How online bingo sites protect your money
When you gamble online, it is important that you opt to gamble on a website licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. This is because these sites are legally required to have processes in place which ensure that your cash is protected. Here are a few ways in which bingo sites can guarantee that.
Withdrawing and Depositing Cash
Online bingo sites deal with a lot of financial transactions. As a bingo site licenced by the UKGC, the site must ensure that the financial transactions are secure. This means there shall be a security system in place that protects financial data from being intercepted, stolen, or hacked during the transaction.
Online bingo sites and online gambling sites in general, tend to have security systems which rival the banks. Basically; there is little chance that you will have your financial data stolen when it travels towards the online casino’s servers. The only way in which it can be stolen is if there is a problem on your end. Thus, ensuring your system is also secure is of paramount importance.
Is my Money Held Separately?
UK gambling law requires that all bingo sites disclose how they hold player funds. Whilst bingo sites are required to hold player funds separately from the company money, not all sites will guarantee that you will get your money in the event a company or brand becomes insolvent. The bingo site must declare a “level of protection” that your funds are under. There are three levels of protection for bingo site funds:
- Basic protection of funds – If the bingo site offers “basic protection” then your funds are at risk in the event the brand or operator goes “belly up”. The creditors would be entitled to this money if the company becomes insolvent and you will lose all of your money. It is our opinion that the phrase “basic protection” is misleading, as there is not any protection to you as a player. We avoid brands who offer “basic protection” for player funds and we rate any site offering a mere basic protection with an “F” mark for player protection.
- Medium protection of funds – A bingo site that offers “medium protection” of funds has purchased insurance on all funds held on deposit by players or they have entered into some sort of agreement that all players will be paid if the site goes bust. We view “medium protection” as a bare minimum requirement for player fund protection. We rate bingo sites that offer medium protection of funds with a mark ranging from a “C” to a “B” depending on the nature of the arrangement based on our understanding.
- High protection of player funds – A bingo site offering “high protection” of funds on deposit holds their player funds in separately titled accounts. This means that if a bingo site goes under or is sued for everything they own, the player funds on deposit are titled in such a way that they are untouchable. This is because they are titled and legally held outside the assets of the company and brand. Control of the player accounts is outside of the corporate structure, as there is either a trustee or an auditor that is in charge of these accounts. Thus, this is a “bullet proof” level of protection for bingo players. Bingo sites who offer high protection for their player funds receive a “Grade A” rating.
Please keep in mind that bingo sites not licensed by the UK Gambling Commission may not be required to hold funds in a separate account or to disclose their level of protection. This means that the company could dip into player funds whenever it wishes. There is nothing to prevent unregulated sites to dip into the player funds to cover their costs. This is dangerous to you as a bingo player and as such, we strongly suggest that you only play at UKGC licenced and regulated sites.