What is KYC?
KYC or Know Your Customer guidelines are crucial for company-client relationships. It’s actually the first step of their business relations.
Online casinos and other businesses use KYC to check their clients’ financial status and ID.
KYC is the first and foremost task for all enterprises. It’s vital in establishing and controlling customer relations regarding ID fraud and anti-money-laundering (AML).
Why do Online Casinos use KYC?
- Online gambling companies are required by law to check all their clients countrywide. Betting sites must verify their customers’ ID, age, location, and financial information. This way, they protect their clients from fraud and other illegal actions.
- We aim to prevent all online casino players from money laundering operations and terrorist financing in Latvia. Failing to comply with KYC regulations, online betting platforms could be used for money laundering and transactions to suspicious organizations.
- Customer trust is a priority for an honest business. We do our best to provide a fair game and a safe gaming environment. We ensure our customers that their provided information is safe with us.
- The Lotteries and Gambling Supervision Inspection (IAUI) is responsible for licensing online betting sites in Latvia.
- All licensed betting operators must provide fair, open, and legal gambling. This includes online casinos and betting sites. ID and banking account verification is a crucial part of this.
- Failing to follow these procedures, online casinos might be used for illegal activity and, as a result, get their license suspended.
- AML and Counter-Terrorism Financing Laws apply to all online casinos.
- With KYC, a casino can verify that their customer has a legal money source and their identity is real. KYC also helps to eliminate underage users.
- KYC procedures protect Latvian players. They guarantee their personal and financial data will not be used for fraud anywhere.
What Are the KYC Procedure Steps?
All licensed betting operators must check their customers’ age, name and address. For the KCY procedure, online casinos must follow these steps:
- You can use your passport or driver’s license to confirm your identity and age. You might also need to provide utility bills as a document verification for proof of address. Valid utility bills must be for the last three months.
- Online casinos might also check how much money you have in your bank account to verify your identity. This is a basic procedure and does not influence your credit history.
- In some cases, a casino might ask for additional information. Sometimes they just need to double-check it to make sure your data matches what you submitted for registration.
- Some online casinos might also request additional financial documents. It usually means they want to confirm your money source is legitimate and uses an appropriate payment method.
Additional financial documental proof includes:
- Bank statements
- Income patterns
- A photo or scan of your credit or debit card, or any other payment method like an e-wallet
- Dividends
- Savings account
- Pension
Additional financial statement documents vary in every casino. They must be readable and of adequate quality to be accepted. So make sure to scan or photo the whole document with all information visible.
How do Casinos Use and Store My Personal Information?
Online casinos check your documents to verify they are legit and that they match your personal and financial information provided upon registration. The information is stored in a casino’s database.
We understand your concerns about your personal information safety in terms of cybersecurity and data privacy.
IAUI has a General Privacy Policy with strict rules. Your personal data is safe as long as you register at licensed casinos.
Only your casino has access to your personal information stored in a digital security system with password protection. No one can get that information without your permission.
Besides, only authorized and qualified employees can access your data. And this is also part of our privacy policy.
How Does KYC Affect My Bets?
All players must verify their age, ID, and source of funds before they can:
- Deposit money to their gaming account
- Access all the free games from online casinos
- Place a free bet or wager real money
Some people think these measures are unnecessary and annoying. We assure you that identity verification is crucial for a safe betting experience.
Why is KYC Good For the Customers?
Even if you believe KYC procedures are inconvenient, you’ll benefit from them in the end. And here’s why:
- By providing valid information, you help make the digital world safer. You also lower your risks of getting involved in fraud.
- Your identity is safer. Valid and verified information is harder to steal.
- Incomplete information always looks suspicious, and you might look as if you have something to hide.
- Your payments come through faster since they don’t need any additional verification.
Conclusion
The online gambling world is constantly developing, and the number of online casinos keeps growing by the day. Gambling sites are working hard on enhancing your user experience. Improved customer identity verification procedures make these sites safer. With improved digital ID checking, betting sites can also increase their income.
KYC is an excellent achievement for gambling, banking, and other industries. Its main feature is user experience enhancement at other stages of the process.
KYC is a key AML and Counter-Terrorism Financing factor today.