The legal meaning of Authorization Form

[torodesa]

Hi Everybody
This is my first post since introduction ritual.

By signing and sending Authorization Form, how am I legally bounded? In other words, what they can do with singed form and reversly what they cannot do without it?

The reason I'm asking is not trying to scheme some party but because I had a perculiar situation while ago. (Always I wanted to ask someone but did not have a time to do it.)

I have played a Microgaming casino ( seriously I cannot remember the name but they have a sportsbook, German version as a kind of major website and always mailed me from Europe. Can anybody help me) and deposited about four times with prepaid cards and never cashed out. And naturally, I throw all four prepaid cards away and do not remember any details. It was Visa. Master doesn't work for them.) You don't keep those, right?

Later they send me a good bonus deal and, to make sure, I talked with live-chat about Authorization Form issue and to my dismay, she told me that they need Authorization Form for all four cards which I throw away. ( I even tell her I did get rid of them.) No big deal. I know I don't have to played there as if I won big.

Fellows, now out of curiosity and for the future reference, what is the legal meaning of that Form and why they are so adament about it, in my case, even at the situation facing they might lose prospective 'decent loser' customer.

Thanks for reading my post.

[all4greed]

I've never heard of any casino successfully recovering funds based on any signed authorization agreement. If you don't sign one and a casino requires it, most likely you will never get your funds.

So what is the point of authorization agreements along with all the other ID that a casino could request? Beats me. Considering it's almost always done on the wrong side of the transaction (withdrawal vs. deposit) it doesn't appear very legitimate.

Back around 1999-2001 some RTG's required them to be notorized. Now that was a big pain...

[vinylweatherman]

It may be down to how VISA (for example) handle chargebacks. When a customer asks for a "chargeback" on the basis they knew nothing about the transaction, VISA will contact the merchant for THEIR responce. If the merchant has your authorisation form, they have evidence that the transactions WERE indeed authorised by the person who used the card. It is NOT foolproof though, since a person can steal the card, and then forge your signature on the authorisation form. VISA can then check the signature on the authorisation form against one it holds from your application. If they match, they will assume you DID make the transaction.

Some player fraud is down to players charging back losses by pretending their card was stolen/misused. Such fraud relies on the principle that losses can be charged back, whilst deposits generating winnings will NOT be charged back, thus placing the player in a situation where they can never lose.

Pre-paid disposable cards should NOT come under the same arrangements, since these are NOT "credit" cards, and there are not the same rights to "chargeback" as there are with credit cards. Disposable cards probably have NO rights to chargeback at all.

You can STILL sign an authorisation form for the transactions, even if you have thrown away the card. All you are signing for is that the record the casino holds of your deposits is true and complete as far as you are concerned, which is likely if you had not noticed any discrepancy before disposing of the pre-paid card.

[Jasminebed]

If you like this casino, and want to continue to play at it, I suggest you email casino support. Livechat is often not up to more than regurgitating canned responses.

The first four digits should tell the casino that this was a gift card. As Vinylweatherman has said, you can sign an authorization form, but you are unable to provide copies of the cards because the disposable gift cards were disposed of!

Do not deposit any further funds until you receive confirmation that your authorization without copies is acceptable. Keep all those gift cards in future, or scan them before you pitch them. You are not the first player to encounter an issue, but to my recollection, all have been resolved.

[takethemoney]

The casinos think they are covered against chargeback because of an authorization agreement. It's a document that is signed by you authorizing present and future transactions. Since you normally sign this, they feel it gives them to leverage in the event of an attempt at a chargeback, since a mouse click authorization can be denied ever having taken place by the player. From what I understand some players simply deny ever making the purchase, period.

[love2winalot]

Hiya: Not to derail the thread, but to turn it slightly, The Casino did not take the money out of your bank acct:, "in most cases", A Service provider Took it out, and then at your request from the banking section in the Casino, deposited it into your acct.

So, A lot of Chargebacks go thru the Service Provider first, and the Casino second. Thus, when you do a chargeback, you not only get booted by the Casino, you also get booted by that service provider.

[P.V.]

An authorization form should be support by a card copy, last 4 #'s only and along with the signature of the card holder to match with the authorization form. Other documents should be presented such as ID and if ID isn't available then other verification documents from the card holder should be provided to show proof that in fact you are the cardholder. The form in question serves as a contract between the receiver and you the payee. When using an ATM machine a pin is required to prove your ID and since pin #'s can't be used online to date this is why I Gaming sites, other Web sites ask for the form when you're not using online payment services. Of course this analogy is thrown out the window in jurisdictions where online gambling is illegal.

[vinylweatherman]

An authorization form should be support by a card copy, last 4 #'s only and along with the signature of the card holder to match with the authorization form. Other documents should be presented such as ID and if ID isn't available then other verification documents from the card holder should be provided to show proof that in fact you are the cardholder. The form in question serves as a contract between the receiver and you the payee. When using an ATM machine a pin is required to prove your ID and since pin #'s can't be used online to date this is why I Gaming sites, other Web sites ask for the form when you're not using online payment services. Of course this analogy is thrown out the window in jurisdictions where online gambling is illegal.

It also fails where a "virtual card" is used, one that does not exist in physical form (thus you cannot make a copy of front & back). Pre-paid disposable cards are also a problem where the merchant delays asking for a copy & form till after the card has been used up & disposed of.

Verified by VISA and Mastercard secure are being rolled out quickly, but despite the worries, most casino operators have yet to introduce this extra layer of security to card deposits, which would be the equivalent of entering a PIN at a point of sale. Why the slow take up of a service designed SPECIFICALLY to protect eCommerce from card fraud.