Verify an Anjouan Gaming Licence: Check the Register (2026)
How to confirm an Anjouan gaming license is genuine in under a minute — the public register of ≈1,400 holders, the fields it shows, how counterfeits are sold.
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Whether you are an operator confirming your own permit or a payment processor about to onboard a merchant, an Anjouan gaming licence is only worth what the register says it is worth. A certificate — even a convincing one, with a seal and a licence number — proves nothing on its own. The single fact that matters is whether the licence appears, active, on the Anjouan Betting & Gaming Board’s public register.
The good news: checking takes under a minute and costs nothing — and we also mirror the register as a weekly-updated dataset at Anjouan licence data, where you can scan all active licences in one table. In our practice we run this check before every partner introduction and every payment-provider application, because the one reliable way operators get burned by Anjouan is not the regime — it is a counterfeit sold outside the official channel. This guide shows you exactly how to verify an Anjouan gaming license check the way we do, what the register shows, and the red flags that separate a real permit from a well-made fake.
Why verification matters more than the certificate
An Anjouan licence is a real, statutory credential — issued under the island’s Computer Gaming Licensing Act — and it is accepted by game studios, platforms and payment processors precisely because it is checkable. That checkability is the whole point. Unlike a paper certificate, the public register cannot be forged: it is hosted by the regulator, not by the licensee, so it is the one source a counterfeiter cannot control.
This cuts two ways depending on who you are. If you hold an Anjouan licence, verifying it is how you prove legitimacy to a bank, a PSP or a game aggregator during onboarding — you point them at the register entry rather than emailing a PDF they have no reason to trust. If you are the counterparty — a B2B supplier, an affiliate, or a payment provider assessing a merchant — verification is basic due diligence. Onboarding an operator whose licence is not in the register exposes you to the same enforcement and chargeback risk as the operator, and “they sent us a certificate” is not a defence anyone accepts.
The reason the check matters so much is the sheer scale the regime now operates at. When we last pulled the register it listed roughly 1,400 active holders — the jurisdiction has gone from a niche experiment to one of the highest-volume offshore permits in iGaming in only a few years. That growth is what makes Anjouan attractive, but it is also what makes it a target: a busy, well-known licence is exactly the kind counterfeiters clone, because a fake certificate looks unremarkable against a backdrop of hundreds of genuine ones. Volume is a reason to verify, not a reason to relax.
What the Anjouan register shows
The register is deliberately plain. Each genuine record carries five fields, and knowing what each one tells you is what turns a glance into a real check.
| Field on the record | What it confirms | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Company name | The exact legal entity that holds the permit | Must match the operating company, not a “brand” or trading name only |
| Licence number | The unique reference for that permit | Search by it directly — a number that returns nothing is a red flag on its own |
| Status | Whether the licence is active right now | ”Expired”, “suspended” or “revoked” means do not rely on it |
| Issue & expiry dates | The validity window | A certificate dated outside the register’s window is doctored |
| Authorised domains | The URLs the licence actually covers | The site you are dealing with must appear here — the field fakes most often fail |
The authorised-domains field is the one to lean on. A counterfeiter can invent a plausible company name and licence number, but they cannot make your specific domain appear on a real regulator-hosted record. If the casino or platform you are assessing operates on a URL that is not listed against the licence, the licence does not cover that site — even if the rest of the entry looks legitimate. For crypto casinos, the check is no different: Anjouan’s July 2025 revision aligned the regime with the FATF Travel Rule for virtual assets, but crypto operators appear on the same register as everyone else.
The three-step verification, step by step
Step one — reach the real register. Go to the Anjouan Betting & Gaming Board’s own site directly. Do not follow a QR code or hyperlink embedded in the certificate, and be wary of search results that mimic the regulator’s name — some “regulator” domains exist only to make counterfeits look real. When we diagnosed the offshore landscape we found at least one fabricated regulator site built for exactly this purpose.
Step two — search by company or licence number. Enter the exact legal entity name or the licence number. A genuine permit returns a single, clean record with all five fields populated. No result, a partial match, or a name that is close but not exact are all reasons to stop and ask questions.
Step three — match the domains and the status. Confirm the status reads active, the dates make sense, and — the decisive test — the domain you are actually transacting with appears in the authorised-domains list. All three must line up. Any one of them failing is enough to withhold trust until it is resolved.
Red flags that a licence is fake
Most counterfeits give themselves away before you even reach the register, if you know the tells. In our experience these are the ones that recur:
- “Verify here” links baked into the certificate. Legitimate verification never depends on a link the seller controls. This is the single most common vector.
- A regulator website that looks slightly off. Odd domain spelling, a name that is almost-but-not-quite the real authority, or a “register” with no real search function.
- Government fees quoted far from the real schedule. The official Anjouan licence fee is €17,828 per year. A quote that folds an inflated “government fee” into the total, or that cannot point at the official schedule, is worth a second look — we break this down in our Anjouan licence cost guide.
- No authorised domains, or domains that do not match. A real operator’s live site is on the record. Silence in that field is a warning.
- Pressure to skip the register. “It’s brand new, not listed yet” is the excuse counterfeit sellers reach for. Genuine licences appear on the register when issued.
Verifying your own licence — and using it as a credential
If you are the operator, verification is not a one-off. Pull your own register entry before every major onboarding — a new PSP, a game studio, a banking relationship — and send the counterparty the entry rather than a PDF. It shortens their due diligence and signals that you understand how the regime works. The applicant company behind the licence is typically set up in Costa Rica, since Anjouan requires no local incorporation; make sure the entity name on the register matches the company your partners are contracting with, not just your consumer brand.
Keep the authorised-domains field current, too. If you add a new site or migrate to a fresh domain, that URL has to be registered against your licence — an operating domain that is not on the record will fail exactly the check a diligent PSP runs on you, and it is a common reason for onboarding to stall even when the underlying licence is perfectly valid. Treat the register as a living record of your own footprint, not a certificate you file away after issuance.
Verification also feeds into the wider legitimacy question that partners will ask about — how the regime compares to a Curaçao or a Malta permit, what markets you can serve, and where the licence does not reach. Our flagship Anjouan gaming licence guide covers that legitimacy debate in full, our Anjouan vs Malta comparison sets it against a tier-one regime, and the restricted-countries breakdown explains why a valid licence is still not blanket market access. If you are weighing the jurisdiction before applying, start with the requirements.
A licence that verifies cleanly is the foundation everything else — banking, PSP acceptance, B2B partnerships — is built on. If you want that foundation laid correctly the first time, or a free check on a licence you have been offered, book a free consultation and we will run it against the register with you.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if an Anjouan gaming licence is real?
Open the Anjouan Betting & Gaming Board's own register, search the company name or licence number, and confirm the entry shows an active status with matching authorised domains. If the licence you were shown is not in the register — or the register lives on a lookalike domain the certificate pointed you to — treat it as counterfeit. The whole check takes under a minute and costs nothing.
What information does the Anjouan register show?
Each genuine entry lists the licensed company name, the licence number, current status, the issue and expiry dates, and the authorised domains covered by that permit. That last field is the one most people skip and the one that catches most fakes — the site you are actually dealing with should appear on the record.
How many licences are on the Anjouan register?
When we last pulled the public register it listed roughly 1,400 active holders — up from a few dozen only a couple of years earlier. The exact figure moves as licences are issued and expire, which is precisely why you check the live register rather than trusting a number quoted in an old guide or a broker's pitch.
How are fake Anjouan licences sold?
The common scam is a convincing PDF certificate — logo, seal, licence number — sold outside the official channel, sometimes alongside a lookalike 'regulator' website built to make the fake verify against itself. Buyers pay for paper that was never entered in the real register. Almost every Anjouan horror story traces back to this, not to the regime itself.
Can I verify a B2B or crypto operator the same way?
Yes. Since July 2025, B2B software suppliers and aggregators serving Anjouan operators need their own B2B licence or Recognition Certificate, and those appear on the register too. Crypto casinos licensed in Anjouan are listed the same as any other operator — the register does not treat crypto payments as a separate category, so the check is identical.
What should I do if a licence fails verification?
Do not transact. A missing or mismatched entry means the credential is unproven, whatever the certificate looks like. If you are a partner or PSP, decline onboarding until a valid register entry is produced; if you were sold the licence yourself, you have likely paid for a counterfeit. We will check any Anjouan licence against the register for free before you commit.
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This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional before acting.
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