MGA licensed online casinos have been around since early 2000´s. Malta Gaming Authority was established in 2001, which makes it one of the oldest iGaming licensers. No wonder it is still one of the most popular ones. On this article I will tell you a bit more about the casinos, where you can play them and give little speculation about the future.
About MGA license
MGA license comes from Malta. Basically anyone, who wants to open an online casino can obtain it but in order to do that, they need to open a company in Malta as well. The license allows the casinos to accept players outside Malta and for this reason it has become so popular.
For the reason that MGA is in Europe and in the EU it also has a reputation of being trusted. They have set several rules for the casinos to keep their players safe.
For example, players need to go through KYC process, and this is to prevent any money laundering. To prevent problematic gambling, players need to have the possibility to self-exclude them as well the casinos themselves should intervene if they see any problematic behavior.
It also ensures that players´ funds are secured and that the deposits and withdrawals are secured.
MGA has proven to be very successful to Malta itself by currently driving around 12% of the country´s GDB.
MGA does not only give license to casinos. They also give license to game providers.
Where can you play on MGA casinos?
One of the main reasons that MGA casinos are so popular, is that players around the world can play on them and you have never even had to visit Malta nor have any connections to it. This is also one of the reasons why other countries have criticized it since it allows pretty much anyone to play there.
Basically, you cannot play on MGA casinos, if your local laws prevent it. If your own countries says that you cannot gamble online at all or you can play on those sites that have a local license, then you must obey that and most likely the MGA licensed online casinos will not even allow you register, since if they would, they might face a fine from the local governments.
MGA casinos are mostly popular in these so-called grey markets. This means countries that might allow their players to play on foreign casino sites but are not necessarily allowed to promote their services within their borders. There are still also countries that might not have any kind of laws against online gambling.
Before gambling on MGA licensed online casinos, make sure you know your local gambling laws to avoid any problems.
The future for MGA licensed online casinos?
What does the future look like to MGA online casinos? Well, some say that the market for them is getting smaller, especially in Europe. This is because many countries have created their own license system and/or are preventing their residents from gambling on foreign sites. Right ow there are not so many countries in the continent that still allow them to play on MGA casinos.
However, there are still many countries in other continents that do not yet have so strict rules about online gambling so their future might be there.