Offshore Licensing Compared: What a Licence Really Gives You
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Nearly every casino outside the UK scheme describes itself as licensed and displays a badge in the footer to prove it. That badge is an image on a web page, and an image can be copied by anyone. What actually matters is which authority issued the licence, what that authority asks of the companies it licenses, and whether the number on the site genuinely appears on the register.
The good news is that the last of those three is something you can confirm yourself in under a minute, and this guide shows you exactly how.
What a Licence Does and Does Not Provide
At the most basic level, a genuine licence means there is a real, identifiable company standing behind the website, and that a regulator exists who can be contacted if a dispute goes badly. Compared with an operator that publishes nothing at all about who runs it, that is a meaningful improvement.
What it is not is an equivalent of the protection a UK Gambling Commission licence provides. Complaint procedures tend to be slower, the remedies available are narrower, and how vigorously rules are enforced differs considerably from one jurisdiction to another. It is better than nothing rather than as good as home.
How the Regulators Differ
Authorities vary in what they require on matters like company capital, keeping player money separate from operating funds, handling complaints and reporting to the regulator. Some publish a searchable register and will genuinely take up a player complaint; others function largely as an administrative registration service and little more.
We would rather not assert specifics about each authority that we have not confirmed ourselves. Instead, we look up the register entry for every operator we cover and record what we found on that operator's own entry, so that the claim is attached to evidence rather than to a general reputation.
Checking a Licence Yourself
The whole check takes a minute and needs nothing more than a browser. The important detail is to reach the regulator's website independently rather than through a link on the casino, because a link can point anywhere.
- Find the licence number It is normally in the site footer, printed alongside the name and registered address of the operating company.
- Go to the regulator directly Search for the authority yourself and open its register from there instead of clicking the badge.
- Compare the company names The licensee named on the register should be the same company named in the terms and conditions you agreed to.
- Confirm it is still active Registers show status as well as existence, so check the licence has not lapsed, been suspended or been transferred elsewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
The casino displays a regulator's logo. Is that enough?
Unfortunately not. A logo is just a picture and takes seconds to copy onto any website. Only finding the licence number on the regulator's own register tells you the licence exists and is current.
What should I do if there are no licensing details anywhere?
Take the absence as your answer and move on. Publishing licensing information is a condition of holding a licence, so an operator that does not display any is telling you something important without meaning to.
Related Guides
A plain explanation of why new operators ask for cryptocurrency, what you actually have to do, and how it affects getting paid.
What operators mean by "instant", why your first payout is usually slower, and what to expect from each payment method.
Licence verification is the very first check we carry out on any new operator, and it is the only one that can rule a site out completely before we have even opened an account.
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