Why do online casinos ask for ID?

A lot of people that are new to playing at online casinos just do not understand why they ask for proof of ID when registering. They see this as a time-consuming thing to do and something that requires effort on their part. All they want to do is to make a deposit and start to play those exciting casino games.

The online casino market has been very competitive for many years now. As an incentive to attract new players, a lot of online casinos are now offering bonuses such as free spins. Sometimes a player does not have to register to obtain these free spins.

But if you win using the free spins then you are usually going to be requested to provide a number of documents to prove your identity. There are laws and regulations that force online casinos to implement a thorough verification process for their new players.

In the last few years, governments and regulators have insisted that online casinos have to comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. If a casino does not comply with these rules, then they will usually have their license revoked.

There are some exceptions to this. If you do not want to go through a time-consuming verification process at an online casino, there are no verification online casinos in operation that you can check out. Make sure that any no account casino you want to use has a valid operating license.

Players need to be of a legal age to gamble

Countries have different laws about how old a person needs to be before they can participate in online gambling. In a lot of cases, the age requirement is a minimum of 18. Some countries may have a minimum age requirement of 21 years.

An online casino must take steps to ensure that they are not allowing under age gambling. There are very hefty fines for any online casino that allow minors to gamble. If an online casino is caught doing this, they will probably have their operating license taken away as well.

The usual way for an online casino to prove that a new player is of the legal age permitted to gamble is to request ID verification. All new players will be asked to provide valid documentation that proves they are old enough to gamble at an online casino.

In most cases, an online casino will ask a new player to provide a copy of their driving license, passport or national ID card if this is applicable. Any documentation provided must include the full name of the person and their date of birth.

Of course, there is nothing to stop a minor playing a free spins bonus where there is no verification or registration required. But if they were to win then they will need to prove that they are of the legal age for gambling before they can receive their money.

Online casinos and money laundering

License authorities and governments do not want to see any evidence of money laundering going on in online casinos. The implementation of a thorough KYC process by an online casino is accepted by authorities as a way to prevent money laundering activities.

If there are no strict checks in place, online casinos can be a haven for money laundering. This was the case in the past, so the authorities are really cracking down on this these days. It is usual these days for an online casino to not only request that you prove who you are and where you live, but also verify your source of funding.

Some players think that this is a liberty that they should not have to endure. But money laundering laws are very strict and the fines for online casinos that are proven to participate in money laundering activities are sever.

These days, a lot of online casinos will request that you provide documentation that proves your source of funds when you register with them. In some cases, you may not be asked to prove your source of funds until you make a withdrawal request.

An online casino may ask you to provide several recent bank statements to prove where your money is coming from. They can also request that you send copies of recent credit card bills as well. If an online casino asks you to prove your funding sources and you refuse to do this, they are entitled to freeze your account until the situation is resolved.

Online casinos would prefer not to have a strict verification process

Online casinos are not asking new players to prove their identities and sources of funding to annoy them. Most online casinos are desperate to attract new players and if they could avoid asking them to go through a rigorous verification process then they would do that.

But the various laws and regulations obligate them to have a KYC process to ensure that there is no underage gambling and minimize the possibility of money laundering activities. There is nothing that they can do about this and if you want to play at their online casino then you will need to verify your ID.

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