Spain mandates payment ownership checks to curb gambling identity fraud
Madrid's Ministry of Consumption has issued new rules requiring operators to verify that account holders match their payment methods, after fraudulent identity complaints rose 12% in 2025.
Spain's Ministry of Consumption has introduced new regulations aimed at tackling identity theft in the gambling sector, requiring licensed operators to confirm that the person behind a gaming account matches the owner of the payment method used.
The move follows a 12% rise in fraudulent identity complaints during 2025, which reached a total of 8,675, according to SBC News.
The country's gambling regulator, the Directorate General for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ), has been carrying out a broader overhaul of compliance and governance requirements across the sector. The latest rule responds to the DGOJ's own observation that identity impersonators often rely on payment methods that are difficult to verify in real time, and its warning that such fraud is increasingly tied to organised crime and money laundering.
The regulation, introduced through Real Decreto 813/2026, requires operators to match the registered account holder to the owner of the linked payment method. New accounts must meet this requirement from the moment they are created.
Existing accounts are subject to a six-month transition period. During this window, players can keep depositing and playing but cannot withdraw winnings until ownership of their payment method has been verified.
Where ownership cannot be confirmed once the six months have elapsed, operators must close the account, inform the DGOJ, and return any balances and unpaid prizes, subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements.
The reform arrives amid political uncertainty in Spain. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap election for the end of next month, leaving the longer-term direction of gambling policy unclear, particularly since the sector may not be a priority for whichever government emerges, SBC News reported.
The DGOJ is nonetheless continuing with its existing reform agenda. It is due to implement a central deposit system by 25 March 2027 as part of efforts to strengthen player protection.
An expected channelisation rate of 78% under that system is likely to concern regulated operators in Spain, including CIRSA and Codere, even as the regulator positions player protection and the fight against criminality as its central objectives.