Malta Gaming Authority

VISIT MALTA GAMING AUTHORITY

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) is a regulatory body saddled with the responsibility of setting down rules and regulations that online casinos must obey if they are to acquire a gaming license in Malta. The primary objective of establishing the Malta Gaming Authority was to protect the rights and privacy of the players of online casinos and to also encourage the online casino service providers to up their game in the aspect of service delivery and customer experience.

mga license cover

The Malta Gaming Authority provides online casino operators what is considered to be the best and the most popular casino license across the European casino scene. It is the only gambling authority to have mentioned “fun” as one of its core aims. The MGA ensures that online casino games are credible and protects the customer in the events of money laundering, corruption, and crime.

Rules and Regulations

The rules and regulations spelled out by the MGA are as follows:

  • Age verification process

All casino players are required to be verified for their age. The minimum age of a person being allowed to play online casino is 18 years or 21 years, as the case may be in the respective country of the person.

  • Identity verification process

All online casino users are required to be identified through a verification process. Under this rule, a participant is expected to submit a copy of national ID card, driver’s license, or a passport. These documents are so chosen because they are believed to be the official government issued means of verification which carries an individual’s name and age.

  • Provision of Utility Bill or Bank Statement

This was put in place to check the possibility of people providing fake details. Under this rule, all players are expected to provide a personal bank statement or utility bill.

VISIT MGA

Other licenses used by online casinos

License Registration Process

The licensing and regulation process ensures that all players create a genuine account with actual details through a sign-up process. This is intended to prevent the use of invalid or fraudulent details. The online casino is required by the licensing body to verify the following details:

  • Player’s name
  • Residential address
  • Date of birth

These details are checked by the online casino through a Know Your Customer (KYC) process. This procedure must be followed at once and completed before the player is granted access to play the online casino or withdraw their winnings.

Types of Casino Licenses

The types of casino licenses provided by the MGA are listed below. 

  • Class 1 license – mainly issued as a remote gambling license which allows the operator to manage their own risks for repetitive games.
  • Class 2 license – mainly issued as a remote betting license which allows the operator manage their own risks in terms of events based on a matchbook.
  • Class 3 license – mainly issued to allow the operator promote their games from/in Malta. Under this license, a commission is earned through the games played
  • Class 4 license – this permits the operator to host and manage their remote gaming operators. 

Responsible Gambling

The MGA was established to ensure that the iGaming industry protects and improves itself, while delivering quality services to the players. It is the sole responsibility of the MGA to look into complaints filed by players against specific online casinos and to offer assistance.

In order to promote responsible gambling, all online casinos must have deposit, bet, and loss limits. This is to protect the players from themselves if they have a gambling problem. These limits are instigated with a time frame which lets the players set the number of hours per day, per week or per month that they can play the online casino. MGA also has an option where players can exempt themselves from all forms of online gambling. Kindly visit the MGA website for more information on the products and services provided by the MGA.