What Is a Gambling License?
Simply put, a license is a certificate like any other. It is issued by a licensing authority, and it is generally required by organisations that wish to legally run businesses that involve games of chance, such as video slots, poker, blackjack, and many others.
Gambling License Check
In order for anyone to obtain a license, they must first pass rigorous security checks. License issuers will often check for both your and your employees’ criminal records. Apart from that, license issuers will also verify your employment details to ensure you’ve worked in the places you claimed to have worked in, especially if you’ve mentioned that you have experience in the casino industry. Finally, they will do a reference check to examine your trustworthiness and your competence with numbers.
Different Types of Gambling Licenses
There are gaming, egaming, remote gambling, and betting licenses at your disposal. You should select one based on the type of your business.
The type of the license you will need also depends on the jurisdiction both you and your players are based in, as well as the currencies you plan to include. In addition, you can opt for a sub-license which will allow you to operate under an already issued license that belongs to someone else, potentially your partner.
When it comes to cryptocurrencies, the way they work is that they eliminate the need for centralised institutions like banks, which technically means that players can legally make deposits and withdrawals without your establishment having a license. However, one thing to note is that players tend to avoid casinos which are not licensed and regulated because they often look like scams.
Issuing Rules
In order for a governing body to issue a license, the gambling control board needs to create a set of rules that corporations, such as online casinos, will obey in order to legally run their businesses. These rules cover a large array of various activities, such as accounting, audits, and operations, and they apply to everyone working for or with the establishment requesting a license.
That prevents establishments from potentially abusing their license and making deals under the table to rig the outcome of their games or using their business for illegal purposes.
Gambling License Regulations
In order for an establishment to operate in a specific territory, it needs to have a license that covers the jurisdiction in question. However, even after being granted a license, you need to have an authority that will oversee, for example, a casino’s business and ensure that it remains compliant with laws and regulations set by the gaming authority.
Therefore, we have formed various Gambling Commissions, each of which comes with its own set of rules and requirements. Granted, the more rigorous the license issuer is, the more reputable their license is.
Gambling License Requirements
Every license comes with a set of standards you need to meet in order to obtain and retain it, regardless of the type of jurisdiction you want to operate in. Some of those standards include maintaining transparency and integrity to verify that the establishment is reputable, as well as disclosing financial information to the gaming authority to allow it to see if the establishment has enough funds to run the business.
On top of that, you need to disclose the information about the establishment you plan to run, owners, partners, and associates. Finally, you should provide both employment and criminal information about your casino personnel.
These standards are not just for show — they are essential in order for your business to be compliant with other institutions like insurance companies and banks. They are set to discourage people and criminal organisations to use online casinos as fronts for money laundering.
Gambling License Cost
Gambling licenses aren’t free — they come with various fees which depend on the gaming authority itself. Some of them require you to pay fixed amounts annually in order to renew the license, while other gaming authorities require you to pay a percentage of your tax revenue.
For example, the UK Gambling Commission license comes with a small fee but in return charges 15% on tax revenue. On the other hand, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission charges no revenue fees but comes with a $75,000 annual fee. Note that this fee can vary depending on the size of your business.
Apart from the cost of the license itself, you will be expected to pay for the fee of inspection, certification of new games whenever you add them to your casino, as well as for verifying the fairness and random number generator of your casino through various independent auditors.
Before applying for a license, make sure to determine what sort of license you need and in which jurisdictions you wish to operate. If you meet the requirements and if your business adheres to the rules set by gaming authorities, you will be one step closer to obtaining a license and establishing your own online casino.
