When you open an account at an online casino you can deposit and play straight away. You will however at some point be required to verify your identity. The verification process is much like the 100 point ID check that you need to fulfil to open a bank account or get a drivers license.
The verification process protects both you and the casino. It is necessary because the casino need to ensure that you are of legal age to play and that you are using payment options which are in your name. It also protects you from anyone else using your name or deposit details to play without your knowledge.
The verification process is quite simple. In general to verify your identity you will need to send a copy of photo ID such as a passport or license and a copy of a utility bill that confirms your address. The easiest way to send these is either by fax, scanning and emailing or by taking a picture of the ID with your digital camera and emailing.
If you use a credit or debit card to make deposits the casinos will require a copy of the front and back of the card. This needed to ensure that the card details match the details you have supplied. This part of the verification process causes some players to wonder about the security of sending a copy of your credit card to an online casino.
All of the casinos we list have appropriate security measures in place but there are a couple of things you should do before you email the copies of the card. This is due to the fact that email itself is not a secure way of transferring sensitive information.
The best way to do this is either via scanning or taking a picture of the card with your camera. You can then open the file on your computer to block out several items on the front and back of your card. You can use any photo editing software to do this with MS paint being available on all Windows PC’s.
We recommend blocking out at least the middle six numbers on both the front and back of the card. We also suggest blocking out the CVV three digit number on the back of the card. Even with these numbers blocked out it is easy for the casino to verify that you are the card holder.
While it can seem a bit intrusive to have to send all of these details to an online casino the verification process is required by the casinos and their licensing jurisdictions. If you are going to play at several online casinos then it’s a good idea to have all of these documents ready to send.