What is eCOGRA and what do they do?
You may not be familiar with eCOGRA, or you may have noticed their seal at the bottom of your favourite online casino and wondered what it meant. The single most reliable third-party seal an online casino can display is eCOGRA, which stands for eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance.
Read all about gambling regulations in Australia.
Because they are an industry leader and innovator that is known for instilling player confidence with their unrivalled services, you can rest assured that if they back your casino of choice, you will be in good hands.
About the Business
Microgaming was a cofounder of eCOGRA in 2003. Microgaming is a gaming software company that initially launched an online casino in 1994. While Microgaming is one of the industry’s most respected and inventive software providers, the fact that a casino software provider is also a managing body does not exactly inspire trust in eCOGRA’s neutral approval.
Fortunately, after a management buyout in 2011, eCOGRA became totally independent, making it wholly unbiased and ensuring the integrity of its seal. The independence of eCOGRA has resulted in a sound, self-regulation programme that uses a slew of criteria to verify the safety, trustworthiness, and dependability of online casinos. These casinos are widely recognised as THE testing agency for player protection and standards enforcement.
Concerning Their Services
“The basic philosophy of eCOGRA is predicated on the achievement of the objectives of player protection, fair gaming, and responsible conduct by operators, software developers, and relevant service providers,” they proudly claim on their website. Approved Testing Agency Services and Self-Regulation Services are the two main types of their services.
They are a certified testing agency for over a dozen online gaming jurisdictions, including the Isle of Man, Malta, Gibraltar, the United Kingdom, and other operator hotspots. They’re also competent to ensure compliance by gambling operators, software vendors, and even regulating bodies in several jurisdictions, doing information security reviews and assessing compliance against security criteria.
To ensure fairness and consistency, they examine, data monitor, and analyse random number generators before returning to player value.
What do eCORGA cover and include?
The Self-Regulation Services include the highly coveted Safe and Fair Seal for operators, as well as the Certified Software Seal for software suppliers, which are only given out if the companies meet all of the requirements outlined in their generally accepted practice.
They check each award-winner on an annual basis to guarantee that no changes have been made that could jeopardise the seal’s integrity, and they evaluate other online casinos on a regular basis to see if they are deserving of certification. They also perform affiliate trust seals, security audits, RNG and RTG audits, and even authorise other testing firms!
eCOGRA covers the entire spectrum, establishing an industry standard that relieves players of a lot of the labour. The only other questions you need to ask yourself (other than if the online casino has an eCOGRA seal) are:
- Whether the game selection matches your interest as a player?
- Whether the payment options match your preference?
- Whether the promotions (such as Welcome Bonuses and comp points) match your level of desire?
Some of Their Well-Known Clients
The list of certified online operators maintained by eCOGRA is extensive, ranging from some that are open to international players to others that are restricted to specific regions or authorities.
They’ve allowed casinos that offer Pokies, Video Poker, Blackjack, Craps, and other games in which players compete against the casino rather than other players.
They also have a lot of approved poker rooms and sportsbooks. Mobile sites, bingo halls, and group sites are among the other allowed operators (umbrella operators that own multiple casinos, like Vegas Partner Lounge, 888, Fortune Lounge, Casino Rewards, The Betway Group, and the Palace Group).