What is eCOGRA?
Online casino players are sure to have come across the term eCOGRA before. But what exactly does this mean and what is behind the organisation? Why do they offer security and issue certificates?
Who or what is eCOGRA?
eCOGRA is an abbreviation for “E-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance”. This inspection body for online casinos is based in London. It is an international company that was founded in the UK in 2003. The websites of online casinos are checked using self-defined standards.
This is intended to provide high-quality protection for players. Casino providers appreciate the ratings from eCOGRA, as this company has been recognised in the industry for many years. The eCOGRA organisation is part of the Cereus network and acts as an intermediary between operators and customers.
The latter has top priority and should receive help and guidance from eCOGRA’s independent tests for online casinos. All rules and regulations for legal online casinos are drawn up by the well-known Cereus network. The criteria are also precisely defined there.
What exactly does eCOGRA do?
Especially in the early days of online casinos, there were many black sheep in this sector who took money out of players’ pockets, did not pay out their winnings and many other negative things.
As a result, eCOGRA was founded to improve online gambling and make it safer for players. The company’s intention was to create safe standards in the industry. However, eCOGRA can currently only enforce this for online casino members.
The company wants to ensure a smooth gaming experience for users and also inform them of their rights and obligations. This is important in order to find reputable online casinos. To this end, eCOGRA has created an optimal framework by means of standards. These do not only refer to one country, they are international standards (eGAP) for the operators of online casino websites.
The standards have been established through regular assessments, audits and continuous monitoring. The aim is to ensure that eCOGRA-licensed sites are enforced. The eGAPs are constantly updated and improved.
How do casinos receive this seal of approval?
eCOGRA is an independent organisation that has been committed to fair gaming practices at online casinos since it was founded. The seal issued by the organisation confirms an independent and positive audit of the respective online casino.
During the audit, three different areas are checked to ensure compliance with the specified standards and to prevent customer fraud. These relate to player protection, which includes checking the stakes, the security of confidential information such as the credit card number, the server and that the casino discloses and states the terms and conditions before the contract begins, and much more. It also checks whether the software is being manipulated.
If all of this meets the standards of eCOGRA, the casino is awarded the “Safe & Fair” seal. The organisation is known for accepting complaints. These are processed by its 12 employees, who are all specialists in the fields of IT and accounting. So far, eCOGRA has been able to resolve disputes in the five-figure range. These have all been decided in favour of the player in question.
RNG and RTP checks
RNG and RTP reviews are two types of analyses. These are carried out on a monthly basis.
- RTP: Return to Play (player winnings)
- RNG: Random Number Generator
In the RTP calculations, the winnings of the corresponding online casino are analysed. The system calculates the probability of winnings in each game based on the data from the game histories.
The analyses for the RNG calculations are only carried out for certain random game types for multiplayer. This concerns ball, card and dice games. The calculated probabilities are compared with the theoretical ones.
What does eCOGRA not test?
The eCOGRA test centre only tests the systems used in online gambling. The software used is inspected and certified. In the process, eCOGRA was also tested and evaluated by the ISO testing centre and received the ISO/IEC 17021–1:2015 certificate.
At regular intervals, eCOGRA must also prove to supervisory authorities and accreditation bodies that it acts independently in its assessment in order to maintain its accreditation and certificate.
However, eCOGRA advertises the fact that it is constantly developing new technical standards and is also able to meet compliance requirements. The employees have various training programmes and therefore cover different areas in the technical, security, financial and legal fields, so that they are always up to the task of auditing online casinos. Internal training courses ensure that employees are always kept up to date.
Conclusion
The eCOGRA organisation was founded to guarantee players safe gaming and fair payouts. Especially in the early days of online casinos, many operators did not treat their customers fairly and honestly. In this case, it was not only a gamble in the choice of game, but also in the choice of casino.
“It’s not always easy to recognise fraud straight away. Our online casino test reports, as well as testimonials from other players, are helpful in this respect. However, various certifications such as those from the independent organisation eCOGRA offer even more security. These organisations ensure that their ratings are independent and integrity-based.
