UK fines online casino for only asking KYC from winning gamblers

[Silberman]

One fairly common complain among gamblers is they are allowed to make a deposit at casinos and lose their money without any issue, but if they happen to win and they want to make a withdrawal then they are hit with a KYC request almost immediately, Tonybet a fiat Estonian casino was fined more than 400,000 pounds for this practice and it seems the regulators are now interested in making reforms to the laws and force casinos to also make checks on those gamblers which have lost a lot of money.

If those new regulations are passed they will affect not only fiat casinos but cryptocurrency casinos will have to eventually follow them as well, do you agree with this idea? Would you like to see casinos to be fined more often for the practice of only asking for personal information from winning gamblers or do you think this will have a harmful effect on their finances?

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/18/tonybet-fined-regulator-online-betting-id-checks-terms

[1715207533]

1715207533

[jackg]

I have a feeling this is argued as something that happens in normal casinos so its fine to do online but I doubt that actually works out law wise (eg we can only hold £100,000 in our casino and need to bank transfer/cheque for higher).

I'm surprised it's taken them this long to consider it illegal though and something worth investigating (perhaps it's just that a case has only now been brought against them).

[Oshosondy]

If those new regulations are passed they will affect not only fiat casinos but cryptocurrency casinos will have to eventually follow them as well, do you agree with this idea? Would you like to see casinos to be fined more often for the practice of only asking for personal information from winning gamblers or do you think this will have a harmful effect on their finances?

For KYC casinos, it would be good if people that are signing up should do KYC before they can deposit.

It is a very good idea but it would be good for punters to always read casino ToS before they register and they should provide necessary documents for KYC, they should do KYC before they deposit.

Many gambling sites are doing this to cheat their customers, it is common everywhere.

[n0ne]

Almost every gambling platform does this and they never find it a serious issue, as they never look from the user end. It is good to allow deposits only after KYC verification. We users of different online casinos might've experienced it, but the support teams easily give a solution as the platforms doesn't want to degrade the reputation of the platform.

The competence in the gambling industry paves path for the success and give the best comfort for gamblers.

[Fortify]

One fairly common complain among gamblers is they are allowed to make a deposit at casinos and lose their money without any issue, but if they happen to win and they want to make a withdrawal then they are hit with a KYC request almost immediately, Tonybet a fiat Estonian casino was fined more than 400,000 pounds for this practice and it seems the regulators are now interested in making reforms to the laws and force casinos to also make checks on those gamblers which have lost a lot of money.

If those new regulations are passed they will affect not only fiat casinos but cryptocurrency casinos will have to eventually follow them as well, do you agree with this idea? Would you like to see casinos to be fined more often for the practice of only asking for personal information from winning gamblers or do you think this will have a harmful effect on their finances?

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/18/tonybet-fined-regulator-online-betting-id-checks-terms

What's perhaps a bit weirder is the fact that it's an Estonian online casino getting fined by the UK. I wonder if there is a comparative case being brought in Europe or Estonia - if not against this casino then any others. It does seem like a pretty underhanded way for these companies to perhaps claw back some of the money from winning customers, while also limiting barriers to depositing for losers. If a customer has lost a lot of money and a KYC request comes up, it might just be enough of an obstacle to stop them from ever adding more money to the site, so it is definitely a valid complaint. Let's hope the fine is put to good use in pursuing even more casinos who use such abusive practices.

[Baofeng]

It's going to be the norm of being asked for KYC I believed, so you should be ready when one casino will ask you to do that. I guess it's the question of practice though, as the OP mentioned, it's only when the bettors won big that suddenly the casino will ask you to submit info. And when you comply, still, there are suspicious and then you might not get your winnings, hence there is a scam accusations against the casino itself. So it's better to ask for KYC in the beginning for me, and not get gamblers info false idea that they won't be getting KYC'ed.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

The issue of online casinos allowing gamblers to deposit, gamble and lose without problems, but switch on the kyc button the very moment the gambler wins and places a withdrawal request is menace which I personally think the authorities have allowed to thrive for too long to the extent it seems to have become a norm for several casinos.
This is not an issue they is peculiar to online gambling casinos alone, it stretches out to even some cryptocurrency trading platforms, it's barbaric and an unfair situation on gamblers and one that should have been dealt with by the authorities a long time ago..

Anyways, I believe this will serve as a warning to the casinos that still practice this act, hopefully, they will begin to think twice before imposing mandatory kyc upon their customers only when a withdrawal request comes through.

[Ebede]

For my own peace of advice I will advise many people to understand that it is very good for someone to have the kyc registration and the verification in a platform before depositing any money because once you deposit the money without having kyc verification that is every possibility that you will win and there is every possibility that you lose and then when you win and you are asked to withdraw your money and the kyc verification needed then that is why or when a player will become to complain of kyc verification so it is good for those things should be done before depositing any funds

[dunfida]

If those new regulations are passed they will affect not only fiat casinos but cryptocurrency casinos will have to eventually follow them as well, do you agree with this idea? Would you like to see casinos to be fined more often for the practice of only asking for personal information from winning gamblers or do you think this will have a harmful effect on their finances?

KYC should really be asked out if they do see something suspicious towards a gambler behavior or activity which it is always been part of their terms and conditions about potential add up requirement if they had noticed

something but if they are really that making it as a standard one, then it turns out that they are really that having some intent on making people do go into the hard path and would solo out those winnings
because we do know that there are people who doesnt really like KYC and would simply ignore out on what they had won but it is unlikely.It is really just that a bad user experience
to have these delays just because you do need to do the requirement first which is really that too hassle.

[AmoreJaz]

For my own peace of advice I will advise many people to understand that it is very good for someone to have the kyc registration and the verification in a platform before depositing any money because once you deposit the money without having kyc verification that is every possibility that you will win and there is every possibility that you lose and then when you win and you are asked to withdraw your money and the kyc verification needed then that is why or when a player will become to complain of kyc verification so it is good for those things should be done before depositing any funds

if it is stated on their terms, expect that anytime they may make a call of asking kyc from their players, even if you have no unusual activity. better be prepared than not. so yes, deposit significant amount of money only to the sites that you feel you can submit docs when they ask for it.

[harizen]

If those new regulations are passed they will affect not only fiat casinos but cryptocurrency casinos will have to eventually follow them as well, do you agree with this idea? Would you like to see casinos to be fined more often for the practice of only asking for personal information from winning gamblers or do you think this will have a harmful effect on their finances?

From the very first place, fiat casinos really mandate KYC even not for big winnings. Therefore rules and terms referring to verification should already be expected by all users. Referring to crypto-casinos on the other hand, KYC might be a mandatory requirement in the future due to regulations.

But for now, we shouldn't really bother with KYC-related stuff on crypto-casinos as most of them don't require KYC and users can still be free to play anonymously. However though on big winnings, always be ready that some sites must really ask for KYC and we have no choice but to accept it as regulations are now touching the crypto-gambling sites.

More importantly, just always refer to their Terms and Regulations to know more about how KYC will be imposed on that said crypto-gambling site.

[Rabi3]

One fairly common complain among gamblers is they are allowed to make a deposit at casinos and lose their money without any issue, but if they happen to win and they want to make a withdrawal then they are hit with a KYC request almost immediately, Tonybet a fiat Estonian casino was fined more than 400,000 pounds for this practice and it seems the regulators are now interested in making reforms to the laws and force casinos to also make checks on those gamblers which have lost a lot of money.

If those new regulations are passed they will affect not only fiat casinos but cryptocurrency casinos will have to eventually follow them as well, do you agree with this idea? Would you like to see casinos to be fined more often for the practice of only asking for personal information from winning gamblers or do you think this will have a harmful effect on their finances?

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/18/tonybet-fined-regulator-online-betting-id-checks-terms

I'm happy to see this happening, the first time this happened to me which was about 6 years ago, I was fuming, why would a casino require all players to perform KYC in order for them to make a withdrawal, but don't mention it at all when making a deposit, it almost seems intentional from them so that people who don't want to perform KYC have their money stuck with them.

[Yogee]

....If those new regulations are passed they will affect not only fiat casinos but cryptocurrency casinos will have to eventually follow them as well, do you agree with this idea?

The new regulation will affect casinos that operates in UK only right? The gambling regulators there are quite strict but I don't know about those from Curacao or other jurisdictions. I mean they can copy those same rules by UK's Gambling Commission but how about its implementation?

Would you like to see casinos to be fined more often for the practice of only asking for personal information from winning gamblers

I don't like it. I'd rather see casinos fined for unjustly seizing or holding funds.

or do you think this will have a harmful effect on their finances?

Definitely. A decrease in customers is also a possibility if they implement KYC upon deposit.

[Hispo]

do you agree with this idea? Would you like to see casinos to be fined more often for the practice of only asking for personal information from winning gamblers or do you think this will have a harmful effect on their finances?

If this becomes an new standard and more casinos start to get fined, it is probable clients will be asked for KYC explicitly as soon as they reach some threshold on their losses and earnings. Fining casinos is not necessary, in my opinion, that only causes unnecessary losses to the industry.

The solution would be to let gamblers know that we would be likely asked for their information in case of losses as well, just letting them know in advance (in case this gets pushed by regulators, I repeat)

[bittraffic]

or do you think this will have a harmful effect on their finances?

Definitely. A decrease in customers is also a possibility if they implement KYC upon deposit.

Score 1. This is a win for players who wish to not submit data but this could be an attack on the gambling industry.

People had been complaining about this for a long time forcing them to pass whenever they want to withdraw the outstanding balances. Soon there will be more laundering that will happen and then the regulators are going to scrutinize suspected casinos and seize funds.

[traderethereum]

Basically, I agree with this so that the casinos that don't pay their winners for various reasons realize that now the government is watching them.
That will make the casinos dare not go against the regulators and have to pay the winnings to each winner without any reason if the winner is not cheating.
But now, crypto casinos have started enforcing KYC for their members, especially those who have managed to win a lot of money from gambling games.
Casinos should know about this from the many news out there so these troubled casinos should have started improving their casinos system.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

This is interesting and I think it sets a precedent for what is going to be the norm in a few years' time. In the end, everyone will be asked for KYC upon registration or deposit and that's it, like in many fiat casinos. I suppose there will still be casinos without KYC but people will have to access with vpn/Tor and they won't be strictly legal.

The news talks about a fiat casino and the possible new regulation. I think cryptocurrency casinos will still be able to operate as they do now for a few years but in the end they will be forced to do like everyone else.

[Solosanz]

It just proving the casino doesn't want to pay the winnings to the gamblers or they're lack of bankroll, so they're want to prevent from gamblers to win and they can confiscate the money if the gamblers don't want to submit their KYC. But it's a fiat casino which mean they will deposit the money through their bank accounts, the casino can easily recognize the real name and the bank accounts of the gamblers, they can directly contact the banks in order to get the personal information.

I guess they're want to crosscheck to prove if the gambler submit different identity or not.

[Pierre 2]

I think its not that different than asking kyc from all users of that specific casino. I can't support this method, friend. I mean its obvious to find out your ID as you withdraw by fiat money to your own bank account. But through crypto this was very easily avoidable. If countries like United Kingdom start asking kyc from one type of casinos, I am sure they will start asking from crypto casinos as well. I wish we could turn back in time where we could anonymously gamble our money. Regulators are asking too much.

[batang_bitcoin]

There can be some authorities that will pass that law that will be receiving some good incentive from those casinos that will be badly hit by that law if it's about to get passed.
And you know, they just want to have the favor so that they'll not experience any problem as they operate. This is common in my country but I don't know in UK if they're too strict on that and they'll go along with the cause on the victim's side.
They just have to ratify it if they really are for the people so that these casinos that do always make excuses or create reasons to delay someone's winning for withdrawal.