Do I Need ID For Matched Betting?

When signing up to bookmakers, Identity or KYC verification is something that you'll encounter often. It's completely normal and not something to be concerned about at all!

Sure, it can be a little bit of a pain to provide documents if you're asked to, but it's a minor inconvenience in your journey of beating the bookies after you learn about Matched Betting.

Plus, bookmakers will often verify you automatically, with no need for any further information.

In this article, you'll find out why bookies ask for ID and learn some top tips to help you speed up the process.

What Is ID verification And Why Might You Be Asked For It?

KYC verification, which stands for "Know Your Customer", is the act of the bookmaker verifying that:

• You are who you say you are.
• You live where you say you live.
• You're legally old enough to gamble.

It really is as simple as that - they need to know that you are you!

But why are they asking for this information?

Well, it's actually part of a legal requirement that all bookies in the UK need to meet in order for that bookie to possess a UK gambling license.

Why Is This The Law?

• Age Verification - Primarily, it's there to prevent people under the age of 18, the legal age that you can begin betting in the UK, from signing up to a bookie and gamble. Indeed, an extra step was added to the age verification procedure in early 2019, which means bookies will now need to verify someone's age before they can even make a deposit or place a bet, and that includes free bets.
• Money Laundering - One of the key regulations, and it's there to stop people from using funds from criminal activity and then passing these funds through the bookie in order to “clean” it. If you are contacted and this is mentioned, then don’t be alarmed. Bookies will carry out random checks, especially if people have made large deposits. It's very unlikely they suspect you of actual money laundering; they're just following their strict regulations.
  
• Fraud - Linked to your bank account, the bookie needs to know that you're the person who the bank account that you're using to deposit/withdraw belongs to. This is to prevent people from using other identities to bet with.
  

How Is Your Account Verified?

Well, the good news here is that it's, a lot of the time, automatic, and you don't need to actually do anything.

Bookies can search against things like the electoral roll and gather 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.

We'll now take a look at what you'll be asked for if you're required to manually verify your account at any stage.

Does Matched Betting Affect Your Credit Score?

No, not at all.

Bookmakers don’t tend to perform credit checks.

Whilst some bookmakers may occasionally carry out something known as a soft credit check on you (this is very rare), this isn’t recorded and does not affect your credit score in any way.

Manually Verifying Your Accounts

While the actual documents you are asked to provide will vary from bookmaker to bookmaker, there are some staple things that they ask for. Note that you won't have to send off any original copies, a photo will do!

• Photo ID - This can be your passport, driver's license or national ID card.

• Proof of Address - This can be anything that proves your address. We're talking bank statements, utilities bill, mobile phone bill, 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 - 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 8 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 too.
  

Now, these are the normal three you are likely to encounter, but don’t be surprised if you are asked for something else; it's down to the individual bookie terms, and they can sometimes be quite “quirky” - like being asked for a selfie with you holding your ID, for example!

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, too, 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're 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 before you take a photo. You can do this, or you can use free image editing software like Paint to blank out areas.
  
• Store Copies - Once you have your images, and have blanked them out where necessary, store them somewhere easily accessible (and secure) so you can access them quickly when needed.
  
• Be One Step Ahead - Many bookies will have a verification section under your account section on their site. You can upload your documents here, even before you've been asked for them. This should then get your account verified quickly, and you'll know that you're good to go before you have any money tied up.

• Have a Template Email Response - Something simple that you can just copy, paste and send. For example:

Hi

Thanks for your email, please find attached requested proof of identification documents.

Name

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's normally a fairly fast turnaround. They want to get you betting with them as quickly as possible, after all!

Now you know how to quickly deal with KYC requests, you can learn how to disguise yourself as a regular punter to help you avoid being gubbed.