important. You should never leave freebies on the table, after all. But e-wallet users are also subject to plenty of fees. While it doesn’t typically cost money for you to make deposits, you will be docked fees on certain withdrawals and when doing currency conversions. Deposit bonuses are an avenue you can use to make up the overhead.

As a general rule of thumb, target iKoruna betting sites that offer 50 percent or more back on your first deposit. You will also want to factor in the rollover stipulations, since it can often take some time before that free money actually becomes yours. Overall, though, you should mostly care about the total amount of your bonus. E-wallet bettors should then leave any sportsbooks that offer $25 or something tinier in their rear view mirror.

Safe betting – Are E-Wallets Secure?

Functional security is synonymous with e-wallets. It’s the entire reason people like to use them.

Opening up an e-wallet account does require you to enter sensitive financial information, including bank account or credit card numbers and sometimes social security numbers for United States bettors. But, after that, they’re basically the only site at which you should need to input that intel.

See, e-wallets act as a centralized form of banking. They store your financial information, and you then use the e-wallet information to complete transactions at whatever sites accept them. This means you won’t have to put in your actual bank account information or credit numbers at sportsbooks each time you go to complete a transaction. This spares you from a certain level of online exposure you wouldn’t be afforded if you were just storying, say, your Visa credit card number at a bunch of different online gaming sites.

Don’t get this twisted: iKoruna betting sites have top-shelf security of their own. They wouldn’t be in business if they didn’t. They deal with large amounts of inbound and outbound money every day. They prioritize protecting the information of their customers. But e-wallets put you in a position to rely on only one company to safeguard that intel, as opposed to a handful or more.

Our iKoruna conclusions – Find Your Alternative

Never Big in Sports Betting

Those in the market for a fresh sportsbook payment method needn’t lament the demise of iKoruna. They weren’t incredibly popular in the industry to begin with. Never mind the number of users—which was up there worldwide, but not in the sports-gambling industry itself. Relative to other e-wallet services, iKoruna was seldom accepted at enough online bookies to make it a worthwhile option for those looking to pay and play at multiple sites. It was really only a viable payment method for bettors who kept their business limited to a single sportsbook.

Plenty of Alternatives to iKoruna

There is no shortage of other e-wallet services from which to choose. You have PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Venmo, Apple Pay, Android Pay, Ecopayz, Samsung Pay, Click 2 Buy, Zelle and a bunch of others. Some e-wallets, unlike iKoruna, even give you the chance to open a line of credit, so you’re not limited to spending only what’s in your account.

Trust E-Wallets

On the fence about using e-wallets? Consider two scenarios. Scenario No. 1: You’re a sports bettor with accounts at six different online bookies. Every time you make a deposit or withdrawal request, you’re inputting your checking account number and bank routing number to complete the process. It is both time-consuming and, obviously, entails you providing information to a handful of different companies. 

Scenario No. 2: You’re still this same sports bettor. Only, this time, you have an account with, let’s say, PayPay They have your checking account information store so you can make quick transfers to and from your bank. You now use your PayPal account information to process deposits and withdrawals at your many sports-betting homes. And while you’re juggling all these different online-gaming memberships, you’re not once having to input or store your checking account information. PayPal does it for you. Put another way: Trust e-wallets as sportsbook payment methods. They’re safe and secure and convenient.