Casimba casino review (UK)

Founded in 2017, Casimba is one of a relatively new breed of casinos that combines a generous welcome offer with outstanding customer service.

The site also features a diverse range of slots across both desktop and mobile platforms, while the average load times for standard and live titles are genuinely competitive.

However, the layout of the desktop site leaves a little to be desired, with Casimba’s verticals and search bar located below the fold and only accessible by scrolling down the home page.

There’s also a relatively small and variable range of payment options on offer, while the average withdrawal times for debit cards and e-wallets are slightly slower than the market average.

The Casimba brand has certainly conceived an overtly generous welcome offer, which includes a 100% first deposit match up to the value of £500 and up to 50 free spins on the popular Fortunium slot.

This offer currently includes second and third deposit matches too, creating an eye-catching welcome bonus worth up to £2000 and a maximum of 125 free spins.

However, there are a couple of things that you’ll need to keep in mind when opting into the offer and ensuring that the requisite bonus funds are added to your account.

Firstly, you’ll need to click through the ‘Claim your bonus’ icon that appears after you’ve completed the site’s three-step registration process, at which stage you’ll be afforded an opportunity to credit your account.

Before completing the minimum deposit of £20, I also had to select the ‘Add Bonus’ option beneath the fold of the screen. You can then click through the welcome offer and select the ‘deposit’ option at the bottom of the page, and failing to do this could cause you to miss out.

At this time, 20 free spins were also added automatically to my account (based on the value of my deposit). I activated these simply by entering the Fortunium slot, at which time I was prompted to utilise my free gameplay.

This was a fun and rewarding experience, as while each spin had a fixed minimum value of £0.10, I managed to unlock a further 11 free spins by unlocking the game’s bonus round. By the time I’d played through my spins, I’d added the grand total of £4.60 to my bonus funds.

There are relatively few restrictions when accessing the bonus, either in terms of viable payment methods or the duration of the offer (the bonus funds will only expire after 30 days). However, there is a wagering requirement of 35x the total value of the bonus, which means that even with a minimum deposit of £20 you’ll have to play through a hefty £1,400 before you can withdraw any associated winnings.

This represents a big financial commitment, particularly as it’s only bonus funds that count towards the wagering contribution. So, although the bonus structure affords you the right to withdraw money directly from your cash balance at any time when wagering solely with your deposited funds, there’s a cost to participating fully in the welcome offer that may be a little prohibitive if you have a restricted bankroll.

There’s certainly no shortage of Games at Casimba, although finding your favourite titles can be a little cumbersome at times.

When you land on the home page, you’ll see that the operator lists a selection of ‘recommended’ games just beneath the fold, with these scrolling across a horizontal menu.

While this list included personal favourites such as Starburst and Rainbow Riches, I had to scroll further down the page to browse different verticals and game genres. I also had to scroll down to use the ‘search’ feature, which enabled me to look for specific titles directly.

This inconvenience is offset slightly by the site’s fun and innovative ‘Random Game’ feature, while over time I’ve also been able to click the heart icon on selected games and make these appear in a personalised shortlist that can be accessed directly through the home page.

In terms of load times, slots such as the Book of Dead open within about 10 seconds on average, while I’ve yet to notice any lag at all during gameplay.

The same load time applies to real-time games such as Live Roulette and Live Blackjack, although you’ll also have to enter a unique screen name before joining the action. This can be a little frustrating, especially as your name has to have a fixed number of characters and at least three digits.

Interestingly, I noticed that immersive games such as Lightning Roulette and 2 Hand Casino Hold ‘em loaded even quicker on average (usually within five seconds), while I experienced no issues at all relating to the quality of graphics or gameplay.

Unlike many of its rivals, Casimba doesn’t offer a native mobile app for iOS or Android.

However, all of the operator’s games are underpinned by HTML5 technology, making them accessible directly through a web-app or mobile browser (in my case Safari on iOS).

Arguably, the layout of the mobile site is superior to the desktop alternative, with a drop-down menu available to access the games’ library and the different genres (and search bar) listed just below the fold. The average game loading time is also slightly quicker when playing on the move, particularly when selecting titles from the live casino lobby.

The really good news is that all of the operator’s games are available through the responsive mobile website, while I’ve yet to encounter any lag or loss of connectivity at all when playing on my smartphone.

There’s no doubt that Casimba excels when it comes to customer service, particularly in terms of response times and the sheer range of channels available.

Firstly, there’s an interactive live chat feature, which is accessible 24 hours each day and can be accessed from any page using the floating ‘Green’ chat icon in the bottom left-hand corner. This is also incredibly responsive, with my first query concerning the welcome offer’s game weightings answered very politely and effectively within 60 seconds.

When I submitted my request I was second in the queue, but it only took a matter of seconds before I was connected to an agent. I later asked an additional question about using Neteller as a deposit option, joining first place in the queue and receiving an answer in just a couple of minutes.

If you have a less pressing or more complex query, you may want to submit this by email to support@casimba.com. I initially contacted the team in writing about the process for verifying my identification, before sending a follow-up email to discuss the type of documentation I could submit.

Both emails were answered in comprehensive detail in less than two hours, which in my experience compares favourably with other operators on the UK market.

Before you use either of these channels, however, I’d recommend that you visit the site’s detailed FAQ page. This can be extremely insightful to new players, especially those who have queries pertaining to the welcome offer, viable payment methods and withdrawal times.

As I touched on earlier, Casimba has a three-step registration process, during which your personal data will be used to undertake background checks and verify your age and identification.

I found this to be a little cumbersome, as you have to pass through several different screens when entering basic data such as your name, date of birth and address. This process could certainly be improved, particularly as it’s designed to minimise the delay facing players when registering for a new account.

Like most operators, Casimba may also ask for actual documentation prior to completing your first withdrawal. This happened in my case, at which point I had to provide an electronic copy of my passport and a recent utility bill (dated within the last three months) by email to support@casimba.com.

I sent the documentation at the beginning of the weekend, and it took a little under 96 hours for my ID to be officially verified and withdrawal to be processed.

I didn’t find this particularly inconvenient, but given the lack of prompts by the operator, I’d recommend that you take a proactive approach and send this documentation in shortly after completing your registration.

If you don’t have a passport, you can send in copies of a driving license or ID card, while a recent bank account statement can also be used to verify your address.

I registered with Casimba after the credit card ban on 14th April and was presented with five different options for crediting my account.

Although this is a relatively restricted range, it includes both of my preferred options (namely Visa Debit and PayPal), along with similarly secure and convenient alternatives like bank transfer, Maestro Card and the wallet Trustly.

According to the customer services team, the available range of options varies from one region to another, although Visa, Maestro and PayPal should be universally accessible. Still, be sure to review the full range of options available to you before you complete your first deposit so that you can pick the best one for you.

Additional options also include Neteller, Skrill and the Paysafecard, while the first two may also be made available as withdrawal options. However, you will be required to withdraw winnings using a method with which you’ve already deposited funds, which in my case was a Visa Debit card.

While my original £20 deposit was completed instantly, my first withdrawal of the same amount (using my cash balance) took just under 24 hours in total. This includes the time taken for the operator to process the transaction, with all cash out requests reviewed manually.

After completing a further deposit using PayPal, I attempted to complete a £10 withdrawal during the weekend. This was ultimately processed on Tuesday after around 48 hours, so you’ll clearly need to factor in an additional delay depending on the timing of your transaction.