“Are bingo sites safe?” would be too general a question to ask. How about you zoom in on the factors contributing to a gaming site’s security or rather prerequisites one would consider before deciding whether an online gaming site is safe or not?
We’ll give you hints. Does the site have a credible license? Do you recognize any of the games providers or audit certificates on the site? Do they have an open policy and full disclosures on return to player (RTP) rates and percentages? How about the bonus terms and conditions: are they clear enough?
The statements above are some of the specific questions you should ask when trying to judge the safety of an online gaming site. Follow through as we get deeper into how to check the security of a bingo site. So, once again, “Are trusted bingo sites safe?” Yes and No. You can only trust a bingo site if all of the following conditions are fulfilled:
Legitimate Licensing
Licensing should be the first thing any level-headed online gaming player should scrutinize. And don’t just settle for any gaming license. There are reputable licensing and gaming regulators for every jurisdiction.
For instance, in the United Kingdom, nearly all iGaming sites will have a license from either the Malta Gaming Authority, the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission, the Gibraltar Gaming Authority, or the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.
All these licensing arms have accreditation from the UK Gambling Commission. So any time you want to check the licensing legitimacy and status of a gambling site, pop the site’s name into the Gambling Commission’s accreditation checker.
Genuine gaming sites usually display their licensing deets at the bottom end of the homepage and under the terms and conditions literature for all site visitors to see. If no licensing authority or gaming services registration number appears on either of those two gaming website locations, that’s your first red flag. Your next step should be to reach out to support to get the livening details or skip straight to the Gaming Commission portal for cross-referencing.
Variety of Games Available
Here’s another telltale sign of a secure gaming site: the number of bingo games it has. Most online gaming websites partner with or contract known gaming software developers and game providers to supply them with the necessary iGaming machinery to operate a gambling website. These tools include gaming platform software such as Dragonfish or Virtue Fruit and game providers like NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, and Microgaming, among others. It’s what forms the engine and moving parts of a gaming site.
The sites pay a fee for using gaming software and an additional fee for leasing these games, so no gaming site should have an excuse for the lack of several diverse games on their platform or for having a suspiciously narrow variety of games.
While having just a few games isn’t a security issue in and of itself, it’s not a good look for a gaming site. Industry standards require that online casinos have plenty of games to cater to different punters and offer rich gameplay. A tiny games lobby could indicate that the site probably doesn’t have enough resources and consequently can’t guarantee the safety of its players.
The same notion goes for promotions and bonuses, which should have regular updates, failure to which the trustworthiness of the gaming sites would be in jeopardy.
Banking Options
Payment methods at the gaming site are yet another high-ranking factor in the security of an online gaming site. The more the payment options available, the better for transaction purposes. Because then bettors can choose a method that suits them in terms of currency exchange rates and processing times involved before they can finally access the funds, especially for withdrawals from their gaming accounts.
However, suppose a gaming site has very slim deposit and withdrawal options and skimpy payment policies on their terms and conditions. In that case, your alarm bells should be going off. A genuine UK bingo site will have a clear deposit and cashing out guidelines.
Players should be able to see the remaining minimum withdrawable balance at all times and get any notice of additional cashing out charges, if any, in a timely fashion.
A banking options red flag would be something like no mention of minimum and maximum deposit and withdrawal amounts. Or the absence of a withdrawal procedure complete with details on how long it takes for the gaming site to process a withdrawal request and what additional documentation punters need for first-time cashouts.
Data Handling and Privacy Measures
For starters, a reputable bingo site should have a full-fledged accreditation from the Data Commission and observe all General Data Protection Regulation and international data protection procedures for the sake of its users.
A serious site will have secure socket layer technology to encrypt financial and player information to keep it far from the reach of hackers and third-party spammy marketers. This way, customer data is always safe, and so are the players themselves any time they access the gaming site.
Similar data and punter protection protocols should be extended to bingo rooms, chat boards, and forums. If you don’t identify such security precautions in the site’s security strategy, you probably shouldn’t have an account with that new bingo site.
Game Testing and Fair Play
A genuinely licensed gaming site with a decent amount of game titles and appropriate payment options would still be unsafe if it lacks game testing and certification.
That’s why you should look for game audits by independent professionals such as eCOGRA, Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), International Betting Integrity Association, Technical Systems Test (TST), iTech Labs, NetEnt, and BetSoft.
After the thorough testing and inspection of the bingo site’s electronic gaming products and games, the independent auditor issues a certificate as proof of safe, compliant games, with reliable random number generators that aren’t rigged and a fair return to player percentage for every game.
Got anything else to add? Let us know in the comment section, and we’ll be happy to engage you. In the meantime, ensure your favourite bingo site checks out all the boxes when it comes to the pointers above and the safety of an online gaming site. Are bingo sites safe? We bet you can now confidently answer that question.
Citation Sources
Can I Trust Online Bingo Sites? What You Need to Know – Mecca Blog – The Home of Online Bingo (meccabingo.com)
Is Online Bingo a Scam, Fixed or Trustworthy? | Bingo Websites UK