When you sign into your online online slots real money account to play real money games, you assume that, as your funds transfer to and from the casino to your personal ebanking account, your funds are safe. But how exactly does the online casino protect you and your funds?
Online Banking Safety
Transferring funds to and from your ebanking account demands adherence to safe banking practices. Cybercrimminals target operators and individuals who complete transactions by gaining access to their account details and, thus, their money.
There are many things that you, the player, can do to keep your funds safe. Among others:
- Use strong passwords which you don’t share with anyone.
- Don’t sign into your account via a public WiFi system.
- Monitor your accounts to make sure that all transactions are recognized by you.
But did you ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes? How does the casino operator work to safeguard your casino transactions? Check out what’s going on behind the scenes as the casino works to keep your finances safe and secure.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
The casino’s Cashier is secured by a SSL system which encrypts the data that is transmitted between the website server and the user’s browser. This ensures that sensitive information (personal data, credit card details, log-in credentials, etc) remain confidential during transfers.
You can check to see if your casino uses the SSL encryption layer by checking the site’s URL. If the URL begins with “http://” you should assume that there’s no SSL layer and, thus, the site isn’t using the latest encryption technology. Look for sites whose URLs start with “https://” (the 's' standing for 'secure') to be sure that you’re enjoying the highest level of protection.
Note – the SSL encryption code has been replaced by the TSL which is the Transport Layer Security. TSL is the next level SSL, though the term “SSL” is still used and the https:// that appears on secure sites now refers to the updated TSL security protocol.
Secure Payment Gateways
Payment Gateways (i.e. Interac and EcoPayz) that use additional levels of security to detect fraud and ensure secure transaction handling are used. These services facilitate the secure transfer of payment information between a payment processor, like a credit card company or a digital wallet, and the casino. By enabling secure transactions and encrypting sensitive data these services ensure security and compliance with industry standards.
Casinos rely on payment gateways to act as the bridge that authorizes and processes electronic payments. In this way, you can use the epayment method that suits your personal needs and preferences.
PCI DSS Compliance
Casinos’ partnerships with PCI DSS compliant payment facilitators eliminates risk of data breaches. PCI DSS involves a series of comprehensive protocols that mandate that financial services protect data by implementing firewalls, securing configurations and implementing segmentation.
These standards prevent unauthorized access to payment environments. PCI DSS-compliant services are monitored to ensure that proper authentication and authorization protocols are maintained so that only authorized personnel can access sensitive data.
Services undergo regular monitoring that identify and fix security weaknesses proactively through vulnerability scanning and penetration testing.
Fraud Detection
Casinos invest in fraud detection and prevention tools which monitor transactions for suspicious activity to help identify and prevent fraudulent transactions in real time.
These include tools such as risk-scoring engines that assign risk scores to transactions based on various data points (IP addresses, transaction history, etc), AI machine learning models that analyze patterns and detect anomalies that indicate the possibility of fraud, address verification systems, card verification systems, extra authentication steps, password or biometric verification, and manual review where flagged transactions are reviewed by a staff member.
Your Responsibility
All of these casino security protocols don’t take the place of your responsibilities in keeping your casino account and your ebanking account safe and secure. There are multiple steps that you can take to ensure the integrity of your casino adventure.
- Choose a casino that prioritizes security and fair play. Review the casino’s website to ensure that the gaming developer is licensed and regulated. Check that the ebanking platforms that the casino partners with to transfer funds to and from the casino are licensed by international regulators.
- Use strong, unique passwords. Create complex passwords, both for your casino account and for your ebanking wallet/account that include a mix of upper-case and lower-case letters, numbers and characters. Keep your password safe and don’t share it with anyone. A password manager is helpful in managing and storing your passwords.
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for both your casino account and your ebanking account. This adds an extra layer of security with the requirement that access to your account can only be facilitated by submitting your password AND completing a second verification step (i.e. submitting a code sent to your mobile device).
- Keep your device secure with reputable anti-virus and anti-malware software. Consider making your device accessible only via the submission of a special code or biometric data (face recognition or fingerprint recognition).
- Avoid using public WiFi networks when you access your casino account.
- Keep your browsers, operating system and software up to date with the latest security patches.
- Beware of phishing attempts. Phishing involves communications that encourage you to click on a link (which then leads you to an infected site that compromises your device) or attempts to solicit private information from you (i.e. a letter, purportedly from your bank, asking you to “confirm” your password or a request from someone claiming to be a government source that asks you to “pay a fine” or “send bank details for a refund”, etc).
- Don’t provide your login credentials or click on suspicious links in response to unsolicited messages or emails. Always verify that the website URL uses https:// (secure website) at the beginning of the URL. Make sure that your email account is secure. Monitor your account on a regular basis and check your account activity for any unauthorized changes or transactions.
- Always log out from your casino account following your gaming session.
Any suspicious activity should be reported immediately to the casino’s customer support.