KYC In The Gaming Industry: Know Your Customer (KYC) And Compliance

Protect your gaming site with KYC and the right customer validation process

The gaming industry has come a long way. From frequenting casinos to playing slots, poker, or blackjack on computers, players now have more ways to win than ever before. As the world’s most popular hobby grows more accessible, compliance and security has become increasingly important.

Online gambling has a higher risk of fraud than other industries and fraudsters are always looking for new ways to take advantage of major industries. This means that online gambling operators have to have robust security measures in place to protect themselves and their customers.

KYC in the Gaming Industry

Know Your Client (KYC) is the process online gambling sites use to confirm customer information. The goal of KYC procedures is to prevent financial crimes like fraud, money laundering, and other types of identity theft. Put simply, KYC ensures that everyone using the site has been verified.

In order to avoid legal issues, online gambling sites must follow KYC rules which require them to verify the identity of their potential customers during onboarding. By using special tools, they can also build trust with their users and provide a smooth experience. Since the rise of online forms, verifying customers has become easier and more robust at the same time.

During onboarding, KYC covers a range of measures such as age verification, address validation, credit card validation, and more, which all help to confirm that a person is who they say they are.

This process can be streamlined with the right technology, so that it reduces wait times for users. With this approach, you'll be able to have a smooth user experience while avoiding regulatory fines and successfully battling online fraud.

Document Verification

Any online gaming operators will have to comply with specific standards and regulations. These standards include document verification and identity verification as part of their Know Your Customer process. Document Verification is a process by which an identity can be verified using a valid form of ID, such as a passport or driver's license.

Identity Validation

Identity Verification verifies that an individual is who they say they are by matching them up against databases. For example, if providing a passport as ID, it can be scanned against a database provided by the government to check its validity. Identity Verification can also include facial recognition technology through the use of biometrics. This method of verification requires the user to take a selfie or video of themselves.

Address Validation

Address validation is a crucial part of KYC, as it allows businesses to verify a player’s address by cross-referencing the data address against official sources. This helps them determine whether they are eligible to play or not. It’s also useful for identifying if the player already has an account with another company and whether they should be flagged as high-risk.

Why Does The Gaming Industry Need KYC?

Compliance And Security

Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements are an important part of being compliant in the gaming industry. These requirements help to protect young and vulnerable people from gambling, and ensure that your business is not accepting money from fraudulent players.

Onboarding Players

KYC is now essential for the online gambling industry, but it's not just about compliance—it's also about providing an exceptional user experience. Users may abandon registration if it takes too much time, so automating a real-time onboarding process is the ideal solution. For instance, Address Finder autofills a form once a user selects an address. This is done in less than 100ms!

Takeaway

We can't stress enough the importance of KYC in the gaming industry. It's vital to ensure you onboard the right players, avoid regulatory fines, and successfully battle online fraud while providing a smooth user experience. By capturing accurate and up-to-date information at point of registration, gaming operators can validate players' identities and confirm they are who they say they are.

Even further down the line, once a player has registered and started gambling on a website or via an app, there is a duty for operators to monitor their behaviour. They must check if there are any signs that someone is developing a gambling addiction, or is spending far more money than they should be able to afford. If so, then action must be taken.

Ideal Postcodes’ Address Validation solution verifies customer addresses at first point of capture. Data is sourced from UK and US authoritative address and mapping agencies: Royal Mail, Ordnance Survey and USPS.

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