The Most Important Criteria for Evaluating Online Casino Brands
The online gambling market is booming like never before. A huge number of operators offer their iGaming services online in the UK, making it essential for people to know which platforms to join and which to avoid.
Websites like Gamblizard make this easier with their comprehensive casino ratings, which is why we had a discussion with Jamie Wall. He worked as a game developer at NetEnt and now offers his experience and expertise at Gamblizard. Let’s see what he thinks are the most important aspects of evaluating an online casino and get some insight into the company’s rating system.
Why is it important to pay attention to the casino rating?
Well, with so many casinos popping up on what seems like a daily basis, it’s hard to identify which ones are worth your time and money. Unlike typical gaming sites, casinos require money to fully enjoy, so it becomes even more crucial to know which platforms are worth spending your cash on.
With a good rating system from industry experts, the decision becomes easier. The best thing you can do is find casinos with a good expert rating and then also read some user reviews to gain more insight into how the platform stacks up against competitors.
How does Gamblizard rate a casino?
Our dedicated rating system follows a very strict methodology to give points to a casino based on several key aspects. Our scale ranges from 1-5, with 1 being those platforms that comply with the lowest threshold of must-have requirements, 2-3 being casinos that have room for improvement, and 4-5 reserved for platforms that are highly reliable and lucrative.
We focus on aspects including licence and security, withdrawal and deposit methods, bonuses and promotions, gaming experience, loyalty program, customer service, and any additional features a casino operator offers. Each of these factors is also further divided into its own key components that generate a score between 1 and 5. Once we have that, it’s just a matter of summing up the factors and dividing them by 7. The result is our general score.
Why is it important to check the licence and security measures of a casino?
I always tell people to avoid unlicensed casinos like the plague. The problem with such sites is that you never know if they’ll be legitimate or scam you out of your money. More often than not, it’s the latter.
That’s why it’s crucial to join casinos that have a valid licence, preferably from a well-reputed organisation like the UKGC. This ensures that the site operates within legal boundaries. Also, always look for SSL-encrypted sites, as they’ll protect your personal data and give you a secure space to enjoy your time.
The way we rate licensing is by taking a look at License Integrity, Responsible Gaming Features, Security Measures, and Regulatory Failures. The first point from these four gets 50% of the weightage, so if a casino isn’t licensed, it already fails in this section. The reason for this is that with a good license, normally, all the other aspects are already covered.
For instance, UKGC or MGA won’t give their license to a casino that doesn’t provide a decent amount of responsible gambling features like deposit limits, cooling-off periods or self-exclusion tools. Similarly, you won’t find a UKGC-licensed casino without SSL encryption or an effective age-verification system.
What criteria are taken into account when evaluating deposit methods at online casinos, and why are they important for players?
As you can imagine, managing money is one of the most important aspects of online gambling for players. No one wants to play at a site that doesn’t allow for quick and easy payments via secure banking methods. We rate this very carefully, as casinos need to have a good selection of deposit methods that enable fast transactions and no fees. However, our experts also examine the range of methods available and the transparency of the terms.
For instance, our metrics are weighted as follows:
- Range of methods (eg, debit/credit cards, e-wallets, bank transfers, etc): 30%
- Quantity of methods (how many of the above are present): 30%
- Transparency (how easy it is to find information about payments): 20%
- Speed: 20%
Each can get a score between 1 and 5 based on their own specifics. So, a casino that offers all kinds of payment methods will get the maximum, while one that only has credit cards and bank transfers will get 1 point. Similarly, having instant processing speed will grant 5 points, while a 1 or 2-day wait drops the score to 1.
How do bonus offers affect the overall rating of a casino?
Bonuses and promotions are among the most vital parts of any casino, so they take up a major spot in our rating system. Most players these days look for online casino welcome offers and other ongoing promos to maximise their money and play for longer.
We rate casinos based on the type of bonuses they have and the value they offer. A combination of free spins and real money is ideal, while a no-deposit bonus gets extra points. Other factors we consider when rating a casino for its promotional features include the frequency of the offers and, most importantly, their wagering requirements and general T&Cs.
Specifically, more than 50% of our bonus rating system is dedicated to how convenient and varied the promotions are. In other words, we want the casinos to offer profitable promotions (like 200%-300% match bonuses, no-deposit bonuses, etc) and in good numbers (6+ offers are right on the spot, but 10+ is what we’d like to see more often).
Of course, having a mouthwatering bonus is nothing if not followed by realistic wagering requirements. That’s why when we see figures like 10x or lower, we grant the maximum score. Conversely, requirements of 45x or more are struck with 1 or 2 points maximum.
Let’s talk about loyalty programs. What are they, and why are they important for casino evaluation?
I consider the relationship between gamblers and casinos based on a system of give-and-take. When users regularly give their time and money to gambling sites, it’s only natural to expect something more than just entertainment in return. This is why a robust loyalty program is important: it rewards users for wagering their money on games and incentivizes them to play more. It’s a win-win situation for both parties.
At Gamblizard, 40% of the score relative to loyalty programs goes precisely to the quality and quantity of the benefits offered. We want to see large bonuses, client-focused support, invitations to special events, and so forth. What we don’t like are programs that just give small tokens that aren’t much different from regular offers.
However, we also want to make sure that quality and quantity aren’t just smoke and mirrors. For this reason, a good 45% of our rating goes to how many levels are there and how easy it is to climb them to really profit from the program.
Can you tell us more about what you mean by the gaming experience?
This is a very vast area that encompasses pretty much all the aspects of a casino site. For us, it starts with the quantity of the games on offer as well as the reputation of their providers. After all, the main point of a casino is to have fun. So, we need a good amount of options (2-3000+ is what we aim for) and reliable brands (Microgaming, Net Ent, Pragmatic Play, Evolution, etc). These two factors alone make up 50% of our score.
Another 20% is given to what we consider “Performance and Mobile Compatibility”. Here we test loading times and how well games play on various devices, from PC and laptops to smartphones and tablets.
The last two criteria are discoverability and information. The former relates to the UI of a website and how easy it is to find specific games or categories. The latter is more about how much info is available. For instance, can we see the RTP, provider, and bet range of a game? Is there a demo version?
Let’s move on to the most interesting part. What aspects of withdrawals are considered critical for players?
I’ve dealt with countless online gamers during my career, and for the majority of them, a secure withdrawal method is the cornerstone of a good casino experience. Players want to use methods that they’re familiar with when it comes to payments. That is why casinos must offer as many withdrawal options as possible that enable users to choose the option that best suits them.
At the very least, a combination of bank cards like VISA and MasterCard and e-wallets like Skrill and PayPal must be available. Also, players should be able to withdraw their winnings in their currency so they don’t have to worry about conversion fees. It goes without saying that nobody wants to wait days before seeing their winnings reflected in their accounts.
Our rating system, in this case, is similar to what we’ve discussed before about deposits. There is, however, another important factor to consider, which is the KYC process. We weigh this 20% of the total score (second only to quantity and range, both at 25%) because it directly impacts the possibility of actually withdrawing our winnings. Normally, 24 hours should be enough to carry out this verification, but we know that it can be even faster than that. Anything higher gets a progressively lower score.
What else can you highlight as important for players when choosing an online casino brand?
We’ve covered most of the important points already, but one major aspect players should always consider is good customer support. Remember that whenever money is involved, there are bound to be times when you need to get assistance. In those cases, a solid customer service department is essential. It’s preferred to choose casinos that offer multiple ways to contact support, such as live chat, email, and a direct phone line.
If the variety of methods is our key indicator, the quality and helpfulness of the service are equally important. For instance, we expect polite and truly useful information from the operators. Even better if this implies follow-up emails to make sure our issues are resolved. Finally, speed is also a factor, as nobody wants to wait hours for a live chat operator to reply or several days to have an email answered.
