Whether you want to play roulette or bet on the races, the internet makes everything accessible at the click of a button. Online casinos have been around since the late 1990s and their popularity has grown steadily ever since then. By 2029, the number of online gamblers is expected to cross the 291 million mark.
This is great news for online gambling operators. But, it also makes them an attractive target for fraudsters. Hence the challenge – how do you give legitimate gamblers a smooth onboarding experience while ensuring regulatory compliance and weeding out bad players?
The Challenges Before Online Gambling Operators
Online gambling platforms are susceptible to fraud in a variety of ways. Fraudsters may use the platform to launder money or steal data. Or, they may target innocent players with phishing scams to steal their identities. Fraudsters may use multiple accounts to coordinate actions and manipulate games in their favour or exploit promotional offers.
To protect the platform and legitimate players from such fraud, gambling operators must be able to secure their database from unauthorized access. The main challenges here are:
Varied Regulations
Gambling regulations differ from country to country. Countries like North Korea, the UAE, Japan and Singapore have outlawed gambling completely. Providing access to players from these countries could make the platforms liable to pay stiff penalties.
Countries like the USA permit gambling but the rules vary from state to state and according to the type of game. At the other end of the spectrum are countries like Venezuela and Bolivia where the market is largely unregulated.
The lack of a global standard means that gambling platforms must track regulations in each country and region separately to ensure compliance.
Customer Expectations
Know Your Customer (KYC) processing is the foundation for complying with most regulations. Gambling platforms must be able to verify that their players are real and who they claim to be before allowing them access to the platform. This typically includes analyzing information shared by the player to verify their name, age and place of residence.
Legitimate gamblers are ready to share the information required but expect fast processing. As with other online experiences, gamblers expect a quick onboarding experience. If the verification process is too long, they’re likely to turn to other gaming platforms. After all, they have countless options to choose from.
Inconsistent Documentation
Like gambling regulations, the type and format of documents used for identification also vary from country to country. Online gamblers from unbanked populations often do not have access to a digital credit history or utility bills required for verification.
Even when available, identification documents may be misused as a tool for impersonation. For example, underage gamblers often submit their parent’s details to gain unauthorized access to gaming platforms.
Hence, relying solely on documentary verification may be insufficient protection against fraud.
Balancing Customer Expectations With Fraud Prevention Measures
Despite the many challenges, there is a solution. A risk-based approach supported by automated identity verification tools can help gambling platforms provide safe, customer-centric experiences. There are 3 key features to keep in mind while selecting an identity verification tool.
- Real-Time Results
76% of surveyed gamblers placed online bets during the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship. Millions of sports fans turn to online gambling platforms during such events. To safely onboard players at such as scale, gambling platforms must be able to verify identities in real time. This shortens the onboarding process while keeping unverified users away.
2. Verification Against Global Databases
Failing to comply with regulations can put gambling platforms at risk of losing their license. Identity verification tools support this compliance by comparing the data submitted by players against reliable, third-party databases. Hence, these tools must have access to databases in every country where the platform operates.
3. Liveness and Biometric Checks
In addition to basic documentary verification, online gambling platforms can also incorporate liveness checks and leverage biometrics for enhanced KYC checks. This limits the platform’s exposure to impersonation scams and protects their player’s identities as well.
Players can hold up the phone up to their face for proof of life checks. The ID tool then scans for eye movement and other micro-expressions to ensure the person behind the image is not a static image. Similarly, it matches facial features from the user’s selfie with their ID image features for biometric verification.
Summing It Up
The convenience of online gambling makes it appealing to global audiences. But, with the growing player base comes a higher risk of fraud. Online gambling platforms need to take steps to safeguard player onboarding to protect themselves and their players.
Implementing digital identity verification that uses document and biometric verification is the need of the hour. With the ability to verify player identities against global databases and deliver real-time results; this is the key to delivering safe, player-friendly onboarding processes.
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