Online Gambling Licenses | A Brief Overview
Online gambling licenses are the most important certificate of trust granted by reputed regulatory authorities. For many reasons, they have become the hallmark of a legitimate and trustworthy online casino.
Online gambling licenses are the most important certificate of trust granted by reputed regulatory authorities. For many reasons, they have become the hallmark of a legitimate and trustworthy online casino.
A gambling license comes with plenty of legal benefits. Firstly, it grants legal access to the players of a country. The casino can take advantage of the critical local infrastructure like the banking system, IT infrastructure, and so on. Once they have a gambling license, they can operate in the country legitimately, which means that they don’t have to worry about the legal consequences.
Secondly, regulators have stringent requirements for licensing the casinos. The casinos are not required to disclose their financials, but also prove to them that their casino software and casino games offer fair odds to the players. All these factors evoke a high degree of trust on the part of the punters when they see a casino licensed by a gambling regulator with an untarnished reputation.
Considering that a gambling license is so crucial for online casinos, it’s vital that online casino operators, potential online casino owners, and players understand how they work.
What is an Online Casino License?
An online gambling license is a remote gambling license that allows a casino to host its infrastructure in one place and offer its services over the internet to players in several jurisdictions.
Technically, any business that offers critical casino services like an online casino software provider, online casino games provider, or a casino operator is required to obtain a gambling license. In some countries, each of these parties is required to obtain separate gambling licenses, while in some countries, they get a standard gambling license that covers all of them.
How are Online Gambling Licenses Awarded?
Online gambling is one of the most heavily regulated industries across the world. The regulatory requirement varies from one jurisdiction to another, but there is a common theme to the approaches of all these jurisdictions to online gambling. There are a standard set of business requirements and another set of casino-related compliance requirements that the applicants must meet to obtain gambling licenses.
Standard Business Requirements
- The owners of the casino must not be involved in any fraudulent or criminal activity, be it in the present or the past.
- The owners should share extensive details of their identity, origin, place of residence, financials, and so on.
- The owners should be able to prove that they have the financial capacity to operate a thriving online casino for the foreseeable future.
Gambling Related Requirements
- The casino owners must have the necessary experience to operate a full-fledged online casino
- The online casino must not be used as a front for money laundering purposes
- All the casino games and the casino software offered by the casino must be fair and transparent
- The casino must not take advantage of vulnerable people. That means, only adults above the age of 18 (or the respective country’s qualifying age) should be allowed to play on the casino, and that people suffering from gambling addiction should be provided with the resources they need to overcome the addiction.
List of all the Online Gambling Regulators
Gambling, let alone online gambling, continues to be a subject of much disagreement in most countries across the world. Therefore, online gambling is legal in only a select number of countries. And, an even lesser number of countries have instituted a government body to regulate the online gambling activity. Each of these regulators has their own regulatory and compliance requirements for casinos seeking their licenses. Online gambling licenses from different regulators give the casinos access to different set of global markets. Casinos must consider this when obtaining a gambling license.
Here is the full list of online gambling regulators
- Dutch Gaming Authority
- UK Gambling Commission
- Antigua and Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission
- Alderney Gambling Control Commission
- Curacao Gaming Control Board
- Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission
- Malta Gaming Authority
- Kahnawake Gaming Commission
- Gibraltar Regulatory Authority
How to Check The Gambling Licensing Information?
All online gambling regulators have mandated it that the online casinos operating under them display the licensing information at the bottom of their website. They are required to present this information prominently so that it is not lost in fine print. Therefore, players can easily find this information at the footer of all online casinos’ websites.
Are All Non-licenced Casinos Illegal?
Not really. There are exceptions.
For instance, online casinos that operate out of Costa Rica do not have any gambling license because the country does not have a gambling regulator. Instead, they operate as just any other registered business. However, not having a gambling license makes it difficult for the casinos to make use of conventional banking and payment systems. They tend to rely on alternate options like bitcoins.
That said, when a casino has a gambling license, customers have the option of seeking grievance redressal from the relevant regulatory authority. That’s why players trust licensed casinos.
Conclusion
Gambling licenses can cost anywhere between a few thousand pounds to hundreds of thousands of pounds. Naturally, any casino with a reputed online gambling license is in the business for the long term. Therefore, they are bound to evoke greater trust from the players too.