Online gaming has become quite popular particularly because of the various technological devices available in the market. If you’re signing up for an online gaming website for the first time, then you must be confused about the documentation you might require.

Here is a short guide on what you might need to provide to the online game operator:

Understanding the basics

For many games, you don’t really need any documentation. You just need to provide some general information like your name or country. However, games that have violence or are appropriate for an audience over 18, for example, online gambling, might ask for documents.

The exact method for identification is different for different online gaming websites, and some websites ask for more information than others do.

The basic information that you’ll have to provide is your name, your registered address, and your preferred mode of payment. This is mostly for all those games that involve transactions.

If the payment method you have chosen is a bank account that is registered at the address you still reside in then the probability is that this is all the information you would have to provide. The gaming website will check the address with the electoral roll to verify your account.

While signing up, you will also be asked to check a box which indicates that you have gone through the terms and conditions. Ticking the box also means that you are more than 18 years old and are not using fraudulent or laundered funds.

If your registered address is different than the one you use for all your payments then you might be asked to hand in further identification. Similarly, you might be asked for more documents if you hit a withdrawal or payment threshold.

Essential documentations you need

Among the documents you will be asked for, the following are the most common

• Photo identification: this can either be a driving license, national identity card, or passport
• Payment identification: for this, you can either give a recent statement, or you can give a scanned picture of your card.
• Proof of address: to show your address you can show a utility statement, bank statement, phone bill, or council tax. The bill should be recent and not more than three months old.

Almost all the websites accept these documents as colored scans sent by email as long as the relevant numbers are readable. You can also use post if you want with a majority of websites.

Make sure that you cover the CCV code while sending a picture of your card. The CCV code is not needed, and in case a third party intercepts the email, your card can’t be used fraudulently if you are able to cover it up.

It is also very possible that you will need to show further identification when you sign up with e-wallet services like PayPal or if you use a foreign account. It is recommended that you sign up using a local bank and then switch it up later to avoid a hassle.