Maltese licensed casinos are still by far the most popular today when looking at Europe as a whole. The Malta Gaming Authority is a trustworthy and reputable operator, whose licences are sought by almost all new casino companies. Players, or casino customers, value the licence and always consider sites that have it to be more trustworthy than others.
How can an online casino get an MGA licence?
The Maltese licence is not granted to just anyone. The very first thing an MGA casino should do is apply for a licence on the MGA website to start the application process. Once the application has been received by the MGA, they will start looking at the casino with quite a magnifying glass.
One of the first things on the checklist is who is actually behind the site in question. Unfortunately, the lucrative iGaming industry attracts long-tail players looking to make a quick buck, so they check the backgrounds of everyone behind the scenes to make sure they have no criminal record or other dishonourable history.
A site applying for a licence must also submit its marketing and financial plan to the MGA for review to see if the figures add up. In addition, the rules and conditions of the site applying for a licence will of course be checked to ensure that there are no ambiguities. If a casino or betting site succeeds in claiming a licence, it will be entitled to operate for five years at a time before being reviewed.
How does the Maltese licence differ from gaming licences in other countries?
For the Finnish player, the main difference between the Maltese licence and many other licences is that it guarantees tax-free winnings. In addition, the gaming licences in, say, Estonia and the UK also guarantee tax-free winnings for Finnish players. The UK and Malta also have extremely strict application criteria in common.
Another notable difference that can be seen between casinos licenced in Malta and, say, Curacao, is the casino bonuses offered by the casinos. Curacao's casinos often offer bonuses of absurd size, and this is almost a prerequisite for casinos to attract Finnish players with taxable winnings. Malta's MGA casinos are not often able to offer similar huge bonuses.
In case of any problems, the Malta Gaming Authority will also help Finnish players to sort things out, something that unfortunately cannot always be guaranteed by the local authorities in Curacao.
Finland and the Malta Gaming Authority licence
In the first chapter we already briefly covered the issues that Finnish players are most interested in, namely whether domestic players can enjoy tax-free winnings or Malta Gaming Authority casinos in general. Many people think that because the government-owned Veikkaus has a monopoly in the gaming industry in Finland, Finns should not be allowed to play at online casinos abroad. However, under EU law, it is perfectly legal to gamble at online casinos, it is just that Finnish law prevents them from operating an online casino from Finland.
Finnish players can therefore enjoy the services of foreign online casinos without any worries. However, as an EU country, online casinos operating from Malta are clearly the best choice for the boys and girls of the cold north thanks to their tax-free winnings, so whenever they see the MGA logo at the bottom of the gaming site, they can play and withdraw any winnings they make without any worries.
This is because winnings from many other licences are not tax-free. This is undoubtedly a bad thing, because if Finns were to win a progressive jackpot or an all-time betting record at an online casino based in Curacao, for example, they wouldn't want to share it with a tax bear. Fortunately, there's no danger of this happening at Maltese casinos and betting sites.
Disclaimer: Play responsibly. Players must be over 18. For help visit https://www.gamcare.org.uk/.