Since the 1960s, when there was a bingo hall in every town, the UK has embraced the fast-paced game of luck and skill. Although it used to be considered a game that appealed only to older women, the digitisation of bingo has attracted a broader range of adult players.
While traditional bingo halls have been closing all over the country, the enthusiasm for the game hasn’t dampened at all. If anything, there are more people playing bingo now than there ever have been before, because the ease and convenience of online bingo make it more accessible to adult players.
As well as a wide variety of games and the chance of winning a prize, bingo players are always on the lookout for signs that a bingo site is legitimate. Nobody wants to run the risk of entering their details on a site that’s operating under the radar of the regulators, so here are some top features of a safe and secure site:
A registration number
All bingo sites operating in the UK are required to be licensed by the Gambling Commission, and they should display the details of their registration somewhere clearly on the site. If you have any concerns about a site, you can check its details against the records held by the Gambling Commission to ensure that it is operating legitimately.
The gambling commission enforces a strict code of conduct on its licensees to ensure that they are providing a safe and secure gaming environment to all their customers. This covers the way their games operate, the customer service standards they must adhere to, and strict security measures to safeguard players’ personal information.
Playing on unlicensed sites means that you have no idea how safe your data is, how fair the games are, or whether you will ever actually get a payout even if you win. If you experience any problems with a licensed site, the Gambling Commission can intervene on your behalf and tackle any issues through their own processes.
Customer Service
Of course, you often don’t find out how good a site’s customer service is until you encounter a problem, but there are plenty of review sites around that will give you an idea of what to expect. The best sites offer players several ways to get in touch, from chatbots to answer routine queries to dedicated phone lines for those who need more specialised support.
Players are often happy to share their experiences online, so if you want to know what a site’s response time is or how to get in touch, review sites are a rich source of intel. You can also visit a site’s social media pages to see whether they have staff engaging with players contacting them there.
Payment options
While most people use traditional payment methods for all their online transactions, some people prefer to load their online bingo account via alternative means. Sites that only offer one or two payment methods might not appeal to players that want to use their online only bank, or digital banking app for their deposits.
It’s also important to check how to make withdrawals as some sites may offer less favourable terms than others. You don’t want to wait until you are trying to withdraw funds before you discover that there are withdrawal fees, or that it takes weeks, not days, before the funds will hit your account.
Player wellbeing
As technology has evolved, so has our understanding of how to ensure that players are having fun online. Sites that make a point of offering wellbeing features can help players set spending and time limits to ensure that they are keeping track of their playing time and budget.
Many sites have active online communities of players who swap tales of their successes and near misses and share stories about their gaming experience. the social side of bingo has always been one of its most engaging elements for adult players, and this has been nurtured and encouraged by online providers so they can ensure that players have a good time together.
Game Variety
While there may not be anything inherently safer about bingo sites that have a lot of games on offer, sites with only a few games may not be offering the most player-friendly experience. With so many different types of bingo now available, and the potential for themed games featuring almost anything you can imagine is huge.
Players often prefer to have a choice of game so that they can choose between shorter, fast-paced games or longer games where there might be a few different prizes on offer.
When it comes to finding a safe bingo site, a bit of research goes a long way towards finding a provider that has everything you are looking for.
