Know Your Customer
With financial crime on the rise, casinos and sports betting sites are increasing security measures to keep up with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) obligations. Since the real identity of the players is hard to detect in online casinos, the casino relies on KYC to send money to the right people. Scroll down to comprehend everything about KYC and its benefits for both casinos and players.
What is KYC?
Know Your Customer (KYC) or Enhanced Due Diligence is a simple process used by online casinos and sports betting sites to verify the identity and financial information of their players. The gambling sites can request the players’ full name, home address, email, phone number, and bank details to ensure that transactions are sent to the appropriate individuals.
KYC is mainly designed to prevent fraudulent activities in the online gambling community because many people may take advantage of the anonymity.
For that reason, the gambling authorities of Canada want to make sure that they are sending winnings to the person to whom the bank account belongs. In fact, there is more to understand about the KYC authentication procedure that is practiced in almost all licensed casinos and sports betting platforms.
Depending on the information provided by the gamblers, the sites can confirm the player’s legal age. They can also ensure that the address, email, phone number, and bank details that are given belong to one person, and not to any money laundering and terrorist funding circles. You will experience this process in all the casinos we have listed, as the existence of this process is taken into account in the evaluation of the casino. This is one of the factors that indicates that a casino is safe.
For the most part, KYC checks and prevents the possibility of identity fraud, Anti Money-Laundering (AML) compliance, and other regulatory criteria. But all legalized casinos must carry out this verification process, no matter where they are situated in the world.
Without the KYC verification, gamblers are not allowed to make deposits to or withdraw money from their accounts. If players refuse to share and verify their information with the casinos and sports betting sites, their accounts are shut down.
KYC Benefits
- By executing KYC verification, the online casinos and sports betting websites are fulfilling legislative duties to comply with the current Canadian gambling administration.
- This process ensures the casino is reliable, secure, and legitimate. Hence, gamblers will trust their payment security system.
- The KYC authentication method eliminates the possibility of fraudulent activities by ill-intending individuals and groups.
- Casinos can make sure no individual under the legal age is taking advantage of their services. Parents can also feel secure about this arrangement.
- It prevents the same individual from using multiple accounts to play games at the casino.
In the next few sections, you will also get a document checklist needed to verify your identity with your chosen casino, and learn about how the casinos carry out and store your personal information.
Fulfills legislative duties
Ensures the casino is reliable, secure, and legitimate
Eliminates the possibility of fraudulent activities
No individual under the legal age is taking advantage of their services
Prevents using multiple accounts
Documents Checklist
The KYC verification process may differ based on several factors. However, there is a common list of documents that gambling websites request from their players.
Proof of ID
To authenticate your name, age, and nationality, the gambling sites may ask for copies of your driving license, National ID, Social Insurance Number, or Passport.
You can make the verification process quick and smooth by ensuring that the documents you submit are clearly visible with nothing hidden or damaged. Besides, your passport and driver’s license must have dates that are valid.
Proof of Address
Casinos and betting sites may also ask you to provide proof of your current address. This is done as some online casinos and betting sites are prohibited in certain regions, and some clever folks may use VPN to bypass that restriction.
You can gamble at those sites using a VPN, but you won’t be able to make withdrawals without the KYC attestation. With that being said, for authentication, you must submit utility bills, credit card statements, and bank statements that contain your full name and address.
In this case though, the documents you send must not be older than 3 months from the date for verification. Otherwise, the casino will take longer to process payments from your account.
Proof of Payment Methods
The third most important KYC endorsement document that the casino will ask from you is the payment method of your choice to carry out financial transactions. There are plenty of ways to execute gambling transactions, and the most common ones are bank transfers, internet banking, e-wallets, and cryptocurrency.
In saying so, each transaction method requires a different approach for verification. For example, to verify your bank card (credit or debit card), you have to display the first 6 digits and the last 4 digits of the card, your full name, and the expiry date.
This is optional, but some casinos may ask you to show the CVC code at the back of your card along with your signature. On the other hand, you can just provide a screenshot of your internet banking statement to show your full name, account number, and bank.
It is the same with e-wallets and cryptocurrencies. Just show your name, account ID, and the payment method of your choice.
Use of information
The confidential documents that you send to the casino or sports betting site will be digitally stored in the casino’s database. Also, only authorized personnel are permitted to access this information.
For the most part, the KYC team of the casino examines the originality of your documents and assesses if they are compliant with current legal standards. This verification process doesn’t affect your gambling. It only affects you when you are trying to withdraw your gains from the casino.
According to some experts, verifying the documents just once may not be enough to prevent money laundering, crime, and terrorism. The account and withdrawals must be monitored on an ongoing basis to prevent monetary violations.
Responsibilities
If you think KYC is a bothersome rule that is getting in the way of your sovereign gambling habits, think again! By law, all online gambling companies in Canada are bound to authenticate the personal and financial information of their players.
For legislative requirements and competitive advantage in the gambling market, casinos and sports betting sites must maintain the following KYC standards:
- Provide their players with a reliable, safe, and user-friendly gaming and betting platform.
- Be in compliance with updated legislation regarding customer management and financial transactions.
- Maintain and protect gambler account records.
National Legislation
However, it gets complicated for online casinos and sports betting sites when players sign up from different countries offshore. Even if they register from another country, the gamblers must still obey the KYC rules of Canada if they are playing at a casino registered under the Canadian gambling authority.
As a result, even when the online gambling platform is listed under a lenient jurisdiction elsewhere, national laws apply for KYC. For that reason, it is important for international players to make notes of the gambling administration of Canada.
Convenience of Players
Sometimes, gamblers use multiple accounts with multiple casinos located in various parts of the world. In that case, they have to undergo a KYC verification for all of their accounts. Typically, a casino will only let a player play from one account that includes one home address, IP address, phone number, email, and bank account.
First-time online gamblers may even find going through the KYC verification process a big hassle. Some players also find it impossible to trust online casinos and betting sites with their personal information.
Considering all these points, legitimate online gambling websites will always explain in their FAQ section why KYC is required for players to withdraw money from their accounts. In addition, live chat, email, and phone numbers are always available on the site to help gamblers understand the different terms and conditions of the gambling site.
Depending on the features offered by various casinos, some may even have an operator who guides the gambler through the KYC verification process. The operators help the individual check whether the documents were properly uploaded or not. They will also inform you about the status of your KYC authentication.
Frequently Asked Questions
Generally, you have to provide evidence that you say who you are in terms of your identity, location, and banking method. Accordingly, submit copies of your national ID, Social Insurance Number, driver’s license, or passport to prove your identity and age.
Moreover, present screenshots or scanned copies of your utility bills, rent, bank statements, or credit card statements to demonstrate that you live at the address that you have stated. In addition, provide evidence of your financial account ID from e-wallets, cryptocurrency, credit card, and internet banking methods.
Usually, the KYC verification procedure doesn’t take very long. You can expect to get it done within 24 to 72 hours. However, exceptions exist. Some casinos may take a few more days longer, depending on the amount of authentication required.
Your identity verification is essentially part of the KYC verification itself and therefore may take anywhere from 24-72 hours depending on the casino at which you’re trying to sign up.
When you search online, you will find a lot of ‘no verification’ casinos that are promising to let players withdraw money without verification of their IDs, current address, and other personal details.
Just so you know, legitimate casinos that are regulated and monitored by the gambling authority bodies are obliged to confirm the KYC of their players. This is done to prevent money laundering, theft, and other violations of the gambling business.
Hence, if you choose to play at the ‘no verification’ casinos, do it at your own risk. Because these casinos may not be operating legitimately, they may take your money without ever returning them.
If you have never heard of KYC, you may get dubious when an online casino requests for your bank statement. But in this case, the casino is obliged to ask about it if you are making withdrawals from your casino account.
In addition, the casino may also ask you about the irregular income patterns in your bank account, for example, debts. They may also examine your deposit and loss threshold.
All these are done to prevent money laundering and fraudulent activities in the gambling industry.
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