How do Online Sportsbooks Verify Your Identity?

Posted by Harry Kane on Friday, June 7, 2024

In the wake of the recent government white paper pertaining to online gambling, sports betting brands are under more scrutiny than ever before. They’re also having to factor in new and more stringent regulatory changes, as several proposals are consulted on and ultimately made tangible in the marketplace.

Of course, brands are no strangers to a constantly changing and more stringent regulatory landscape, especially after the UKGC made the safeguarding of vulnerable players one of its core strategic objectives in 2018. This has even seen brands adjust how they verify the age and identity of players, which is increasingly important in the digital age.

How do Brands Verify Their Players’ Identity in 2024?

Until recently, players were able to deposit and wager at online sportsbooks, even prior to verifying their age and identity. In fact, sites had a 72-hour window in which to verify the identity of players following their registration, during which time players could bet and provide supporting documentation such as passport or drivers’ licence.

Things have changed of late, of course, with Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and responsible gambling protocols now requiring operators to verify each customer’s identity immediately and before they stake their hard-earned cash. But how exactly do sportsbooks verify your ID in the modern age, and will the process continue to evolve in the future?

When you register here with an online casino or remote sportsbook, the operator will use layered datasets from multiple sources, in order to check and cross-check information and protect all associated parties. This is to ensure optimal and accurate results, while ideally minimising the impact on individual players and their digital footprint.

As we’ve touched on, this may still include corporeal identification documents such a physical passport, drivers’ licence or (in the US) a social security number. Additionally, sites may leverage contextual data to verify a player’s age and ID, usually analysing such datasets in real-time during the registration.

Contextual datasets can be sourced from the electoral roll, IP addresses and even phone numbers. These datasets can be particularly useful when verifying mobile signups, while the information can be sourced quickly and usually cross-referenced to ensure accurate results. As a result, most registrations can be completed live and negate the need for players to send supporting documents.

But What About Affordability Checks – Will They Change the Status Quo?

The recent iGaming review has proposed that affordability checks be carried out for players that record a predetermined level of loss within a specific timeframe. Of course, some operators have already carried out such checks in various circumstances, using concepts such as open banking and more intrusive background (including credit) checks.

In these instances, operators will look to verify various affordability indicators online, while contrasting this with data that can be garnered from a player’s postcode and the average property value in this particular region. This data is easy to source and frictionless, and may prove highly insightful to operators.

So, while such datasets aren’t always conclusive, they enable sports betting sites to gain a more comprehensive insight into specific players and more easily identify suspicious patterns or areas of concern. They can also identify at-risk gamblers before their behaviour becomes too problematic, helping the UKGC to deliver on its core strategic objectives and minimise gambling-related harm.

The Bottom Line – The Wider Challenge Facing Online Sportsbooks

Following a recent consultation and proposed pilot scheme (which will run until February 2025 and trial so-called frictionless affordability checks in some instances), the UKGC will move forward with a more formal approach to ensuring players wager within their financial means. This is where things may get a little more interesting for betting brands and the regulator.

Towards the second phase of this scheme, players who incur losses in excess of £150 per month will incur frictionless affordability checks. Conversely, high rollers who lose £1000 or more in a 24-hour period (or a minimum of £2000 in 90 days or less will face more stringent affordability checks, which may involve providing proof of earnings and capital holdings.

Whatever form this eventually takes, however, online sportsbooks always face a tough challenge when verifying players’ identity. After all, while they’re required to meet the regulator’s guidelines and prevent practices such as money-laundering on their sites, they must also fulfil players’ expectations and avoid being overly intrusive.

This is a delicate balancing act, and one that will continue to evolve as regulators (and governments) look to safeguard vulnerable and underage bettors in the best possible way. Regardless, technology will play a key role here, especially in terms of driving frictionless and unobtrusive checks that players are willing to be subjected to.

One key concern is the risk posed by the black market. After all, this will come increasingly alluring to players who value their privacy who want to wager anonymously and without being subjected to either frictionless or relatively intrusive checks on their earnings. This will be especially true among players who incur relatively minimal monthly losses (such as £150) but will still have to submit to affordability checks in early 2025.

Players may also be incentivised to wager at offshore or cryptocurrency casinos. Both of these entities are able to capital on legal loopholes to operate in the UK marketplace, while the use of VPNs also enables players to bet at less well-regulated international sites. These sites may be integrated with Telegram to allow a frictionless signup process, while crypto tokens allow for secure, immutable and completely anonymous betting. One thing’s for sure: this will be a challenging transition for betting brands, and one that may change how they verify and vet players in the future!