KYC
KYC stands for "know your customer". It is the check a book runs to confirm you are who you say you are. It is a nuisance, it is mostly legitimate, and the trouble it causes is nearly always a matter of timing.
What they ask for
The list differs by book, but it usually comes from the same short menu:
- Photo identification. A passport, a driver's license or a national identity card.
- Proof of address. A recent utility bill or bank statement with your name and address on it.
- Proof of the payment method. A photo of the card with most of the digits covered, or a screenshot showing the account is yours.
- A photo of you holding the ID. To show the document belongs to the person sending it.
- Where the money came from. Asked of players moving large amounts.
Why a book does it
There are four main reasons, and none of them is to annoy you.
Age. A book has to know it is not taking bets from a minor.
Money laundering rules. A licensed operator is required to know its customers and to report certain activity. Betting is an old way to wash money, and the people who license books know that.
Fraud. Stolen cards get used to fund betting accounts, and if the book pays out to the thief, it pays again when the real cardholder disputes the charge. I'd check too.
One player, one account. Bonuses are priced for one per person. So are limits, and so is a ban. Verification is how a book finds the man with five accounts.
Location is a fifth, in places where the license covers certain territory only. Whether you may bet where you are is a question of law that depends on where you live, and I am not going to answer it here.
Why it comes at the worst moment
This is where the complaints come from. A book regulated where it operates will usually verify you when you sign up, or before your first bet. It is dull, and it is the right moment, because nothing of yours is at stake yet.
Many other books let you deposit and bet first, and ask for documents only when you request a payout. The reason is commercial: paperwork at the door loses sign-ups. But it means the check arrives when you have money waiting, and every day it takes feels like the book hanging on to your winnings. Often it is only bad timing. Sometimes it is worse than that.
A check has an end
An honest check finishes. The book tells you what it needs, you send it, and it says yes or says exactly what was wrong with the document.
A stall doesn't. The bill is too old. Then the photo is too dark. Then they need a different bill, and then the department that handles it is behind. A book that wants to pay you finds a way to approve a readable document, and a book that doesn't will always need one more. If that is where you are, the next steps are on the dispute handling page.
Which company gets your passport
You are handing copies of your identity to a company, so think about which company. A book with a license and an owner you can name has something to lose if it mishandles your documents. A book with neither does not. I would not send a passport to a book I couldn't find anything about, however good the bonus was. Check who is behind it first; the sportsbooks directory is there for that.
Use the book's own upload page where it has one. Cover what they tell you that you may cover, such as the middle digits of a card, and nothing else, because a document you have altered beyond that gets rejected, and it looks bad.
Getting through it once
I'd verify before depositing much. Ask support what they will need at payout and send it on day one; if they won't look at it until you withdraw, you have learned something about the book.
Most failed checks are a mismatch, not a fraud, so register in your real name and address, spelled as they are on your ID, and pay with a method in your own name (a friend's card is the quickest way to a frozen account). Send clear photos, all four corners, nothing cut off, no glare. If you have forgotten a login, ask support to recover it rather than opening a second account. And tell the truth at sign-up, because a false detail gives the book a rule to point to when it keeps your winnings.
Get it done while your balance is small. The withdrawals page explains what else stands between you and a payout. A book needs to know who you are, and you are entitled to know the same about the book.