Tuvalu gaming license

Offshore does not mean off-grid. You’ll still be expected to verify identity, monitor transactions, and file internal reports for suspicious activity. Keep enhanced due diligence for higher-risk geographies and payment methods, and set real thresholds that your team actually enforces. Cosmetic controls are worse than none—banks and auditors can spot them a mile away.

Responsible gambling is non-negotiable. Age checks, deposit limits, cooling-off periods, self-exclusion, and time-out tools must be switched on by design, not as an afterthought. Add clean player messaging and a functioning complaints process. For data protection, align with GDPR principles even if you’re not targeting the EU—it sets a standard that vendors and partners understand and respect.

Tuvalu’s 0% corporate tax for offshore operations is attractive, but it does not zero out your global tax exposure. Where your ultimate holding company sits, where your executives work, and where players are located all feed into the tax picture. You may also face digital services taxes, VAT on B2C supplies, or local GGR in markets where you operate legally.

Think in “total cost” terms: licensing fees, platform and content costs, PSP and FX spreads, compliance headcount, audit, and legal. Lean licensing lowers your bar to entry; it doesn’t replace the ongoing discipline of a regulated business.

Typical cost components

• Application and annual license fees
• Technical testing and periodic audits
• Compliance tooling (KYC, transaction monitoring, RG)
• Banking/PSP onboarding and monthly minimums
• Legal updates and market-by-market advice

The headline says “multiple payment solutions,” which is true—but acceptance is earned. PSPs will want to see your markets, funnel, chargeback controls, and RG posture. Arrive with a realistic processing model: cards where allowed, APMs where trusted, and crypto where compliant. Don’t force everything through one processor; redundancy is risk management.

Crypto is less about hype, more about hygiene. Use reputable custodians or well-audited in-house wallets, enforce travel rule compliance where applicable, and separate operational float from player funds. Your audit trail should let anyone reconstruct money flows without a detective novel.

A Tuvalu license is not a visa. You must block countries where online gambling is prohibited or requires a local license you do not have. That means reliable IP blocking, payment filters, and marketing controls. “We didn’t mean to acquire players there” won’t survive a PSP review or a regulator inquiry.

Advertising matters too. Some markets restrict bonusing, mandate disclosure content, or police affiliates aggressively. Your affiliate program should have contract clauses that force compliance and let you cut off partners who color outside the lines.

Simple beats clever. Most operators use a clean holding company, a licensed operating entity, and separate contracts for tech and content. If IP is central to your valuation, consider an IP holding entity with arm’s-length licensing to the operator. Keep substance where you actually make decisions; that’s what tax authorities look at when they test your story.

Banking follows clarity. Clear charts, clean financials, and documented governance shorten risk reviews. Appoint a compliance officer who actually owns the controls, and minute your board decisions. It sounds boring because it is—and that’s exactly why banks like it.

The biggest myth is that an offshore license is a free pass to any market. It isn’t. The second myth is that “low cost” equals “low responsibility.” Also false. Operators get into trouble when they scale marketing faster than compliance, or when they let affiliates drag them into prohibited territories.

Red flags for partners: vague ownership, recycled compliance manuals, no transaction monitoring, and a dismissive attitude to source-of-funds checks. If you see those in a counterparty, assume downstream problems—with PSPs, with suppliers, or with chargebacks—are not far behind.