Customer Due Diligence (CDD)
The set of identity, verification and risk-assessment checks a gambling operator performs to understand who a customer is before and during a business relationship.
Definition
Customer Due Diligence is the core anti-money-laundering process by which a regulated operator identifies a customer, verifies that identity from reliable and independent sources, understands the purpose of the relationship, and assesses the money-laundering and terrorist-financing risk the customer presents. In gambling it usually combines identity and age verification, screening against sanctions and politically-exposed-person lists, and a risk rating that determines whether standard, simplified or enhanced measures apply. CDD is not a single gate at sign-up: its findings feed ongoing monitoring, and the depth of the checks scales with the assessed risk under a risk-based approach.
Worked example
When a new player registers, the operator confirms their name, date of birth and address against an electronic identity database, screens them against sanctions lists, and assigns a low, medium or high risk rating that decides how closely the account is monitored.
Why it matters
For learners, CDD is the umbrella that KYC, enhanced and simplified due diligence all sit under, so grasping it clarifies how the whole AML system fits together. For professionals, weakly evidenced CDD is one of the most common grounds for regulatory enforcement and fines.