It used to be so easy for anybody living in the UK to gamble online, if for example they wanted to play at an online casino site, they simply had to select a casino at which to play, sign up, make a deposit and they were good to go.
However, with new rules and regulations coming into place, all of which are now strictly enforced by the UK Gambling Commission, anyone in Great Britain wishing to gamble online now faces all manner of enhanced account verification checks known collectively as Know Your Customer checks.
Such gamblers will have become used to, over the last few years, having to supply to any gambling site operator a copy of their driving licence or passport, along with a recent utility bill to prove their identity, age and address, however many such players now face having to comply with some very strict “source of income” checks too.
When they have been requested to prove their source of income, a player at an online casino, poker or bingo site or even betting site will have to supply to the security departments at those sites copies of their last 3 months’ worth of bank statements.
By doing so they can expect to have those bank statements being looked over by a security team member who will then decide as to whether the money they have been depositing into such a site has been legitimately earned.
Failing to comply with the source of income checks could see a player’s winnings being left in limbo until such a time as they can prove where they got the money to gamble with in the first place.
Many gamblers are finding this one step too many however and are getting increasingly annoyed with the so-called nanny state that the UK is becoming. However, those checks are required to ensure that illicitly earned income is not being laundered through a gambling site.
David is a keen slots player and has spent countless hours playing both online and in land based casinos. He enjoys sharing his knowledge of the gambling industry and keeps a keen eye out for the latest online slot games. Contact him by sending an email to david@casinochronicle.net.
