Whether you are a seasoned player or you manage the online casino sister sites yourself, you know what Curacao is. From the point of view of the gaming world, it is more than an island in the Caribbean – it is almost a legend of spin-off casino island. In this article, we will go over how to get a license in Curacao, what you get with such a license, and what it costs.
Curacao – Online Casino Island in the Caribbean
Since the middle of 2010, Curacao has become an increasingly popular island among players, but this is not due to its attractiveness as a refuge and holiday paradise.
As any seasoned casino player now knows, all online casinos must be registered somewhere and also exist within some form of recognized jurisdiction that is accepted by both players and large societal institutions with international interests.
The most common jurisdictions for online casinos are especially Malta with the well-known MGA license, but then it is Curacao. There are of course licenses from other established and internationally recognized jurisdictions such as Cyprus, Gibraltar and not least the UK, but Curacao has managed to grow into its own by promising both low corporate taxes, minimal bureaucracy and reduced licensing costs. Although this is positive from the purely financial perspective of bookmakers, the Curacao gambling license is unfortunately plagued by a bad reputation for several experienced casinos, like play ojo, players and sometimes even among bookmakers internally.
Who Issues Curacao’s License?
It is the Minister of Justice of Curacao that issues gaming licenses for casino games, and since the start in 1996, four “Master Licenses” have been issued.
- Cyberluck Curacao NV
- Gaming Curacao
- Curacao Interactive Licensing NV
- Antillephone NV
What Types of Licenses Are There?
There are two different types of gambling licenses in Curacao. One is the “Master License” and the other is the “Sublicense”.
A Master License receives all the rights and also allows you to issue your own sub-licenses to other brands and actors. Since 1996, however, only four companies have been granted Master License status.
A Sublicense gives exactly the same rights as a Master License, except for the possibility to issue your own sublicenses.
Both licenses concern all forms of casino gambling and sportsbook operations, affiliates, white-labels and gambling suppliers. They cover everything.
What Licensing Requirements Are There?
Only local companies can apply for gaming licenses on Curacao, so in order to obtain such a license you must first have a Curacao company with e-zone status. After that, the curacao company applied for a sublicense from one of the Master Licensees.
You also need local hosting in Curacao, which means you need to have their servers on the island. Then follow traditional bank details.
All this has of course been systematized for foreign traders and there are several easily accessible routes to get started with license applications and local entrepreneurship.
What Is the Cost of Curacao Gambling License?
The most expensive costs for a Curacao gambling license are usually the various establishment costs and classic start-up and application costs. Thereafter, the usual administration costs apply annually.
License costs are usually divided into three different departments.
The local costs for the e-zone and the local company, which must be physically established on the island.
The actual license costs for the rights required by the main company.
Hardware costs for the server hall and hosting to ensure compliance with rules and regulations according to Curacao laws.
Local Costs
As a rule, the local company that works on the island has the following price structure:
- €5500 — €6500 start-up costs
- €3250 – €5250 annual business costs
- €200 monthly administration costs (varies)
Most likely anyone who wants to start a casino from Curacao will get a sub-license. After that, the following costs apply:
1. €4,500 annual license costs (varies by supplier)
2. €1,000 application fee (one-off fee)
3. €250 e-zone application and annual costs
Hardware
Since you have to have your servers located on the island, the following costs accrue:
1. €1,200 server costs
2. €5,400 hosting costs per year (varies)
The total initial and annual price for a license with Curacao amounts to anything between €23,500 – €26,500 the first year and around €17,000 – €19,000 per year thereafter.
This makes the Curacao license one of the cheapest licenses on the international license market. In addition, there is reason to assume that the online bookmakers who choose to place themselves will save extra costs due to Curacao’s advantageous business tax, which in this case amounts to approx. 2%.
Where Is Curacao’s License Valid?
As a British player, you are used to frowning a little when you see that a casino has a Curacao license. It may seem a bit frivolous. In fact, gambling license from Curacao is valid and recognized by most jurisdictions in the world, except where it is expressly prohibited.
According to Curacao law, a curacao license is not valid in the following countries:
Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, France, Netherlands, Saba, Statia, St. Maarten, Singapore and the United States.
If you only have the curacao license and not the local host country’s gaming license, you will be blocked from the following countries:
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, United Kingdom, Norway, Russia, Mexico, Australia and Canada.
The following countries typically have blocked transaction flows to watch for:
Israel, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Cuba.
If you have a gambling license from a country within the EU/ESS, the following countries also accept the curacao license:
France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain and Denmark.
The Casino Dream in Paradise
So, what about the online casino dream? Imagine going on a business trip to the Netherlands Antilles, going to Curacao and watching your online casino grow.
There are many consulting firms in Curacao that are specifically focused on iGaming and helping casino entrepreneurs start their businesses on the island.
The Curacao license is one of the cheapest licenses in the world and its standard just keeps getting better and better.
