MGA license check: verify a casino step by step
An MGA license check takes under a minute and rules out the single worst outcome in online gambling — depositing at a site that isn’t actually licensed. The Malta Gaming Authority publishes every licensee on an official register, and licensed casinos carry a clickable dynamic seal you can verify live. Here is exactly how to confirm a casino is genuinely licensed, using both the seal and the register. (Malta spells it licence; the search term is often license — both mean the same thing here.)
Where to find the licence number
Scroll to the casino’s footer: a legitimate MGA operator states its licence number and the licensed legal entity there, usually next to a seal graphic. The number follows a fixed format — if you can’t find one, treat that as a red flag in itself.
The licence-number format
MGA licence numbers look like this:
MGA/B2C/XXX/YYYY— a business-to-consumer (player-facing) licence.MGA/CRP/XXX/YYYY— a corporate/related licence.
XXX is the licence number and YYYY the year. A “licence” that doesn’t match this pattern isn’t
an MGA one.
Using the dynamic seal
- Click the MGA seal in the footer — a real seal is interactive, not a static image.
- It should open a verification page on the MGA’s authorisation domain
(
authorisation.mga.org.mt) showing the operator’s current authorisation status. - If the “seal” doesn’t click through to that domain, it’s decoration — verify on the register instead.
Cross-checking the official register
- Go to the MGA licensee register.
- Search the legal entity name or the licence number from the footer.
- Confirm the entry is active and that the brand you’re on is listed under that licence.
Doing both — seal and register — is belt-and-braces, and it’s the check we run on every operator in our casino comparison before it’s listed.
Red flags
- No licence number, or one that doesn’t fit
MGA/B2C/XXX/YYYY. - A seal that isn’t clickable or leads somewhere other than the MGA authorisation domain.
- A brand name that doesn’t appear under the stated entity on the register.
- Pressure to deposit before you can verify anything.
If a site fails these, don’t deposit — and if gambling itself is becoming a problem, the responsible gambling resources (rgf.org.mt, Supportline 1777) are there regardless of any licence.