Account verification
Account verification is the process by which a gambling operator confirms that the person holding an account is who they claim to be, is at least 18, and lives at the address given. In Ireland it rests on two separate laws, the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 for identity and age, and the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 for anti-money-laundering checks, so a player can meet it more than once.
What the Irish rules require at account opening
Section 169 of the 2024 Act requires a holder of a remote gambling licence issued by the GRAI to verify the identity and age of anyone applying to open a gambling account. The Verification of Identity and Age Regulations 2026 add one prescribed route: photo ID showing name and date of birth, a document confirming address, and a bank, building society or credit union statement issued within the previous 6 months.
Which documents an operator asks for beyond that varies, and many run electronic checks first.
How verification differs from source-of-funds checks
Readers often treat account verification and KYC as the same step, and the confusion matters most at withdrawal. Since 2018, gambling service providers have been designated persons under section 25 of the 2010 Act, which means customer due diligence under section 33 once money paid in or out reaches €2,000, whether in one transaction or a linked series.
That due diligence can include a request for the source of the funds, which is a different question from proving your age or address.
What I check first in any complaint is which of the two checks the operator invoked, because a site holding only an MGA or Curaçao licence answers to that regulator rather than to the GRAI, and your route for complaint follows the licence. If an operator asks for documents, ask in writing which law and which threshold it is relying on.
