How to open and fund a Stake account in Ghana and Nigeria

Stake takes mobile money and bank transfers in cedis and naira, so you do not need crypto to use it. The part that catches most people out is the ID check, which comes before your first deposit rather than after it.

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1. Step 1

   Before you start, have your ID to hand

   A national ID card, a voter's card or a passport. You will be asked for it early, and the account cannot take local money until that check is done. Photograph it in good light with all four corners in the frame — a cropped edge is the usual reason a check comes back rejected.

2. Step 2

   Open the account

   Email address, a password, your date of birth. Use your real name and date of birth, spelled exactly as they appear on the ID you are about to upload. A mismatch between the two is the other common reason people get stuck, and it is far more annoying to fix afterwards than to get right first time.

3. Step 3

   Pass the ID check

   This is the step that decides whether the rest works. There are several levels; the first two are the ones that matter for depositing local money. Upload the document, then wait. It is usually quick, but it is not always instant, so do this before the match you actually want to bet on, not twenty minutes before kickoff.

4. Step 4

   In Ghana: pay in with MTN Mobile Money

   Open the wallet, choose Deposit, and switch from crypto to local currency so the balance reads in cedis. Pick mobile money, enter the amount, and approve the prompt on your phone. The cashier shows the current minimum for your method — check it there rather than trusting any figure you read on a site like this one, because it changes.

5. Step 5

   In Nigeria: pay in with OPay, PalmPay or a bank transfer

   Same route: wallet, Deposit, local currency, and the balance reads in naira. The wallet and bank options are handled by a payment company rather than the bookmaker itself, so you will be handed over to another screen to finish. That is normal. Finish it there and the balance appears when it clears.

6. Step 6

   Getting money out

   Withdrawals go back the way they came, to an account in your own name. Expect to have finished the ID check before your first one is paid — every bookmaker does this, and it is the point at which an account opened in somebody else's name stops working. Test it with a small withdrawal early rather than finding out with a big one.