The unstoppable advances of online technologies have brought plenty of benefits to the entertainment industry and it is fair to say that casino and sports betting business have over the years become the most prominent examples.
Online Casino and Betting have been going from strength to strength with major land-based gambling operators grabbing a firm hold of the opportunity to build and expand their business through the exciting online world.
The freedom of the Internet has indeed brought plenty of positives into the gaming industry but it’s also paved way for fraudulent use of identity, accounts, funds etc. In order to protect both themselves and their clients from any misuse of sensitive data, the gambling operators have introduced a set of measures which include identity and age verification.
Know Your Customer (KYC)
With betting being such a delicate business, big casino operators and firms which tend to uphold their reputation make great effort to follow the strict regulations imposed by their gaming watchdogs and authorities.
One of the most important rule states that gambling sites, casinos and betting venues need to know their customers. Widely known as a KYC acronym, these regulations imply identity and age verification procedures which might strike you as tedious and unnecessary but it’s quite the opposite.
They do come as a surprise however, especially if you are one of those people who are familiar with online purchases and have done those on multiple occasions in the past. Rarely will you have been asked to submit a copy of any identification document, which is exactly what you will be required to do with some of the most prominent gambling operators such as bet365, William Hill and 888 which are considered top-shelf names in the gaming industry.
The latter has been the subject of much talk over the past couple of weeks and will serve as a great testament to the importance and necessity of strict regulations and rules when it comes to customer protection.
Strict Rules & regulations
The United Gambling Commission (UKGC) as one of the most diligent authorities around the globe has decided to raise the bar and enforce severe rules – subsequently penalties as well – for underage betting, self-exclusion breaches and other activities deemed harmful for customers.
Obtaining a UKGC license is quite difficult but keeping it can get even harder which 888 most recently felt first hand. This online gambling company was forced to pay record penalty of nearly $10 million after the firm hand of the UKGC clamped down on ‘significant flaws’ in the company’s responsible gaming system.
Due to a reported technical failure in 888’s systems, no less than 7,000 players who signed a self-exclusion agreement from the casino and all of its related accounts were still able to gamble at certain platforms.
Another security flaw was noticed with a customer who bet over a $1.7 million for more than a year after stealing from his boss to fund the gambling account. 888 was accused of failing to notice the red flags around this particular account.
The most recent developments regarding the 888’s record penalty got all of the self-respected gambling companies on their toes, urgently checking their security systems and updating the regulations to make sure no harm is done to their customers and that a problem gambling issue is taken extremely seriously.
Getting to know your customer thus remains one of the starting points with ensuring the potential problems will be avoided and in order to do so, betting companies, together with casinos and their sportsbook sections will ask you to verify your age and identification before you can proceed to withdraw your funds and pocket the wins.
Identification and age verification is a simple way for betting companies to determine whether you truly are who you say you are.
You will be asked to scan a copy of a valid ID, passport or a driving license which should provide the operator with information about your residence and age along the way.
If your identification documents do not show your address, you might be asked to provide a utility bill or a bank statement to prove your residence. This particular process will get significantly improved once the geolocation technology gets fully accepted as a viable technique.
A couple of jurisdictions in the United States – Nevada and New Jersey – have already adopted the geolocation technique which is even mandated by state governments. This way these two states make sure only the people physically located within their jurisdictions will be allowed to gamble.
Online gambling is still a hotly debated subject across the United States and geolocation does come as the most convenient way for regulated markets to check on clients.
Betting operators which cater to European players are still far off from introducing this technique, however, but they all have effective methods used to determine their players’ betting age and identity.
Bet365 ID Documents Verification
One of the biggest and most popular betting operator around the globe bet365 has made the ID and age verification process as straightforward as it gets.
Customers simply need to upload their documents via the Know Your Customer section found on the bet365 website and the operator will look to complete the process within 48 hours.
Players are first required to log in to their valid accounts and click on ‘services’ option found in the top corner section. The ‘Member’ option will lead them through ‘My Account’ to the ‘Know Your Customer’ option from which they will choose a document to verify.
The betting verification process can also be completed through an email. Customers are required to send a photograph of their document and their username and four-digit security number as well.
Due to a higher volume of email communication bet365 holds the right to complete the verification within 72 hours.
Bet365’s dedicated KYC page will provide detailed instructions and explanations that will guide customers smoothly through the obligatory verification process.
William Hill Player Identity & Age Verification
In order to verify age at William Hill the players can send passport as a recommended document, but they can also complete the process with a driving license, national ID card or birth certificate.
Betting account verification with William Hill will take up to 24 hours. Any failure to verify an account within 72 hours from the first attempted deposit will lead to betting account suspension.
When it comes to William Hill ID verification, the betting operator might require players to submit additional documents which include a signed credit agreement, a utility bill or a bank statement, both less than 6 months old.
The quickest way to submit documents at William Hill is through their online facility, whereas players can also do it through Live Chat or Email.
Verifying Your Documents At 888
The 888 casino and sportsbook players will be requested to send several documents to complete their ID and age verification.
These may include a copy of photographic ID – passport, driving license, national ID card – a copy of credit/debit cards, proof of address – utility bill, credit card statement – other documentation in exceptional cases when players could also be required to authenticate their documents by an appropriate qualified notary or a solicitor with a stamp as proof of legitimacy.
Documents can be sent by logging in to your account and proceeding to the Cashier/Deposit page found in the casino lobby. The Verify ID tad will guide you through with step by step instructions.
Successfully completed ID and age verification will upgrade the account status which will ultimately ensure prompt payments. In some particular cases, it will also increase deposit limits.
If you are relatively new to the world of online casinos and wish to find out more about how things work, we recommend you visit our guide section for beginners that contains a lot of useful tutorials and tips.
