When joining an online casino for the first time a new player is subject to a verification process. This is done so that the player’s age, identity and address can be confirmed. If there is no verification process upon registration, there will usually be some requirement for this upon withdrawal, when a player looks to collect his or her winnings.
Normally the online casino will ask for copies of documentation which confirms the above details, treating these as adequate proof of the player’s identity and eligibility to play gambling online. These could include ID such as a driver’s license or passport, and/or utility bills, bank statements etc.
With online gambling numbers rapidly increasing, casinos frequently outsource the verification process to specialised independent agencies. This article describes how two of the more common verification agencies work and what they do.
PlayerVerify dot com has introduced a system which allows for greater convenience and security, from both the player’s and online casinos perspective. This secure system allows players to log in and upload the necessary documents giving proof of age, identity and address.
Once proof of identity has been ascertained, the player is given a password. When the player registers with an online casino, they just enter the access code and do not need to submit any documents. The online casino then follows a secure link to the PlayerVerify dot com database and checks the documents supplied upon initial registration.
This system has several benefits in terms of the online player. Firstly, it is more convenient as the player only needs to send their documents once, to the central agency, rather than scanning in documents for every site they visit. Also, the possibility of data misuse and the threat from hackers is greatly reduced due to the fact that the documents are stored in one place on the PlayerVerify database – rather than having important, personal documentation stored on the server for each online casino that a player uses.
The online casino can only view the documents once the player has given them the passcode. PlayerVerify informs the player which online casinos have accessed their documents. Once the casino has viewed the documents, either accepting or rejecting them, the player can choose to prevent the online casino in question from accessing their papers again in the future.
This mechanism also provides advantages to the online casinos, as they do not need to collect and store the personal documents of their players. As well as saving time and money, this alleviates the online casino company from the responsibility associated with keeping and protecting these documents, allowing them to focus more on the gaming side of the business.
Aristotle International is an age verification agency based in the US, with offices in Washington, San Francisco, London and Madrid. Aristotle International verifies whether the age indicated by the player is correct or not.
This age verification process is carried out using the Integrity suite of solutions developed by Aristotle International. Integrity maintains a vast database of government issued ID’s, covering over 45 million citizens in 135 countries. This data is accessed through a web service API, compatible with online, interactive voice response, wireless and other mobile devices. This means that both online and mobile casinos can use this facility.
The service provided by Integrity and Aristotle International has significantly reduced the impact of underage gambling across the world. Integrity can also be used by online casinos to prevent fraudulent activity such as money laundering, as well as helping to control problem gambling and addiction.
This is mostly due to the fact that Integrity offers a wide range of solutions, each one custom-built for a specific purpose. Like PlayerVerify, Integrity protects the consumers’ information from being illegally accessed, or otherwise misused. In fact, the use of Integrity goes beyond online casinos. Adult entertainment web sites, Fortune 500 companies and even government agencies find the system useful as well.
