Spain requires online gambling operators to verify payment methods
Regulation2 min read
Spain requires online gambling operators to verify payment methods used for deposits and withdrawals from 28 October 2026 under Royal Decree 813/2026. Existing customers have six months to verify or replace linked payment methods; winnings cannot be withdrawn until the operator confirms that the payment method and account have the same holder. The Consumer Affairs Ministry said the measure aims to make identity fraud harder and reported 8,675 related complaints in 2025, up 12% year on year.
Spanish online gambling operators must check the payment methods that players use for deposits and withdrawals. The requirement comes from Real Decreto 813/2026, a royal decree set on 7 October that appeared in the Spanish official gazette one day afterwards. According to the source, the decree took effect twenty days after it was published.
Operators must check separately that the name on each payment method matches the name on the gaming account. New player accounts are covered by the obligation immediately. Players who already had an account before 28 October have six months to have their existing payment methods verified or replaced. During that period they can keep depositing and playing with previously linked payment methods. Winnings can be withdrawn only after the operator has established that the payment method and the gaming account have the same holder. Based on the period set in the decree, the transition runs until 28 April 2027.
Gambling companies also have six months to adapt their technical systems. If the check has not been completed after that period, the operator must terminate its agreement with the player unilaterally. The company must report this to the DGOJ, Spain's online gambling regulator. Existing balances and unpaid winnings must then in principle be refunded, and Spain's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing rules continue to apply.
According to Spain's Consumer Affairs Ministry, the measure is meant to make identity fraud harder. The ministry said it registered 8,675 reports of identity fraud in online gambling in 2025 through a dedicated protocol. It said this was 12% more than a year earlier. The ministry said the measure should mainly counter misuse of bank cards and digital wallets. Spanish authorities found that the holder of such payment methods could not always be established directly.
The Netherlands' Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) clarified in October 2026 that licence holders must compare players' full first names and surname with the name on a bank account.