When signing up to bookmakers, Identity or KYC (Know Your Customer) verification is something that may encounter. It is completely normal and not something to be concerned about.
An ID request (sometimes known as KYC verification) is the act of the bookmaker verifying that:
- You are who you say you
- You live where you say you live
- You are legally old enough to gamble
Bookmakers request this as part of a legal requirement that all bookies in the UK need to do in order for that bookie to possess a UK gambling license.
The good news is that it is, a lot of the time, automatic and you do not need to actually do anything. Bookmakers can search against things like the electoral roll and gather from that the information they need to confirm your age. You should then be able to deposit and bet - although you may be asked for further evidence of ID when you come to withdraw any funds or if you are looking to withdraw a large cash amount.
How To Manually Verify Your Bookmaker Accounts
Whilst the actual documents you are asked to provide will vary from bookmaker to bookmaker, there are some staple pieces, and please note that you will not have to send off the originals just copies:
Photo ID: this can be your passport, drivers license or a national ID card.
Proof of Address: this can be anything that proves your address so: bank statements, utility bills, mobile phone bills, council tax for example. Each bookie will provide you with an exact list of what they accept and the proof usually needs to be dated within the previous 3 months.
Proof of Payment: an image of the front and back of the bank card you used to make your deposit with - with this make sure you blank out the middle digits of the long card number. Different bookies will have different requests, so some will ask you to blank out the middle and some the middle 6 for example, just never send your card image with the full card number showing. Do this on the back of the card also, and blank out the CVV code as well.
Now these are the normal three you are likely to encounter but don’t be surprised if you are asked for something else, it is down to the individual bookie terms and they can sometimes make slightly different requests such as a selfie with you holding your ID for example. This may be to ensure you are in possession of all the ID documents your self and somebody else isn't managing your accounts for you.
Top Tips For Speeding Up The Process
Use Your Smart Phone: if you have one, then use your smartphone to take images of the requested documents. Make sure as well that the images you send don’t have any areas cut off. Bookies need little excuse to be picky, so don’t provide them with the opportunity.
Blank Out Security Risks: this is particularly related to blanking out aspects of your bank cards mentioned earlier. If you are not tech-savvy then the easiest way to do this is by covering the necessary bits with cut out pieces of paper to hide the info. You can do this or you can use an image editing software like Paint to blank out areas.
Store Copies: once you have your images, and have blanked out where necessary, then store these somewhere easily accessible (and secure) so you can access them quickly when needed.
Be One Step Ahead: a lot of bookies will have a verification section under your account section on their site. You can upload your documents here, even before you have been asked for them. This should then get your account verified quickly.
Have a template email response: have a template response that you can just copy and paste and send. Something simple like:
Hi
Thanks for your email, please find attached the requested proof of identification documents.
Name
In summary, don’t be alarmed by ID/KYC verification. It is, as we have seen, a completely normal and legal exercise that the bookie has to carry out.
If you follow the steps above it should be a quick and easy process. The time it takes is dependent on the bookie but it is normally a fairly fast turnaround.