Biometric Verification: Recognise Your Gamblers with Innovative Tools

The possibilities of KYC instruments face the challenges of technological progress. On one hand, it relates to the social responsibility of operators about player protection. On the contrary, fraud and crime methods also become more sophisticated.

Our experts introduce to you an extensive rundown of the latest addition to the KYC niche — biometric verification. From us, you can order a turnkey gambling project with advanced ID recognition tools installed for a better understanding of your customers.

Identity Verification: Situation in 2022

New technologies are constantly adapted to the needs of the iGaming sphere from a customer security perspective. ID checks are on top of the verification funnel. In all regulated areas, checking the age of visitors is an obligatory requirement.

What does it mean to go through an identity investigation in the modern gambling environment?

1. Starting from the early ages of the sphere (i.e. the 2005 regulatory act in the UK), licensing conditions made operators have the software that would get players' names, dates of birth, and addresses.
2. In the majority of cases, this concerned the process of cashouts, when to withdraw winnings players had to provide scan copies of their passports or other relevant documents.
3. In some jurisdictions, this was not considered a proper verification and was treated just like data confidence, mainly about age, and software developers tried hard to improve the situation.
4. In 2022, many iGaming operators have heavily advanced their verification procedures with biometric scanning, which remains the pinnacle of customer recognition for now.
5. While innovative technologies make it more difficult to cheat and deceive the system, they also become obstacles for new projects to develop due to the high complexity of recently added requirements.

For iGaming operators, the most important things will always remain speed, impulse, and convenience for players to get users through the verification process as quickly as possible. However, things have changed over the years due to the risk of having all the data stolen or used in an unintended way.

From a user’s point of view, it is important now to know that private information is reliably stored and can be revoked at any time. Meanwhile, operators want to create a seamless and quick way for their clients to reach entertainment with the least time involved.

Urgent iGaming Issues

Decreasing the rate of ID thefts turned into the task of the highest priority for operators. That is where innovative approaches to ensuring KYC and introducing new verification methods became so important.

There is an incredibly reliable way for operators to guarantee players’ safe journey from acquaintance with the gambling product to cashing out. It involves minimising the human factor and automating as many processes during verification as possible. For this, operators have to understand what casino violations are conducted most frequently.

Common types of fraud currently committed within the iGaming industry:

• ID counterfeit;
• usage of stolen credit card credentials;
• bonus abuse (multi-accounting).

As protective technologies evolve, criminal activity does as well. ID counterfeiting with the help of Photoshop or special instruments of getting a fake plastic card has recently turned into something new.

Synthetic identity fraud is a process of creating an inexistent personality with the help of AI, constructing it from multiple data points. The process results in a realistic mockup that can be forwarded to an online casino for further verification.

Modern technologies allow for generating such a genuine image that it is almost impossible to recognise fraud. This became a reason why fewer big gambling destinations accept file uploads in recent years.

Money laundering has also become a huge problem. Moreover, with the recent shift to the latest directive in Europe, casino operators now become personally liable for not being able to prevent this criminal activity on their platforms. As a result, the necessity to equip the online casino with relevant safety and identity-recognition software turns into the biggest priority.

Peculiarities of Biometric Verification

With the recent changes in technological and legal backgrounds, it is not just enough to know your customers. It is also increasingly relevant to understand their intentions. Operators have to look beyond the details, which are presented during the signup.

One person may completely legally register an account, but access to it can be then passed to someone else. This becomes a huge problem for lists of self-excluded players or banned fraudsters.

Modern technologies are developed in different directions to eliminate these issues:

1. When using a document verification procedure, AI analysis distinguishes fake or repeating photos in 99% of instances.
2. Two-factor verification with biometric (typically face) scanning has become a revolutionary approach in the casino industry.

The second method is much more beneficial for all members of the iGaming niche. It gets rid of the friction and loss of time when a player is asked to re-verify his identity during the next session or cashout. Casino visitors simply show their faces to the camera and powerful AI-driven software immediately understands whether this person is the same as the account owner.

Manual checking of document scans (considering how advanced synthetic identity fraud has become) is not only a waste of time. It can miss important details that well-programmed software instantly recognises.

Developers configure their AI to consider the tiniest details when analysing and comparing possible face fakes during verification:

• phone model;
• camera type;
• level of lighting;
• IP address;
• internet connection;
• skin movement.

It is not always about potential fraudsters. Operators want honest players to access their platforms and feel comfortable with registration and following verification procedures. The better the technology, the higher the chance of acquiring a client without losing him amidst a sophisticated signup process.

Such technologies are already used in the financial sphere in the vast majority of cases. Banks almost fully rely on profound AI-driven recognition software to ensure their clients are safe and do not intend any fraudulent activity.

Online casinos are slowly but steadily approaching this innovation. A lot of big brands have already implemented biometric recognition to aid users with verification. Manual application processing is still common among gambling operators though.

Ensuring Comprehensive Security

While the advantages of biometric verification are numerous, there is still certain controversy. Despite being the latest trend in iGaming, such an innovative approach cannot be considered a complete substitution for the existing system.

For now, the technology is not self-sufficient. An operator cannot get rid of all other safety means that prevent money laundering, hacking attempts, and similar illegal activities.

On top of that, regulatory principles of many jurisdictions require casino managers to have a certain package of software and services that are not limited to a single biometric checking.

The Main Things about Advanced Verification and Biometrics in iGaming

The safety of an online casino and the integrity of clients is task number one for operators. The regulative requirements of working areas often make managers install specific software for ensuring information collection and matching it to the legal standards. However, operators are not limited to using only these means, especially considering the recent anti-money laundering directives.

This is where innovative ways of user verification become extremely beneficial:

• ID checks are at the top of the assurance funnel since finding out the age of visitors, their names, and addresses is an obligatory requirement in all jurisdictions.
• In 2022, the iGaming industry has heavily advanced its verification procedures with biometrics scanning being the pinnacle of customer recognition for now.
• The most reliable way for operators to guarantee players’ safe journey from acquaintance with the gambling product to cashing out is to minimise the human factor and automate as many processes as possible.
• While ID counterfeiting, credit card thefts, and multi-accounting remain urgent iGaming issues, synthetic identity fraud (a process of creating a fake personality with the help of AI) made successful human analysis close to impossible.
• Manual checking of document scans became a waste of time, and it can miss important details that a well-programmed software instantly recognises.

We also offer:

• administrative programs for comparative analysis;
• individual software development and integration;
• juridical aid and project licensing, etc.

Feel free to contact our customer support for additional details on cooperation.