21bets Casino - Player is dissatisfied with the nature of documents needed for verification.

Yes hi I recently opened an account with 21Bets, won about 5x my deposit and now the KYC has put all that money in jeopardy. Now they are claiming I cannot submit a "provisional' (Australian) license, which has nothing to do with identification. And now would like my passport. I don't understand. What is the issue with provisional. Should I provide the passport? I have no idea. I'm really not too keen on losing the winnings.

Email mentions:

"Unfortunately, we would like to inform you that your proof of Identity was rejected as it is not a permanent full Driving License and is not in line with the accepted types of documentation".

Dear eghanem,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your problem.

Please understand that KYC is a very important and essential process, during which the casino makes sure that the money is sent to the rightful owner. As they don't have the luxury of being able to physically see all of the players and check their identification and documents, this is the only way gambling establishments are able to complete the verification procedures. None of the serious and licensed casinos takes KYC lightly.

As I found in the Terms and Conditions of 21Bets:

62.4 With the first request for a withdrawal the User must enter valid passport or Personal ID details, exactly as it appears on the document, in the language of the country that issued (or in the case of foreign documents – in English).

A similar request can be found in the KYC Policies section:

The current requirements are as following:

ID

Copy of a valid photo ID such as a passport, driver’s license or government ID card. This must include scans of the front and back of the cards. In the absence of photo-ID, we can accept a copy of a birth certificate. The certificate must have all four corners visible. We will also need a photo of the player holding up their birth certificate, with their face and the front of the certificate clearly visible.

We recommend te players to cooperate with the casino and submit all the necessary documentation so that their account can be successfully verified.

I hope we will be able to help you to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your reply.

Best regards

Veronika

Thank you so much for your reply!

If I do choose to submit a birth certificate, would you advise that? Can I black out private details on it?

I would recommend you submit a passport if you have one, as it contains your photograph. The birth certificate should be photographed clearly visible, so I don't believe the casino would accept it if you blacked out any personal information necessary for identification.

Thank you. I don’t have access to my passport at the moment. Would sending the birth certificate with myself holding be reason for concern? Do such casinos sell information for fraud and other bad stuff?

The casino does not sell any information to fraudsters. All the important information about privacy concerns can be in the Privacy Policy. However, if you want to make sure the casino accepts your birth certificate for verification purposes, I recommend you get in touch with customer support and ask them directly.

Thank you I’ve just read their privacy statements. A few people on Trustpilot have said they did not receive their winnings despite providing more than sufficient documents.

Everyone's situation is different. The casino requires various types of identity documents from the players to make sure the money is sent to the rightful owner. Please let me know if you provided an additional ID as requested by the casino.

Yes I provided my drivers license and bank statement. Providing the bank statement has been difficult as they do not accept scans or copies. And I am trying to inform them that apart from my drivers license, I don’t have any other form of ID, except for my birth certificate which you know, I am not too keen on giving.

Have you sent them a "permanent" driving license instead of a "provisional" one?

I have sent them my provisional license as it is all I have. And I don’t have a passport at the moment. I am not too sure what my options are. I am trying to explain to them the situation as best as I can but they continue to send the same information about what I need to submit and so forth. Waiting on the next document check reply.

Can you please explain why you have only a provisional license?

Every driver will need to progress from a learners to a provisional then unrestricted.

Does the provisional driving license include all the personal information necessary for identity verification? Your full name, photograph, and date of birth?

Yes it does.

Has the casino given you any information regarding the last document check yet?

Yes. Because they continue to reject my drivers licence, they are now requesting my birth certificate instead. At this point in time I would like just like the winnings that I rightfully won withdrawn. What is your best suggestion on that please? As my options are extremely limited would it be ok to provide such document in order to withdraw. Would there be a risk with them mishandling my certificate? If I do chose to provide it, they may well reject it yet again for any reason they wish to.

Is your provisional driver's license valid?

Yes. I’ve given my birth certificate and waiting for a response. I’ve redacted unnecessary information such as parents names and registration number. As my name, date of birth and address will be clear there shouldn’t be any reason for them to reject this one. If they do I’m afraid I’m unsure what to do next. I’m really curious if anyone has successfully withdrawn from the casino. They couldn’t possibly be in business still if everyone has faced the same issues.

Has the casino accepted your birth certificate or was this document rejected as well? Please let me know.

Dear eghanem,

We are extending the timer by 7 days. Please, be aware that in case you fail to respond in the given time frame or don’t require any further assistance, we will reject the complaint.

Update: I have requested my account to be closed indefinitely. Everything’s been "verified" on their end. But because they have a cooling off period, I have to wait a few days until it gets closed. In the meantime i’m waiting for a pending withdrawal and have requested that they pay out my current balance. They are not being too transparent on how to retrieve my funds and their support has not been responsive to my emails. In their terms and conditions it explicitly states:

"8.1 An Account Holder may close their Account at any time by contacting the Website’s Customer Support using the contact details provided in the footer relevant section on the Website by email. Any funds in the Account will be remitted to the Account Holder."

I am hoping that the terms and conditions are adhered to. If 21Bets do make this process efficient and smooth, I will consider leaving a positive review for their efforts and support on this matter.

Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.

The casino continues to give vague replies to the status of my withdrawal and appropriate resolution.

Could you please advise if you have given the casino a reason why you wish to close your account? Please forward any relevant communication between you and customer support to veronika.l@casino.guru.

Sure. I have sent an email.

Thank you for your emails. Could you please specify when exactly did you request the withdrawal of your account balance? Please bear in mind that we recommend the players wait up to 14 days for their withdrawals to be processed and paid out.

I have a gut feeling the delay may be intentional. I requested a withdrawal on the 12th of June. However it was delayed due them wanting a last document. Hence I provided it. 3 days later beginning on the 15th, I was told the 3 day timeframe began then, and it was never paid on the 18th June. I asked and their 'relevant department' (as they always seem to reference) are 'investigating' the review. No information and no time frame ever given. A little concerning. I am by the way referring to not the payment of my balance, but ONE withdrawal of $500. They have not even taken the initiative to pay. I will be contacting their license provider in just a matter of days.

Their customer live chat is offline at unusual hours.

I understand that this situation is quite frustrating for you and you worry about getting your winnings. However, as I mentioned before, usually, we recommend players wait 14 days for their withdrawals to be processed and paid out. Since the casino started processing your withdrawal on June 15, let's wait until June 29 before we proceed with the case. I appreciate your patience.

Could you please elaborate on why there is a 14 day timeframe. I thought once documents are verified, the necessary reviews have been completed and players can get paid accordingly. Could you confirm if other players on 21bets faced the same thing?

I am happy to report that 21bets have successfully processed the initial withdrawal after a one week review. As of now, I'm attempting to make a second withdrawal and am hopeful that everything is smooth.

Do I understand correctly that you received the winnings from your first withdrawal request? Also, please keep me updated on the status of the second withdrawal.

Yes the first withdrawal has been paid. I placed a second request yesterday on the 27/06.

Thank you for letting me know. Please keep me updated about the status of your payment. As I mentioned before, we recommend the players wait up to 14 days for the winnings to appear in their account.

Not 14 days for future withdrawals? That seems implausible.

Dear eghanem, have you received your winnings? Please let me know.

Dear eghanem,

We are extending the timer by 7 days. Please, be aware that in case you fail to respond in the given time frame or don’t require any further assistance, we will reject the complaint.

Unfortunately, the player has not responded to our messages and questions. Consequently, we are unable to investigate further and have no choice but to reject this complaint.

The player can reopen this complaint at any time.