Banking for gambling business
Banking issues and, in particular, opening corporate and merchant accounts are serious challenges for any iGaming operator. Financial institutions are wary of gambling companies, by default classifying them as a high-risk business. In this regard, banks have special requirements for issuing accounts and providing other services for casinos and sportsbooks. It is quite possible to fulfill them and achieve the cherished goal, but considerable efforts will have to be made.
Keep reading to figure out what gambling accounts an operator needs, what is required to get them, how to choose the best bank account for gambling and how you can simplify the procedure by contacting LicensingAid specialists.
What accounts do online casinos need?
As a standard, the functioning of the virtual casino requires two bank accounts: a current one for storing the company’s funds and a merchant for accepting and processing payments from credit cards and electronic wallets of customers.
Requirements for gaming operators
As we already mentioned, it’s not easy to obtain a gaming or esports bank account. In order to get it, the operator needs to prove that its business is transparent and reliable. Let’s list what exactly banks expect from the company that is pretending to get a gambling bank account.
Regulatory сompliance and licensing
Before making a decision to open an account, any bank will first check whether the platform complies with legislation and whether it has a license. Why is a license required?
The fact is that the presence of this document is a guarantor of compliance by an iGaming enterprise with certain quality and safety standards. A permit (especially one issued by a prestigious jurisdiction) is a reason to trust the operator and not be afraid that issued accounts can be used for money laundering and other crimes.
Fraud prevention
One of the most important conditions for both obtaining a license and providing banking services for gamers’ websites is compliance with the AML policy. Moreover, operators are required to comply with the fair play policy, use official software, and all random number generators must be certified. Finally, no virtual casino will receive a permit if its owner has been involved in any financial crimes in the past.
Thus, in order to obtain a license and then banking services, the platform needs to prove its complete honesty and transparency.
Provision of an exhaustive set of documents
To get an account, the owner of the iGaming platform must provide all the necessary documents. The documentation package usually includes the following:
- The proof of the enterprise registration;
- A set of statutory documentation of the enterprise, including the charter and an extract from the minutes of the constituent assembly;
- The applicant’s ID, date of birth and residential address;
- Detailed description of the gaming activities provided;
- Bank statements and other documents containing information about personal and corporate financial conditions, as well as data on the origin of funds.
The set of documents may vary depending on the bank, but in any case, you should be prepared for a lot of paperwork.
Merchant accounts for iGaming
Merchant account is a trading account that helps vendors to accept payments from clients’ credit cards or electronic wallets. The presence of this instrument not only facilitates the processing of transactions but also raises the status of the company in the eyes of the players. One more benefit is that there are no restrictions on time of accepting payments and the geography of customers.
Since online gaming is considered a high-risk business, merchant accounts issued for such companies are also defined as high-risk. This is due to high chargeback rates and the risk of financial crime. That is why, after opening an account, banks continue to monitor the activity of the project and require reports and warnings about all suspicious transactions occurring.
LicensingAid provides support in the process of opening a merchant account. You can read about this service on our website or contact us and get all the information you need.
How to choose a bank?
There are several important criteria to consider when choosing a place to get an iGaming account:
- The cost of banking services
- The attitude of the institution to the gambling industry
- Bank reputation
- Transactions speed
- The requirements for virtual casinos
How can LicensingAid help you?
Our team provides professional support in opening bank accounts for online gaming. We provide consulting services, help with the collection of documents and filing an application In addition, LicensingAid assists operators in obtaining licenses from prestigious jurisdictions. If you have any questions or need help, you can write to us in the contacts section on our website.