UKGC says GAMSTOP will be compulsory for online casinos
28-06-2019
Earlier this year the UK Gambling Commission released
new rules and regulations to make online gambling in the UK safer.
Keynotes from the new rules
1. Online casinos must verify the age of their customers before they can:
- Use no deposit bonuses, such as free spins or free bonus money.
- Deposit
This is a massive change from the old 72-hour rule, where casinos had 72 hours to verify a customers age and identity.
This was a massive blow to the gambling industry, who complained it will destroy conversion and push people to play at unlicenced online casinos.
In addition to removing the 72-hour rule, the UKGC also banned demo games. This means no one who is not logged in (and verified) can try games in demo mode.
2. To make withdrawals quicker, casinos need to gather verification information before a deposit is possible
According to the UKGC, a majority of the complaints they get are from players who think withdrawals take to long.
This is mainly due to the KYC requirements, which customers are not always aware of.
In the future, casinos will need to be more clear about these conditions for withdrawals at an earlier stage, even before the players can deposit.
3. Online casinos will have to register with Gamstop
In addition to strengthening their own self-exclusion scheme, UK operators will have to register for Gamstop (the nation-wide multi-operator self-exclusion scheme).
With faster KYC processes stopping problem gamblers from playing will be more efficient, but it`s not enough. With all UK casinos joining the Gamstop database this will be way better for all parties.
