New UKGC Customer Identity Measures Arrive in May, 2019

• Online casinos in the UK are adopting new verification measures
• Young gamers to be protected as per the new regulations
• The measures are coming into effect on May 7

The United Kingdom is finally pushing ahead with a new spate of verification measures designed to bolster customer protection.

The UK Gambling Commission Tightens Verifications Checks

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has approved a new set of measures designed to further enhance player protection in the United Kingdom. As a result, online casinos in England, Scotland and Wales will no longer be able to accept deposits until players have verified their identity. The UKGC has long stressed the importance of the process.

The new measures are coming into effect on May 7, as part of a broader sweep to improve the overall security across online casinos. Come May, casinos will have to run immediate checks and verify a player’s legal name, as well as address and date of birth before any deposits can be placed.

Similarly, anyone who wants to play at the free-play versions of the casino games will still have to confirm their identity in order to do so.

UK Casinos to Verify Identity in 72 Hours

Casinos will have to adapt quickly, with an influx of players looking to have their accounts verified immediately. This will add some strain on the KYC and Due Diligence teams hired by the casino to confirm the identity of individual players.

The move is welcomed by UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Jeremy Wright who is confident that the new measures will help protect younger gamers even further:

By extending strong age verification rules to free-to-play games we are creating a much safer online environment for children, helping to shut down a possible gateway to gambling-related harm.

To avoid confusion, operators will now have a serious task at their hands. They will need to act quickly and verify customers identities, but most importantly, they will have to stress the importance of users submitting documents.

The UK Gambling Commission Recommends New Measures

Many gamers are not in the habit of verifying their accounts until they have tried to deposit. This often causes confusion and negative feedback, but most importantly – it allows players to game unchecked for a long while.

With the latest measures, the UKGC is directly going to clamp down on irresponsible gambling. The UKGC also noted that the confusion that the verification process entailed had forced the commission to sort through a large number of complaints pertaining directly with this specific issue.

Helping Vulnerable Players Stay Safe

Not so long ago, the national exclusion scheme, GamStop, was proven a bit faulty by a BBC investigation. As a result, industry leaders and the regulator have stepped up their efforts to restrict players who exhibit addiction symptoms but are allowed to play.

Requesting a verification at the start would help casinos to quickly single out self-excluded players and stop them from playing or running into financial trouble.

Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur also expressed his confidence that the youngest gamers would be protected:

“These changes will protect children and the vulnerable from gambling-related harm, and reduce the risk of crime linked to gambling.”

With the UKGC continuing to step up its efforts on regulating the industry, the gambling market in the UK is changing significantly and many think it’s for the better, even if it’s a bit fiddlier.