New Account at an Online Casino: KYC, Source of Funds, Proof of Address
In this article:
1) Know your customer (KYC) (when it is needed, eligible documents, how to send)
2) Proof of Address (when it is needed, eligible documents, how to send)
3) Source of Funds (when it is needed, eligible documents, how to send)
Going through all intricacies of verification of a new accountant at an online casino is for sure the least appealing part of the online gambling. In this article, I am going to dive into what exactly it takes to open a new account, how verification should be done in a right way, some tips that could spare your time and money and make the whole procedure as smooth as possible.
A verification procedure at an online casino must not be neglected, because whether you will be able to withdraw money or not depends entirely on it.
The whole verification procedure at an online casino comes down to these three parts:
Know your customer (KYC) (your identity verification)
Proof of Address (your residence verification)
Source of Funds (verification that money you deposited at an online casino was obtained legally)
Some online casinos require all 3 components of verification to be done, but some of them are fine only with KYC in place. Gambling license requirements usually determine how strict online casino on these matters.
Know your customer (KYC) (when it is needed, eligible documents, how to send)
The main goal of Know your customer (KYC) rule is to make sure that you are the individual you are claiming to be.
Tip. You are going to be asked to download KYC document only if you request a withdrawal. Therefore, you will be able to find out if anything is wrong with verification only after you won something. Hence, the best practice is to go through KYC before making a deposit. This approach ensures that online casino won’t give you a hard time when you decide to withdraw money.
All online casinos which operate legally must introduce Know your customer (KYC) policy in one or another way. Gambling commission which has issued the license of a particular online casino require to do so because they have to:
make sure that online casino player is not under age
make sure that online casino player has not self-excluded himself from online gambling
make sure that online casino player is not from a country where online gambling is prohibited
Though, it is in the best interest of an online casino to verify that you are the person you are claiming to be as well. For an online casino, it is very important not to allow one person to claim casino bonuses multiple times because it could turn their business into shambles.
It is fair to say that KYC does not benefit online casino players at all and causes only inconveniences, but it is a requirement at any legit online casino, so I would suggest making yourself familiar with the procedure from the very beginning.
In order to verify your identity at an online casino player have to provide an online casino with photo or scan of one of these documents (all copies must be clearly visible, and all corners of a document must be visible as well):
ID
international passport
driving license
Here we can notice that only documents with date of birth and photo on it are eligible for KYC purposes.
How to send KYC documents to an online casino? It is getting implemented in two ways:
- download on online casino’s websites through your account. Usually there is the whole section in your account devoted to documents and often named accordingly.
- send an email and attach all copies to the email (all email services provide users with such an option).
The last thing to mention, though it is not common practice among gambling operators, you could be asked to send copies of two above-mentioned documents (in some extreme cases - even all of them).
Summing up, send KYC documents first, and only when online casino confirmed that it was done successfully, make a deposit after.
Proof of Address (when it is needed, eligible documents, how to send)
Proof of address, generally speaking, is the part of KYC. Though I would like to go through it separately since it takes to download an additional document in order to complete it. Different rules are applied towards proof of address document.
As the title suggests, here you will have to verify the address you are claiming to live at. The chances you will be asked at some point to prove your address is very high at legit online casinos. Hence, deposit only when you are sure that you are able to prove your address, otherwise, your winnings won’t be withdrawn.
It can be done by sending one of these documents (all copies must be clearly visible, and all corners of a document must be visible as well):
bank statement with your name and address on it
utility bill (phone, gas, electricity etc.) with your name and address on it
I would like to emphasise one more time that only documents with both your name and address on it are eligible as the proof of address.
The other thing you should know that both bank statement and utility bill must have the date on it. This date must be within the last 90 days (could vary, but in 99% cases it is set to be 3 months).
Tip. Some players forge proof of residence even if they don’t have any ill intents (for example, you are abroad and your bank statement or utility bill has expired). Don’t do it at any cost, because all your funds will be confiscated. Instead, contact an online casino, describe your situation and ask how to better resolve it.
The procedure of sending the proof of address is the same as in the case with KYC. Navigate to your account section on the casino’s website or email an online casino and attach proof of address files.
Source of Funds (when it is needed, eligible documents, how to send)
Online casino player is supposed to prove that money that has been deposited was obtained legally.
Source of Funds is the least frequent document that online casino players are asked to provide. It usually happens only in cases when a huge winning took place and aimed to prevent money laundering. So to say, online casino won’t ask you about source of funds every time you decide to withdraw money.
Some of you would wonder why it happens only with big winnings. Here is how money laundering at online casinos works.
A criminal makes many deposits at an online casino (usually not exceeding 2,000 euro), and, sooner or later, he/she hits relatively high winning. This money is considered to be legal (all online casino winnings is legit money), which would be very handy for criminals if not a source of funds policy.
Tip. Source of funds verification is the trickiest part of verification so far because in the majority of cases it entitles an online casino to judge whether a player passed it or not. As you may have guessed, some online casinos constantly abuse this clause and confiscate player’s money. The only thing I can suggest here is to play at trustworthy online casinos, which have proved to treat their customers in good faith.
Source of Funds (Source of Wealth) policies depend significantly on particular gambling jurisdiction and could be introduced in two forms:
(Mild) Player has to prove ownership of bank card or e-wallet with which the deposit has been made. Just follow the instructions on casino’s website. It often involves sending a photo or scan of your card/e-wallet front page.
(Strict) Player has to prove that money itself was acquired according to the law.
Speaking of the second scenario, I have summarized which documents are eligible for these purposes:
payslip from your job
bank statement which proves consistent cash flow from a legal source
any other documents that confirm source of funds (could be a pension, winning at another casino, dividends etc.)
It could be frightening to you, but if you are asked to provide source of wealth by reliable online casino then don’t worry too much. Instead, you’d better email them, describe your situation and ask which documents are the most suitable in your particular case.
Conclusion
Summing up, you will encounter verification at online casinos all the time. As the rule of thumb, just always have on your device photos of your :
ID, passport or driving license (better at least two of them)
bank statement or utility bill with your name and address on it issued within the last 90 days
and be ready to prove a source of money that you have deposited at an online casino
Last tip. A verification procedure leaves room for an online casino to abuse players. Unfortunately, the enormous amount of online casino players have suffered from it so far. Choose an online casino to play at carefully or use my list. It is actually the only one guarantee from being scammed.
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