Gambling has always been associated with certain risks, such as fraud, cheating, and addiction. Canada is a popular gambling destination, boasting a large number of physical casinos and top-notch online platforms. As a result, there’s always a need to make this pastime more secure.
To combat such issues, British Columbia has made showing ID one of the entry requirements in casinos. Among the primary reasons is promoting responsible gambling.
BCLC’s Initiative
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation announced the mandatory ID check requirement a month before implementing it. The BCLC oversees 36 casinos in the province and regulates the lottery. The organization faced a major money laundering scandal involving top casino operators like River Rock Casino and government employees, leading to anti-money laundering or AML procedures in Canada. However, the money laundering issue didn’t fully disappear, but the new identification law should make BC gambling safer and more reliable.
KYC in Online Casinos
The process of finding out more about customers isn’t unheard of. It’s already widely employed by every leading online casino. Canadians must provide specific information to verify their identities. To access online gambling and withdraw winnings in online casinos without a hitch, it is mandatory to show specific identification. The process, called KYC, or Know Your Customer, is part of online casino security because problems like money laundering and identity theft are avoided. KYC varies from company to company but mostly requires your basic personal information via ID documents and utility bills to determine your address, etc.
So, BC casinos have to implement basic KYC procedures to confirm age before letting customers inside the premises. Like checking IDs to prevent underage drinking, safety measures taken with gambling will ward off the risks. Other potential benefits also exist that will improve everyone’s experience.
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Responsible Gambling Guard
Although one side of the situation is curbing crimes and cheating, the flip side remains very different. Casinos can ensure responsible gambling via mandatory photo identification. Players may opt for a self-exclusion program in both online and land-based gambling platforms to quit gambling, an excellent tool to help them distance themselves from betting too much. Online sites have variations of the program. Users decide if they’d like to limit the time to access games or leave the platform for a few weeks or months.
In BC, the program’s local version is called Game Break. Thanks to the rule, casinos will run player IDs through a database that brings up their history, including their participation in Game Break. If it’s found that they’ve opted to quit for some time, they won’t be allowed in. This is a vital aspect of the rule because gamblers requiring help will receive the tough love needed. A few locations are even using facial recognition to ensure the rule is well applied.
Other Advantages
Canadian casinos will enjoy a host of benefits by implementing ID checks. They go beyond assisting people facing irresponsible gambling. The idea of incorporating security technologies is to make the process safe and efficient for online and land-based gamblers. Some additional advantages British Columbia should find include:
- The best online casino sites use KYC procedures to curb fraud. Many things could go wrong if people are allowed to join gambling platforms without proper due diligence. The legitimacy of each person’s identity will enable companies to keep hackers and scammers out of the system, improving the experience for everyone and keeping users’ private data safe.
- Brick-and-mortar casinos have security personnel keeping everything safe. They’re great at ensuring safety when they find someone acting up or harmful situations arising. However, they can’t do much to control financial fraud or cheating. That’s where ID checking comes in. The first step to a secure and fair environment, as casinos can identify cheaters and scammers, is to know who’s entering the casino facilities. The casino’s further actions may even prevent serious concerns from arising, like acts of terrorism or heists.
- A long-lasting benefit of the change would be safer gambling, which can thwart underage access to casinos. Spending all their money is not difficult for those under the legal limit. Not only that, but it might cause long-term adversities like addiction. Since operators must see IDs, they’ll be able to identify the ones not allowed to gamble legally.
Even though the rule may cause some inconvenience to regulars, it could make the gaming process for real money much safer for themselves and others. The fun pastime’s been marred by adverse outcomes for far too long. Large-scale crimes, especially financially related ones, are regularly seen in casinos. That’s why identifying anyone who enters the gambling floor plays an important role. It will assure the operators there aren’t dangerous players threatening customers’ safety and should reduce the number of gambling addicts in the country, helping users who want to take some time off for their mental health.