The Rise of £5 Deposit Bingo Sites

Over the last few years there has been a big rise in 5 pound deposit bingo sites. The rise in popularity with these websites has been linked to the economic factors that the UK has faced over the last few years. As unemployment rose and the cost of living increased, peoples disposable income decreased. Naturally bingo players started to tighten their belt and therefore reduce the amount they would spend playing games online. A number of the big operators noticed this trend so acted and decided to do something about to keep new customers rolling through there doors. This lead to the invention of the £5 deposit bonus. The larger operators realised that most people would stretch to spending £5 instead of £10. They realised that a first deposit of £10 was seen as stretching things just a bit too far, hence the birth of the lower deposit bonus.

Really it is just a clever marketing ploy by new bingo sites to get new customers on board. As once you’ve signed up you’re then bombarded with a tempting array of big jackpots and other bonuses. The impact of a recession leads people to believe that they could win their way out of financial trouble, even though very few people would admit to that. So while it was initially seen as a small outlay, it often turned into bigger spending habits as people looked to win bigger and better prizes. Fortunately the UK Gambling Commission has since tightened the reigns on how bonuses are advertised and there are now very strict guidelines in place to stop ‘false advertising’. Of course, we are only talking about a small population of online players.

A 5 pound bingo website is ideal for those players who like to dip in and out. Where the bingo is more about the online engagement with others rather than trying to win big. It’s about playing a few games, chatting with your online roomies and watching your spend. Therefore a website which offers a deposit bonus with an initial spend of £5 is perfect. It will allow the individual to fully test all the games on offer. It will also allow you to happily play for longer as you have more bonus funds from your first deposit.

Naturally it is not all good news and there are a number of areas where extreme caution should be advised. It may seem obvious but the advert of ‘free money’ doesn’t actually mean ‘free money’ at all. The ‘money’ is bonus money, which is not real cash. This means if you seen an advert for ‘deposit £5 get £25 free’ you won’t get £25 in cash, but in bonus bucks. This will allow you to play all the games in the normal way but it does also have an affect on withdrawing your winnings.

If you were lucky enough to win then you’ll rightly want to withdraw your winnings. But virtually all websites have a wagering requirement. This means that in return for them giving you lots of ‘free money’ you’ll have to spend lots of money before making a withdrawal. The most common is four times your deposit + the bonus amount received. Here is an example £5 + £20 = £25 times 4 = £100. This means you’ll need to play through £100 before being able to withdraw the bonus funds you were awarded. To summerise while a five pound bingo site may seem like the perfect way to win with spending a little, the reality this may not be the case.

But its not just the initial bonus award that carries a wagering requirement. The bingo site you’ve just signed up to will also bombard you with emails and different promotions – usually advertising more bonus offers. Heres the catch, that bonus will carry a wagering requirement. It is often the case that a player will sign up, claim a bonus, play, claim another another bonus and then win. This time around however the wagering requirements have doubled from before, therefore making it near on impossible to withdraw the winnings – unless you spend nearly everything you’ve just won.

But in the not too distant future bonus awards could soon become a thing of the past. Later in 2017 the UK government is introducing a tax on all bonus awards that are given out by different bingo operators. The bonus to be taxed will be the ‘£20 free’ that you get when you initially become a customer at a new site. So what impact will this have? Ever since the launch of online bingo, bonuses have been a way to entice new customers. It is what generally tended to set one bingo site apart from another. Why join one website and get a £10 bonus when you could join another and get a £20 bonus? Also, comparison websites much like this one display the amount of bonus awarded. Its a tried and tested way for bingo players to test a site. But what will happen without it?

Well it may not all be totally bad news. Although you the player will no longer have the opportunity to ‘try before you buy’ there will no longer be those wagering requirements that are hidden in the terms and conditions. In theory this should eradicate complaints from players who are unable to claim their winnings after winning the jackpot. No bonuses will exist, so therefore no wagering requirements should exist. This can only be good news, as this transparency will help all parties understand what they can now withdraw.

But what will be on offer from the different bingo sites instead of a deposit bonus? This is a good question and there are rumours of gifts being offered. So instead of depositing £5 and getting a bonus award, instead you may well get a free mug or other type item. So are these bingo site owners becoming more generous? Sadly not. Items such as mugs and other goods are tax deductible, which means the website owner will get a break in their tax allowance. It is essentially another way for the website owner to avoid paying tax. So rather than offering a deposit bonus and get taxed every time it is awarded, they’ll use the initial outlay to buy the gifts and then get a tax break at the end of the year.

Where Are We Now with a £5 Deposit Bingo Bonus?

As things stand current bingo operators are still offering bingo bonuses to entice new customers. However the £5 deposit bonus is a rare beast. Various rules have changed recently, including the minimum deposit and withdrawal amounts. If a bingo site offers you a minimum £5 deposit then it also has to allow a minimum withdrawal of £5. These low minimums can be costly for the site owner so it is easier to simply stick with a £10 deposit bonus and avoid having to change all the terms and conditions on the website.

One interesting change has been the advent in recent times of the ‘wager free, winnings paid as real cash’ bonus offer. This can be found across numerous dragonfish sites. It seems like a pretty good deal, and compared to a lot of other offers it is a pretty good deal. However the headline offer can be a little misleading. The offer is usually ‘deposit £5 get X free bingo tickets plus get 5 spins’. No wagering requirements is excellent as is winnings paid as cash, so whats the catch? Well the winnings usually have a cap somewhere between £1-£2 so you’re hardly likely to get rich! So beware, because if you’re lucky enough to get a big win from your free spins you will not be able to claim it. Equally some of these sites apply wagering requirements to just the bingo bonus but not the free spins. It therefore always pays to check the terms and conditions.

One big rule change is not necessarily around the bonus structure, but more to do with payment methods. As from April 2019 all UK players are no longer allowed to deposit by credit card. This includes using a facility like PayPal or Neteller. The government and gambling bodies believed that credit cards were leading to some bingo players developing gambling addiction. The new rule changes around bonuses and the banning of credit card payments is seen as a way of helping to stop problem gambling.

One thing is for sure. With these new changes and lack of bonus awards to ‘try before you buy’ now could be the best time to try various bingo sites that have a low minimum deposit amount such as £5. However if you’re someone who still likes to bet big then we’d recommend taking a look at www.topoftheshopbingo.com as it covers all kinds of bingo sites and not just those with a lower minimum deposit.