Guernsey gambling license

AGCC fees are tied to Net Gaming Yield (NGY), which is regulator-speak for the difference between stakes and player winnings, net of relevant bonuses. That approach scales with your business and avoids punishing early-stage operators.

For a Category 1 Licence, the introductory fee is £17,500 in year one. Thereafter it is £35,000 per annum up to £500,000 NGY, with a banded schedule applying up to £30 million NGY and a maximum fee of £400,000 across all activities. It is simple, predictable, and rewards growth without nasty surprises at modest scale.

For a Category 1 Associate Certificate (outside of Alderney), the first-year flat fee is £35,000. Thereafter it is £50,000 per annum, with the same NGY banding concept up to £30 million NGY and a maximum fee of £450,000 for all activities. Category 2 fees follow a banded approach as well; the AGCC will provide the current schedule and caps on request.

What the regulator expects on day one

The AGCC will look beyond polished decks. They want to see real control over age and identity verification, AML/CFT policies that work in production, and clear player fund safeguarding. If you are B2C, you must be able to register, verify, and contract with the customer and manage funds in line with your disclosures. If you are B2B, you must demonstrate that your platform reliably effects the gambling transaction and enforces the right technical and operational controls.

Documentation should be alive, not aspirational. Bring approved terms and conditions, a data protection notice written in plain English, responsible gambling procedures, and a coherent compliance monitoring plan. Show who sits in key roles—senior management, MLRO, compliance lead—and how decisions are logged. For games and RNG, be ready with testing reports from recognised labs and an integration checklist for every content provider.

The Guernsey data protection wake‑up call: dark patterns are a liability

In July 2024, the Office of the Data Protection Authority (ODPA) flagged “dark patterns” across the Bailiwick’s gambling sector. Their sweep found that most sites made it hard to locate privacy settings, used overly long and complex policies, or nudged users toward the least privacy-friendly choices. In many cases, it was harder to delete an account than to create one.

Take that seriously. Dark patterns are not a growth hack; they are a regulatory risk. Fix consent flows, make privacy settings easy to find, and reduce friction for account deletion. Use layered notices so players can understand what you collect and why. Train your product managers that privacy by design is not optional in Guernsey’s ecosystem.

Market access reality check after the UK’s 2014 shift

Alderney’s place on the old UK “white list” ended in 2014, when Great Britain moved to a point‑of‑consumption regime. Today, a Guernsey/Alderney license is not a passport to the GB market. If you want British players, you need a GB remote operating licence and to meet its safer‑gambling rules, source-of-funds checks, and technical standards.

The same theme holds across the EU and many other regions. An AGCC license still helps with bank relationships, B2B deals, and credibility with counterparties. But for player acquisition in a given country, you must map local licensing, tax, and consumer protection rules—and you must geo‑block where gaming is prohibited. “International” should never mean “everywhere.”

Corporate, tax, and substance: what your CFO wants to know

The Bailiwick’s tax environment is business‑friendly. Many companies operate at a 0% corporate income tax rate, there is no local VAT, and there are no capital gains taxes. That said, your exact tax profile depends on your activities and where value is created. Always model effective rates across the whole structure, not just the headline rate in Guernsey.

Economic substance rules, CRS, and AML standards all apply. If your group performs relevant activities in the Bailiwick, you may have to demonstrate adequate substance—people, premises, and expenditure—to align profit with function. Gambling duty may not apply locally the way it does in some markets, but sales into regulated countries often trigger local gaming taxes at the point of consumption. Plan for this in your P&L and pricing.

A practical roadmap to an online casino going live under AGCC

Start with scoping. Decide whether you are B2C (Category 1), B2B (Category 2), or both. If you will be based outside the Bailiwick of Guernsey, confirm whether the Associate route better fits your footprint. Build a vendor map: platform, game studios, payments, KYC, risk, and hosting.

Next, assemble the compliance spine. Draft AML/CFT, KYC, and responsible gambling procedures you can actually run. Define your customer due diligence thresholds, enhanced checks, and triggers for source‑of‑funds reviews. Choose testing labs and agree timelines for game certifications. Appoint your MLRO and compliance lead; give them authority and budget. Then book a pre‑application conversation with the AGCC to sanity‑check your plan before you file.

Channel Islands banks and global PSPs will dig into your model. Expect enhanced due diligence on ownership, source of wealth, geographies, and responsible gambling controls. Clear policies, clean registers, and a realistic markets plan will speed things up. If your business touches higher‑risk countries, be ready with geo‑blocking proof and transaction monitoring rules.

For player funds, match your safeguarding promise with your operations. If you say “segregated,” show the structure—ring‑fenced accounts, trust arrangements, or other mechanisms—and how you reconcile daily. Publish a plain‑language statement on the level of protection players have if the business fails, and keep it accurate. Over‑promising here is a fast way to lose your license.

Common pitfalls and how to preempt them

Many teams treat privacy and responsible gambling as afterthoughts. Regulators do not. Ship a usable self‑exclusion flow, hard reality checks on affordability where applicable, and friction‑light account closure. Train support staff to recognise markers of harm and to act. Document interventions and audit them.

Another classic mistake is assuming a single “global license” will carry you into every online market. It will not. Build a market‑by‑market matrix that lists licensing, taxes, advertising rules, technical standards, and payment restrictions. Then align your roadmap, ad spend, and technical configuration to that matrix. It is the difference between a scalable business and a compliance fire drill.