Last Updated: Wednesday, 20 December 2023 07:42
Best Online Casinos with MGA (Malta) License! What is it MGA?
Long gone are the days when the casino was associated with something illegal, with a building located in the basement of a nightclub. Today all casinos must be licensed to operate. It doesn't matter if it's online or offline. Internet casinos have a separate licensing method. There are ways to obtain a license that will formally enable this casino to operate, the player can receive a guarantee for the safety of his funds and his data from this license. One of the best online casinos licensing institutions is the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). Historically, Malta is considered the centre of casino development in Europe. Recently, the authorities have revised their laws and now it is much easier to obtain licensing in Malta. But don't feel like it makes you more vulnerable as a player.
This institution has issued licenses to the big part of the most famous Internet casinos around the world. When you see just such a licensing on an Internet casino site, you can understand that this portal is reliable and you can trust it with your data and your account data. Your personal information must be reliably protected from intruders and accidental leakage. All casinos that want to obtain this license go through a large number of checks, submit their accounts and all documents, and then undergo a series of audits during their operation.
Malta Gaming Authority has its personnel structure, which makes it possible to delineate the responsibility of each for his type of work and does not give anyone access to information that does not apply to his position. So she has a non-executive board of directors, who is engaged in the development of the commission. The CEO is present and is responsible for all MGA functions. The Executive Management Committee deals with the main functions of the commission. The Supervisory Board is responsible for the development and harmonization of all MGA functions. The Audit Committee deals with issues related to accounting, audit, and is responsible for risk management within the commission. And there is a proper committee, responsible for evaluating companies and deciding whether to give a license to this or that applicant, whether this license is suitable or not.
Why iGaming License is Important?
Just imagine that no one regulates online casinos and they can do absolutely whatever they want. It would be chaos! In this case, the casinos could do everything they want. They could change the odds when the event has already begun, not respond in support, delay, or not pay payments to the players at all. You could also say goodbye to your privacy, as no one would most likely protect your personal and payment information. The casino clearly would not introduce new methods of protection, encryption of user data. It is possible that the player's funds would be on the same account with the main ones, and if the casino went bankrupt, the players would lose all their money. They would create their own internal rules and decide whether to adhere to them or not.
In short, people would simply stop believing online casinos and stop gambling, fearing to lose their money or information leaks. It is for such regulations that there are online casino verification commissions. They help keep the game fair, fun, and secure.
In the past, there have been cases when something happened to the casino and it lost money. Since no one regulated its activities, the players also lost their money. The regulation helps to verify that the money is kept separate from the operating funds for online casinos and in case of problems, players will get everything back. So we can say that regulators like the MGA help us, as players, feel more secure.
Brief History of Malta Gaming Authority
The institution was originally named Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) in 2001. It was one of the first organizations to regulate the rules for online sports and gaming procedures. The rapid growth of the Internet casino world led to the company's restructuring in 2015. It received the name that we know today the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). Today the organization regulates the activities of all online and offline gambling services, including slot machines, wheels, and all other types of casinos. If any institution wants to obtain or retain an MGA license for the casino, it must comply with its principles. The casino must be protected from minors, protect the rights of its players (including their money), it must constantly monitor licenses, must be a supporter of fair play, and ensure a positive impact on the development of Malta. Pretty standard concepts for the average player to understand.
Quite often, there are cases when an Internet casino falsifies the MGA logo and the license number issued by this commission. To check whether a site is licensed by the MGA or not, you need to go directly to their site and find information about the license. If there is no such information, you are in front of a fraudulent casino, which you should file a complaint against to close it.
Types of MGA Licenses
When applying for a license, the casino must indicate the type of license that is required to conduct its activities on the Internet. There are 4 types of licenses, which are described below. There are also combined casinos for which you need to have several types of licenses at once. The casino must collect all the documents at once and send them in one go since 2011 it is forbidden to send documents in several stages. If, when applying, the casino forgets to draw up any document or does it incorrectly, the package of documents will be returned in full to the sender.
You can find 4 types of MGA license:
- Type 1: A type that includes the licensing of video poker, table games, slot machines, craps, etc. In the event of a repetition of the game, the operator is responsible for this. To open a license of this type, minimum share capital of EUR 100,000 is required.
- Type 2: concerns bets with fixed odds. In this case, the operator is responsible for the risk of events and the book of these events. Obtaining such a license would require € 40,000 on the account.
- Type 3: makes it possible to promote gaming portals and online gambling.
- Type 4: Designed for software vendors, allows you to host and manage game operators.
The separation of license types was done for a reason. This makes it possible for the casinos themselves to understand what kind of license they should obtain to conduct their activities, also helps to regulate the work of the portals themselves. The MGA will review the application from 6 to 8 weeks, after which, if approved, the software deployment process will begin with its parallel review and several more reviews upon completion.
During the application process, the random number generator (RNG) is also carefully checked. Players must have equal chances and, most importantly, everything must be fair!
Such verification takes place at the stage of software verification, which lasts 6 months. The verification is carried out by a dedicated external company, which is independent and transfers the data directly to the MGA. After the random number generator passes all checks, the relevant information will be transferred to the commission. After this check, if the operator decides to make any amendments to the code, he must first agree with the MGA. Making changes without consent is punishable by the revocation of the license.
Requirements to Casinos
Every live casino that wishes to obtain a license in Malta is subject to some specific conditions that they must fulfil before they can obtain it. The portal will be reviewed from the perspective of evaluating people who are involved in operations management, and assessment of the portal's growth strategy and business plan will be carried out. The capital of the company will be considered. All founders of the company will be checked for convictions, illegal activities. They will also take recommendations from lawyers with whom the casino founders cooperate.
An Internet casino must provide a list of technologies that will be used for online games. If the company completes all the actions above, it is given 60 days to implement all technical aspects of the site, its improvements. A systematic audit will be carried out if no problems are found, then the applicant will receive a license for 10 years to conduct his activities. After the portal is launched, the operator will have to go through two more audits, one a year after the launch, and the second at its discretion.
In the course of work, if any errors are found, the license may be frozen or it may be completely taken away. To renew its license, the company will have to pay another 30,000 euros and undergo another series of audits. So you can see that it is not so easy to get a license for an online casino and the probability that a fraudster can get it is zero.
Safety Provided by MGA
The priority of the MGA is to protect the portal clients, that is, the players. Nowadays, there is a large number of scammers who are trying to capture player's data or their money. Monitoring of new services and methods of protecting user's banking data and their personal information is constantly carried out.
Protection is carried out against various threats, such as fraud, cyber-attacks, information leakage. MGA must ensure that Internet casinos capable of withstanding any attack and protect their users and their data from this. New protection functions are constantly being introduced and MGA makes sure that the information security support of the sites monitors the latest in this area and updates its protection tools. If new means of protection are not introduced, the casino may receive a freeze of its license or it may be taken away altogether.
They also check the casino for fraud on their part, check that the casino generates random numbers, and does not substitute their own. It is not uncommon for users to report a fraud on the part of the casino, but in the case of online casinos that have an MGA certificate, this is impossible, since they would be immediately blocked and would not have the opportunity to obtain a license again.
Those Internet casinos that have already received this license value it and the loss of such a license entails the loss of a large number of its users and general trust. Casinos these days must use exclusively 128-bit SSL encryption for their user's data, which prevents them from being read even if someone gets hold of them. The MGA will continuously screen the players of each casino that licenses them to see if minors can gain access to gambling. If such a violation is discovered, it can have serious consequences for the casino itself. Some of the basic principles of MGA work:
- protecting players from the potential danger of gambling;
- players rights must always be respected;
- consistent promotion of responsible gaming;
- all games and devices are completely fair and safe.
If the MGA has a suspicion about any casino in their jurisdiction, they can initiate an unscheduled external audit. It will be conducted by external companies that are approved on the commission list. Until the last moment, the casino will not know what kind of company will hold it, and when it will start.
The commission understands that the main asset of online casinos is the money of their players. That is why most of the protection comes from money. You cannot simply withdraw money from the casino without confirming your identity through your passport, without your residence address. This is done to make sure that it is you who are withdrawing your money, and not your account has become a victim of scammers. MGA adheres very strictly to the Anti Money Laundry (AML) directive. All transactions must be confirmed and approved. That is why it takes longer for money to reach your account than a regular bank transfer. You can be calm about the safety of copies of your documents in the system, as the commission regularly checks. They can check exactly how all the documents are stored and if something is stored incorrectly or is completely absent, it will be recorded.
Complaints Commission
In a casino. As in any sport, there are completely ambiguous situations when a player does not understand whether he is right or not. It happens that the player is sure that he is right. It is in such situations that it makes sense to write a complaint to the support service. To date, there are delays in responding to user complaints sent to casinos in Malta. In most cases, this problem occurs in new casinos, where the support team is not yet as developed as in already large online casinos.
This problem is being addressed gradually, in parallel with the growth of the casinos themselves and their support teams, which deal with all complaints from users. To receive a response from an online casino, you just need to be patient and wait for an answer.
There are various reasons why players can apply to the commission. This is mainly due to disputes about winnings, prize sizes, payment problems, errors in bonus offers, player identity verification, account closure, website functionality problem, operator cancellation of bets.
If for a long time you still have not received an answer, you should go to the official website of the Malta gaming administration. On it, you should fill out a special form on the "Support" tab where you need to add all the evidence that you have. You can be calm, as soon as the consideration of your case begins, all aspects of a case will be clarified. The authorities will consider your case and if a mistake or crime is found, serious measures will be taken to punish the operator for the violation, up to the termination of the license.
Very often there were cases when the commission went over to the player's side and forced the casino to pay him compensation. This does not mean that every dispute with a casino will be won, as MGA protects its casinos in the same way. This means that if you are right, you will receive honest compensation for your damage.
Nevertheless, the MGA itself says that if you have any difficulties with any platform in their jurisdiction - you should first try to solve the problem locally with them. Only if you do not receive an answer or receive a negative answer without proof of their correctness, you should contact the commission, since each such process negatively affects the reputation of the company against which you applied.
If you need to contact the MGA, you can use the online form. They recommend using it, and not phone calls, since your application will still have to be registered in the system and this will help prevent errors when entering data by the operator. In the online form, the player is asked a large number of questions that he must answer before sending it, this helps to get the most accurate information from all users on any questions.
If you need such an appeal, first use the F.A.Q page, where you can find answers to many questions before leaving your application.
Players Expectations
Users who have experience playing in different online casinos sooner or later still come across dishonest casinos where they can be deceived. After such situations, they understand that they will receive the best service only in a casino with a license issued by a respected authority in this area. This is exactly what the Malta License is.
By playing in a casino with this license, a player can expect and demand a high level of service and fast support in an online casino. Any casino that has received an MGA license will provide its players with an honest and ethical attitude towards each of them. Considering that the player is given 6 months to check and test software for online casinos, the player can be sure that he receives the newest software in the world, the most reliable casino security systems.
Considering the different licensing options for online casinos in Malta, a player can get different levels of entertainment at once on one platform that he is already used to, the variety of games available is simply incredible. Since Malta is part of the European Union, players may be offered different currencies for depositing and withdrawing funds on the site. This will help reduce the percentage of money lost on multiple transfers in the form of exchange commission fees.
Licensed Software Providers
Malta's casino laws are not as strict as the British Commission, but these laws have some rules. For them, maintaining balance is more important. They will not license any old software vendor. This cannot be compared to how online casino sites in Curacao are licensed, many of which are pirated. This is one of the reasons why it is worth choosing and playing on sites that are licensed in Malta.
All sites licensed in Malta provide a wide variety of different slot machines, online games, table games.
Payment Rules
For all players, depositing and withdrawing funds is a very important nuance when playing at an online casino. All sites that are licensed in Malta provide extensive opportunities for transactions with funds. Some casinos cheat their players by stealing funds from them, delaying or not paying payments at all. Such casinos will never get licensed in Malta, they simply will not be able to go through all the stages of checks.
There is the only number of payment methods available on sites that are approved by the MGA. All others are prohibited from being used by casinos that have their license and are considered to be unsafe and can be used by criminals to get other people's money by deception.
For example, the MGA, for some reason, decided that PayPal is not available for those who want to play in Malta casinos. They decided that it was not safe enough and would not be able to fully protect their players. Nevertheless, users still have a large selection of e-wallets and the ability to pay with bank cards.
№1 Casino with MGA License
If you are looking for a new online casino that will be fair by its own laws, not just by any government laws than you should consider playing and the recently opened online casino which already has earned MGA trust and license.
- InstantPay Casino isn’t just a casino that has such a license, it seems to be one of the best online casinos in 2024 because it has a correct policy. Which one? It withdraws the players' winnings instantly. Therefore it is loved and welcomed by all gamblers. Every player should try it out and get the best casino bonuses and service! Good luck.
Check the best online casinos 2024
