What is the difference between different gaming licenses?
All serious casino operations on the internet must have a gaming license. Not only to prove that they are a professional business that follows the laws and rules that exist in the gaming industry, but also to assure their players that everything is done in a real way at the casino. When players provide personal information and credit card details when they register on a casino site, they want to know that their information is safe, and that the money they deposit will not be scammed. All this plus a reassuring confidence stands for a casino license. There are currently a handful of different licenses and they can be issued by different countries. What distinguishes them, we will now go a little deeper into.
Different gaming licenses
When you want to find out which licenses an online casino has, you will in most cases find these at the very bottom of the main page. If it is not there or elsewhere on the site, you should carefully consider whether you want to risk disclosing any information to the casino in question. Without licenses, it rings a lot of alarm bells, and it's probably not a safe and professional casino you've ended up at.
There are currently a number of different licenses and the most common are issued by the Malta Gaming Authority, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority.
- Malta Gaming Authority - The Maltese gaming license has a good reputation in the industry. Many bookmakers choose to set up their casino operations in Malta as this means that the winnings will be tax-free. With a gaming license from MGA you have a receipt that your casino is safe and that there is a high level of checks issued at the casino.
- United Kingdom Gambling Commission - Those players who want to operate an online casino in the UK must first have an approved gaming license from the UKGC. With this license, players can be sure that the casino in question is safe and honest, and that regular checks are carried out by the business.
- Gibraltar Regulatory Authority - Together with UKGC, GRA has a very high reputation in the industry. A license from the GRA shows that a casino has the greatest security and that frequent checks are carried out to ensure that everything within the casino is up to par.
- Curacao Egaming licence - A smaller and not as well known gaming license is issued by the Government of Curacao. It has been around since 1996, which is a testament to our knowledge. To go under the Curacao Egaming license, you must follow the rules set within the regulation and licenses can be taken away from the casino if it does not behave. However, the winnings are not tax-free, which you should consider when playing at a casino with a Curacao license.
A New Zealand gaming license is coming
In 2019, it is decided that a New Zealand gaming license will begin to operate. Since New Zealand players have previously not been able to license themselves in New Zealand because it has been a monopoly on the casino business, this will change the gaming world in many ways. It is likely that the vast majority of gaming companies that have a majority of New Zealand players will apply for the New Zealand gaming license. There are also hopes that the proportion of illegal gambling companies that lack a license will be discovered more quickly and can be liquidated with the help of the new license.
Other suggestions that the gaming license will probably include are:
- The gambling tax payable by all bookmakers lands at 8 %
- If online casinos and gaming companies do not have a New Zealand license, the winnings must be taxed as income
- Private gaming companies get the opportunity to open their own storesdo you want to see which casinos have a New Zealand gaming license? Go to our list of casinos with New Zealand gaming license here
Beware of blacklisted casinos
The gambling sites that are engaged in deceiving and bluffing their customers and players usually get blacklisted. These can have fake licenses and generally be really unsafe. One example is that they accept your deposit but then never pay out a desired withdrawal. To keep track of which casinos you should not trust, you can search for sites that list blacklisted casinos. This way, you don't have to risk losing any money unnecessarily.