How digital ID is transforming gaming and betting in 2025

The online gaming industry is undergoing a major transformation, driven by evolving legal frameworks, bigger restrictions on advertising, increasingly sophisticated fraud tactics, and rising demand among players for seamless digital experiences.  

As we move through 2025, the industry stands at a pivotal moment, shaped by the evolving EU Digital Identity framework and tightening local regulations. In Belgium, recent updates to the Van Hecke Law, such as the ban on player incentives introduced in September 2024 and stricter identity verification requirements that take effect on May 1, are raising the bar for compliance. Online gaming platforms must navigate this shifting landscape while ensuring a secure, privacy-conscious, and seamless player experience. 

Digital identity solutions offer a powerful way for gaming platforms to future-proof their businesses. By securing and streamlining user verification, login processes, and data sharing, these technologies enhance the user experience, mitigate fraud and ensure compliance with constantly evolving regulations. Additionally, digital ID solutions make instant onboarding possible, which reduces user dropout rates and contributes to growth in both user base and revenue. 

This blog delves into the key challenges facing online gaming platforms and explores how digital identity solutions can help address them, driving transformation and revolutionising the industry. 

Next to regulations like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Anti-money Laundering Directive (AMLD) and Know Your Customer (KYC), online gaming operators in Europe face increasingly complex regulatory challenges that directly impact profitability and market strategies. For example, responsible gambling regulations require operators to implement tools such as self-exclusion programs, deposit limits, and behaviour monitoring systems.

Zooming in on Belgium, gaming operators face strict gambling advertising regulations, which prohibit advertising on traditional media platforms and impose severe restrictions online. These limitations hinder operators' ability to reach potential customers effectively, and make it challenging for platforms to reach potential customers and grow their player base. Additionally, gaming platforms and casinos in Belgium must comply with the updated Van Hecke law, which we explore further below.

A major issue for online gaming operators is that many players reuse usernames and passwords across multiple platforms, which makes their accounts highly vulnerable to breaches and fraud. Through phishing or exploiting weak or leaked passwords, hackers can take over accounts and gain unauthorised access to player funds or accounts. Another common issue is multi-accounting fraud, whereby fraudsters create multiple accounts to exploit new-player incentives and by-pass imposed bans.  

Gaming platforms face challenges with user reactivation, as many dormant players cannot return due to forgotten credentials or outdated account recovery methods. While platforms invest significant resources—often hundreds of euros—into acquiring each new player, around 70% of these players abandon their accounts within 6 to 12 months. Complicated or frustrating login processes can contribute to this abandonment, resulting in lost revenue and an underutilised player base, despite the initial investment. 

Another critical concern is IBAN verification, which has drawn increased scrutiny from regulatory authorities. In Belgium, for example, regulators must ensure that that player withdrawals are made to a bank account that belongs to the same individual who registered the account. Operators must also verify that funds are not quickly transferred from the player's account to a third-party account, which could indicate money laundering or fraud. 

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A key regulatory challenge for online gambling operators, regulated gaming platforms, and physical casinos is ensuring compliance with responsible gambling regulations. In many countries, regulators require operators to implement self-exclusion programs, set deposit and wager limits, and use tools to identify problematic behaviour, such as sudden shifts in betting patterns to prevent gambling addiction and protect vulnerable players. 

In Belgium, gaming platforms must comply with local laws that emphasise player protection by preventing gambling addiction and minimising harm. Per the Van Hecke Law—an amendment to Belgium's 7 May 1999 gambling law— operators will face additional regulatory constraints starting May 1st, 2025. This includes a ban on offering player incentives and stricter identity checks in physical casinos to reduce gambling-related harm.  

While there isn't a unified law for gaming services or direct equivalent to the Van Hecke Law EU-wide, several EU legislations influence online gaming operations, particularly regarding player protection, advertising, and cross-border compliance. 

Managing cross-border operations in the EU is a complex challenge for gaming operators due to the varying regulations across member states. The eIDAS regulation aims to simplify this by providing a standardised framework for electronic identity verification and cross-border digital services, helping streamline processes such as player verification. However, operators still face the challenge of adapting to each country’s unique regulatory requirements, which can increase costs and hinder scalability. 

Furthermore, many gaming operators are part of larger global organisations, where the primary point of contact is often a country manager responsible for specific markets. Country managers must advocate for local needs, but securing resources for local use cases can be challenging if they do not align with broader corporate priorities or are not mandate by legislations. Building a strong business case for these use cases, such as improving login processes, is often difficult, especially when it’s unclear how they directly translate to increased revenue. 

The proliferation of online gaming platforms has led to fierce competition and market saturation. An additional challenge comes from state-run entities, which enjoy distinct competitive advantages. In this competitive environment, gaming platforms must adopt new technologies and channels, as well as innovate to differentiate themselves to capture and retain customers. To stay ahead, private operators need to generously invest in alternative ways to attract and retain customers, often by providing enhanced experience, quick and secure payments, reliable customer service, and better security.

Standout from competition with seamless UX - From onboarding to payouts

Re-usable, digital identity platforms streamline the login experience on gaming platforms by eliminating the need for users to remember complex passwords and enabling seamless, passwordless authentication. Unlike one-off identity verification or traditional identity and access management solutions, re-usable digital identities allow for persistent, user-friendly authentication across sessions and services. By offering a frictionless way to log in or reactivate dormant accounts, platforms can become the go-to destination for players seeking ease and immediacy. This fosters player loyalty by positioning the platform as a trusted, player-first environment where returning is as effortless as playing.  

Digital identity platforms help align with international compliance standards while addressing the unique needs of smaller markets. For instance, itsme^® helps local country managers to meet regulatory requirements specific to Belgium, such as the enhanced Van Hecke Law. By providing scalable, secure, and trusted solutions, digital identity tools make it easier to navigate local regulations, offering a compelling case for investment in markets abroad. 

Digital identity tools also play a critical role in enhancing the payment experience and securing transactions within iGaming platforms, particularly through KYC processes. Research shows that quick and easy payouts are a top priority for online sports bettors when choosing a sportsbook—surpassing even brand trust, odds, and promotions.  

By improving user experience, digital identity tools make it easier to attract both new and returning players with fast and secure identity verifications and logins. This, in turn, enables gaming platforms to increase revenue through higher conversion and better player retention. Digital ID platforms also streamline customer support operations, making the process more efficient. For instance, when a player registers using a digital identity solution, this removes the need for time-consuming manual verification, speeding onboarding up for players while lowering operational costs for support teams.

For instance, Betfirst, a Belgian sports betting operator, has integrated itsme^® to streamline user onboarding and registration, significantly reducing friction during the sign-up process with passwordless log-in. The system checks users' identities against the Belgian National Register in real-time, providing a fast and secure way to confirm that players meet the legal age requirements. This seamless experience not only facilitates bringing in new players, but also helps reactivate dormant accounts more seamlessly, boosting player retention. Gaming platforms that use itsme^® for user logins in Belgium also automatically benefit from our built-in user verification capabilities.

By constantly adapting to evolving regulations, digital identity solutions offer gaming platforms future-proof compliance. For example, digital identity platforms like itsme^® are fully aligned with the stricter identity verification requirements of the Van Hecke Law in Belgium, providing a secure method for verifying identities when players sign up for online platforms or visit physical casinos.

Additionally, by automating the verification process and securely storing player information, digital identity systems eliminate the risks and costs associated with manually handling sensitive documents, such as IDs or bank statements. This not only reduces the risk of human error and fraud, but also ensures that player data is up-to-date and accessible in real-time, minimising the risk of data breaches.

By verifying a player's identity before initiating financial transactions, gaming platforms can prevent fraud, identity theft, and other financial crimes. Traditional banking verification often requires players to provide proof of identity through documents like bank statements or IDs, which is time-consuming, costly, and prone to errors. 

By integrating secure and seamless digital identity verification, however, operators can ensure fast and secure payment processing, which helps foster player trust and retention. This is because digital identity solutions use secure, government-backed data for immediate authentication, ensuring that only verified, legitimate players can deposit or withdraw funds.  

In addition to identity verification, some digital identity tools can support secure data sharing, further enhancing the security and efficiency of financial transactions. Through data sharing, online gaming platforms can leverage verified IBAN access, ensuring that bank account details provided by players are authentic and aligned with their verified identity.  

Digital identity tools offer gaming and gambling platforms a scalable solution for expanding across multiple markets while maintaining security, compliance, and operational efficiency. For example, itsme^® digital identity platform, which is eIDAS-compliant, can verify players’ identities using government-issued ID documents across 17 countries. This reduces the complexity and costs of operating in diverse regulatory environments and supports seamless international growth. 

Beyond regulatory compliance, these platforms also enhance the onboarding experience by enabling instant account activation and significantly reducing user dropout. With conversion times that can average just a few seconds, platforms can quickly turn curious visitors into engaged players. 

Moreover, digital identity tools help meet both international standards and the specific needs of smaller markets. For instance, itsme^® enables local country managers to comply with market-specific regulations, such as Belgium’s enhanced Van Hecke Law. By offering scalable, secure, and trusted solutions, digital identity tools make it easier to navigate local regulations, offering a compelling case for investment in markets abroad. 

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