Licensing Jurisdiction
At this point, the exact details of this licensing jurisdiction are still unclear. For example, the federal states have agreed on Saxony-Anhalt as the seat of the authorities but the exact location has not been determined and the financing has not been clarified either. Furthermore, it is unknown if the license will only be valid in Germany or if it can be used as a remote gambling license in other unregulated countries as well. However, most experts believe that the validity of the license will be limited to Germany alone – so sites will need other licenses to operate outside of the country.
Another thing that has been left in the dark is questions regarding the jurisdiction of table games. During the transition phase towards the new nationwide gambling license, table games are not allowed in online casinos that want to apply for such a license in the year 2021. It has been said that it will be up to the individual states if these types of games will be allowed to be offered. Until a decision has been made, table games can only be played in state-run, land-based casinos and remain a monopoly. Therefore, we will have to revisit this subject once more information is available.
The Main Focus of German Gambling Authority
With the introduction of the new gambling license, the German government wants to take control of the online gambling market in the country. What we can see so far is that the main focus of this project lies in player protection and responsible gaming. To this end, some of the new rules have already been implemented during the transition phase. For example, players will only be allowed to deposit up to €1,000 per month across all online casinos in Germany. In the future, this will be tracked by a specially designed database. This database is also supposed to help to spot problem gamblers by using several different algorithms. Furthermore, the maximum bet for slot machines was limited to €1 per spin and the mandatory time between spins has been drastically increased to slow down the games.
Data protection is also a big topic, however, as there are concerns about how privacy can be upheld with the introduction of the previously mentioned player database that tracks players’ gambling activities. Another important factor in the decision to regulate concerns having control over the flow of money. Prior to the German gambling license, most players played at online casinos abroad that were commonly situated in Malta or Curaçao. As a result, there was a considerable monetary drain where cash left the country and headed towards foreign entities. Under the new regulations, it will be much easier to prevent efforts to launder money through online casinos.
Security at Online Casinos Licensed by German Gambling Authority
Presumably, the security standards at German online casinos will be state of the art. The government hasn’t issued any clear statements in that regard but there are some indications of what’s to come. This can be observed at the online casinos thought to be receiving a license in 2021. Many of these operators are offering safe websites that are secured by a state of the art SSL encryption. Furthermore, it is expected that the German Gambling Authority will regularly test and certify all random number generators to ensure a fair gambling environment.
Some of the online casinos also have a “TÜV” certification. TÜV (Technischer Überwachungsverein) is the national “Technical Inspection Association” that certifies the safety of cars, computer networks, and many other things. Generally, companies and products with this seal of approval are held in high regard and considered following the highest safety standards. We can expect all this and more.
