Online gambling is becoming more and more popular in the UK and the rest of the world. Account verification becomes more common as well. There are still some online casinos that don’t require verification that allow you to gamble without this annoying and usually complicated process. But, today we will explore why certain online casinos require account verification. What do they gain from that?
Why Online Casinos Require Verification
Believe it or not, most online casinos require account verification because of government regulations. In the United Kingdom, for instance, this is mandated by UKGC which cooperates with the government.
Regardless of why you need to complete the verification of your account, we can see the main reasons appearing on the list. In general, this process is used to protect the online casino and the gambler, despite the fact it doesn’t look obvious. Anyway, below we will cover these 4 reasons so you can understand better why account verification is so common.
1. Stop Money Laundering
The first and the main reason why account verification is used is to prevent money laundering. By using this process, each person must confirm his identity and also where his funds come from. As such, it is impossible to use illegally obtained cash for gambling or anything that is related to a specific site. Account verification is the only method that can help casinos protect themselves from this illegal activity.
In simple terms, this is a method used to make gambling safer and to make illegal activity impossible. It works well and it is very useful although some players do not like account verification.
2. Age Verification
The next reason why account verification is mandatory is due to age verification. All around the world, people aged 18 or 21 are allowed to gamble. In the UK the age limit is 18 years of age. All people under this age are not allowed to gamble. This is punishable by law.
If an underage person gambles, he will be fined and the online casinos which accept his money and account will be fined as well. For a person, this may be a reasonably high money-based punishment. For an online casino, it can make a difference between being available online and closing the site! They must pay extremely high fines that can have a huge, even catastrophic effect on the casino.
Without this verification, every single person can create a new account and play games, win and withdraw money. With sophisticated and advanced verification, a person can gamble only if he has an accepted age. This is one of the most appealing reasons why account verification is needed and you can see it more than may believe these days. All websites that work with money, gambling, betting, trading, and similar aspects will require account verification. In certain cases, this may be a very complex and time-consuming process.
3. Local Restrictions
This is the reason why account verification is so popular in the United Kingdom. As we have mentioned, the UK government and then UKGC mandate that all casinos must require verification. This means that online casinos don’t have an option to choose whether they want to require this process or not.
The situation is the same with many other countries and areas. Basically, the government wants to decrease money laundering and underage gambling and betting. Account verification is the first and in some cases the only way they can do it properly and with a high level of success.
We must add that these restrictions change all the time and they may become extremely complicated in the near future. This is especially the case with UKGC who is known for making its rules and laws more advanced, more complicated, and harder for online casinos to meet.
4. Avoid Bonus Abuse
Last but not least important reason is to put an end to bonus abuse. As you are well aware, all online casinos offer a welcome bonus. This is a match deposit bonus and it works in a simple principle. A player will create a new account and deposit funds.
The casino will match that deposit by 100% or any other percentage and a player will get more money to play with. The match deposit bonus can reach 500% or even higher amounts! This is literally free money for a gambler due to the fact he must deposit funds either way in order to play.
Without account verification, a player can create countless accounts, deposit minimum funds accepted, and get the bonus. This is a bonus abuse example that we all know about. Of course, he can use other bonuses and all of this does have a negative effect on gambling sites and the fairness of gambling in general.
Conclusion
Account verification may sound annoying and it probably is, but it is still something that should make online gambling better. After all, KYC should prevent money laundering, bonus abuse and so much more.
In a nutshell, it is something required by law in most cases and something you must accept if you want to play games at those casinos.
