Pin Up Casino Testing: Third Time’s a Charm?

It’s been more than a year and a half since our huge project “From the Players, for the Players” went live, introducing players to deposit and withdrawal practices at almost 150 online casinos and bingo rooms. With the help of our members, we carefully selected those brands, making sure to include both reputable operators and the ones involved in malpractices.

If you’ve followed the project since the very beginning, you probably remember that Pin Up Casino was the one to break the ice. As the brand is currently on the warning list due to offering fake games, we decided to test it multiple times to see if the company is willing to turn over a new leaf and improve the quality of services. We tasked three different testers to go through the entire procedure- registration, identity verification, deposit, and withdrawal.

While the first test conducted in February 2021 was marked with delayed payments and unresponsive customer support, a slight improvement was spotted in the second test, which took place more than a year later. The third test ended up with no issues at all, which indicates that things have moved in a positive direction.

Stay tuned to take a closer look at the key points of each Pin Up Casino test!

Overview of Pin Up Casino

Licensed by Curacao, Pin Up Casino bolsters a massive selection of games from world-renowned providers. Some of the studios whose work is featured in its lobby are such as Endorphina, Authentic Gaming, Spinomenal, Quickspin, Betsoft, Microgaming, Belatra Games, Pragmatic Play, Amatic Industries, NetEnt, Habanero, and others.

Equally wealthy as the games portfolio is the corner where bonuses and promotions are located. There are plenty of offers of all kinds, among which free spins, birthday prizes, cashback, and more. In addition to this, players can collect Pincoins (PNC), in-house currency, and advance in the special Loyalty Scheme. The program has a total of 9 levels, each with a different set of perks.

Without further ado, let’s analyze the highlighting moments of three Pin Up casino tests!

Registration 

#1 The very first test took place in February 2021. The tester created the account on February 8, 2022, experiencing no issues during this part of the procedure.

#2 Our second tester joined this betting platform on May 9, 2022, finalizing the procedure quickly.

#3 On July 20, 2022, the third tester created the account, and just like the fellow testers, encountered no issues during this stage of the testing.

To become a member of Pin Up casino, a player is supposed to fill in a simple form and provide some basic information about him/herself. E-mail verification via link is needed as well.

ID Verification 

#1 Regarding the first investigation, our tester didn’t submit the documents during registration on purpose. She did it a day later on February 9, 2022, to see how the operator would handle KYC during cashout. The documents were denied, but the next day, February 10, when the tester repeated the process, her account was validated. As instructed by the live chat agent, she provided the front and back of her ID, along with a selfie where she holds the document in her hands.

A detail worth adding here is that one of the support agents our tester communicated with offered the option to send the necessary docs via account, which is verified within approximately 10 minutes, or via e-mail, which could take up to 48 hours. As it turned out, our tester needed to do both of these.

#2 Wanting to avoid the delay with withdrawal processing she experienced during the first investigation, the tester uploaded the photo of her passport, and a selfie with a document. The tester also verified her phone number via SMS.

However, upon making a cashout request, she realized that her documents weren’t accepted, so she resubmitted them on May 10. An e-mail arrived on the same day, confirming that the documents were accepted.

#3 When conducting the third investigation on July 20, the tester uploaded the ID and selfie with the ID during registration. Just like during the second test, SMS verification was completed. As soon as the tester verified his mail, the status of his account switched to verified.

Regarding the ID verification procedure, the Terms indicate as follows:

“5.2. The first and last names as well as the date of birth you specify when registering must be your true real personal information. The Company reserves the right to request a copy of your identity document seeking to confirm your personal information as well as a document confirming your legal capacity to carry out financial transactions using the payment details provided. This procedure is called "Account Verification", and the Client who successfully provided all required documentation can be referred to as the "Verified Client". The Client can attach a copy of their identity document in their Personal account, under Profile, Document upload section at any time, including immediately after their registration and before or after a withdrawal request. If you do not wish or cannot provide the information we've requested, we reserve the right to suspend your account until you provide us with any required information and/or completely delete your account if we are further unable to receive this information from you.”

As for the completion time:

“5.6. Account verification is carried out by our financial or security departments during workdays from Monday to Friday with the exception of cases when user account verification is essential to process an active request of funds withdrawal.”

Deposit 

#1 Our first tester deposited $75 on the same day she registered, February 8. Expressed in Bitcoins, the value on the said day amounted to 0.0019 BTC. The casino balance displayed $74.74.

#2 The second tester also replenished the account after finalizing the registration and ID verification, on May 9. She selected the same payment method, Bitcoin, and funded the account with $200, that is, 0.00601242 BTC, but received $199.99 to her casino balance.

#3 The third tester of the day also funded the account immediately after joining Pin Up Casino and verifying his account. He sent $500 / 0.02146301 BTC on July 20 and received the exact amount in his balance.

Available deposit methods include cards, e-wallets, and cryptocurrencies. According to the cashier, the minimum amount to deposit is $35 (or equivalent in other applicable currencies) if a customer deposits in BTC. Yet, the amount may differ in case a customer selects some other payment methods, as the terms indicate that:

“5.5. Minimum sum for a single payment: $ 15.”

Gameplay

As mentioned in the introductory part, Pin Up casino accommodates a plethora of games, so our testers have had the opportunity to check out all kinds of slot adventures. Buffalo 50, Take Olympus, Miles Bellhouse and the Gears of Time, Lava Gold, Take the Kingdom, Tiger’s Claw, True Illusions, Mustang Money, Adventures of Doubloon Island, Dia Del Mariachi Megaways, Abracatdabra were just some of the many releases our testers have explored.

Now, back in 2016, the operator ended up on our warning list for hosting pirated games from NetEnt, Novomatic, Aristocrat, and Playtech. Counterfeit games were removed in the meantime, but the operator remained in the rogue pit.

Reason?

The casino was still having issues with delayed withdrawals and slow and unresponsive customer support, all of which our first tester dealt with while investigating this platform.

Withdrawal 

#1 The first withdrawal was requested on February 8 and denied the same day. After the tester has verified her identity, she attempted to cash out on February 11, but once again- with no success. On February 16, the tester requested to cash out one more time, and she succeeded. The transaction was approved and processed on the same day.

The tester requested to withdraw $50 in BTC. She received 0.00082343 BTC, which converted in US dollars on that day was $39.78. The tester was charged a fee, as she hadn’t completed the mandatory wagering before requesting to withdraw. This was in line with the Terms. 

#2 Having confirmed that her account was verified, the tester requested to cash out $90 on May 10.

She received 0.00267 BTC on the same day. Converting to USD to check the amount the next day, her withdrawal amounted to $83.97.

#3 Was this one of those “third time’s a charm” situations? Our tester made a request to withdraw $200 on July 26.

Just like with the second test, the money was credited on the same day, so our tester received 0.00885 BTC. A day later, he converted the amount into USD, so expressed in dollars, he received $187.67.

When it comes to the max cashout amount, daily, weekly and monthly withdrawal limits amount to $5,000, $15,000, or $45,000, respectively. The minimum amount to withdraw is $15, or $90 if a player opts for BTC. Banking options for withdrawal are similar to those available for depositing.

According to the relevant Terms:

“6.11. If at the time a withdrawal request is made the sum of all bets placed by the Client is lower than the sum of all their deposits, the website administration has the right to withhold up to 20 % of the amount requested for withdrawal. If the Client wants to withdraw funds using a bank card, we reserve the right to withhold up to 25% of the amount requested for withdrawal.

6.12. If at the time a withdrawal request is made, the sum of all bets placed after the most recent deposit is less than the most recent deposit amount, the website administration has the right to withhold up to 20 % of the amount requested for withdrawal. If the Client wants to withdraw funds using a bank card, we reserve the right to withhold up to 25% of the amount requested for withdrawal.”

Also, the operator reserves the right to check and analyze all financial transactions within 24 hours. Until the procedure is completed, the withdrawal request remains unprocessed.

Finally, communication with the support team during the first test was quite poor. On multiple occasions, our tester had to wait, receiving explanations such as “there’s no English-speaking staff at the moment” Several times, she was asked to “wait 5 minutes”. The support staff justified the lack of efficiency with “a big load of clients”.

Some obstacles during communication were present during the second test as well, but far less than during the first investigation. No such issues occurred during the third test, which indicates that some progress in interaction with players is made, with regards to both payment processing and communication.

Conclusion

Summarizing the impressions from three tests, we can state that the second and third test went without major issues. However, players are advised to stay cautious when playing at Pin Up Casino. If you’ve had the opportunity to explore the casino yourself, please share your experience with the LCB community in the comments section below. Make sure to read the Terms before registering and depositing- gamble responsibly!