Who we serve › iGaming › Anjouan
Card acquiring for Anjouan-licensed iGaming operators
TL;DR. An Anjouan licence does get you card acquiring, from a shorter list of acquirers than Curaçao, at a higher reserve, for a defined set of markets. The licence has no territorial restrictions of its own; the acquirer's market list is what applies. The licence does not decide the outcome; the target-market fit, the choice of acquirer and the quality of the file do. We place Anjouan operators regularly and know which acquirers have underwritten the regime before and which are seeing it for the first time.
Who this is for. Anjouan-licensed operators processing $100K+ a month in deposits who need a first acquirer that will last, a second one, a better reserve, or a market they cannot currently open.
A short list of acquirers. Known in advance.
Acquirers
Shorter than Curaçao: the providers whose compliance teams have underwritten the regime since it grew in 2023. Enough to run two in parallel if the file is right, which is what we build.
Markets
The licence carries no territorial limits and publishes no restricted list, so the acquirer draws the line: locally-regulated markets are out, and each acquirer has its own appetite for the rest. Your traffic by country, matched to the right acquirer, is the underwriting conversation.
Risk measures
Like Curaçao or slightly above: a 10% rolling reserve is a common opening with a new relationship; caps, holding periods and monitoring vary by acquirer. Cap and holding period are where the negotiation is. What a reserve costs →
General patterns, not rules: individual acquirers are more flexible than the category suggests, which is exactly what we know and they do not advertise. Licensing advice is for your regulatory counsel.
Four things that stop an Anjouan file or waste it. None of them is the licence.
01
The wrong acquirer for your market mix.
Unsupported markets are normally blocked at the acquirer, so the cost is not termination but lost volume: deposits from your best markets declined because the acquirer you were placed with has no appetite there. Matching the market mix to the acquirer before the application is the whole point.
02
A structure that does not line up.
The Comoros IBC that holds the licence, the entity that signs the acquiring agreement, the bank account holder and the UBOs are four different answers. A one-page structure chart that reconciles them is the most useful document in the file.
03
Many brands, one licence, no map.
Several domains under one B2C licence with no statement of which entity operates which, in which markets. Acquirers board brands, not licences; map them, and make sure every domain is on the licence.
04
A thin AML and responsible-gambling programme.
KYC triggers, source-of-funds thresholds, self-exclusion, deposit limits. With a lighter-touch regulator, acquirers read this as the operator's own risk appetite. If it is a template, they price you as one, or not at all.
Diagnose. Improve. Prove.
Diagnose
Licence status, entities and UBOs, brands and domains, traffic by country against each candidate acquirer's appetite, current reserve and cap, dispute history, withdrawal rails.
Improve
Fix the file before it goes in: structure chart, brand map, market mix, AML programme. Apply to the acquirer that has underwritten Anjouan before and whose list fits your markets. Negotiate cap and holding period before the percentage. Build the second acquirer while the first is being boarded.
Prove
Move a bounded share of deposits, by market. Measure approval by issuer, dispute ratio, settlement timing and withdrawal success. Expand as the data earns it; keep the incumbent until the second path has carried real traffic.
The Anjouan underwriting file.
Everything on the iGaming list, plus the items acquirers ask Anjouan operators for specifically.
- Licence certificate, with every domain listed
- Structure chart reconciling the licensed Comoros entity, contracting entity, bank account holder and UBOs
- Brand and domain map: which entity operates which brand in which markets
- Target-market list by traffic share, so the acquirer can be matched to it before the application
- AML / KYC and responsible-gambling programme as actually operated
- Six months of deposit volume, chargeback and fraud ratios by month and by country
- Current acquirer agreements: reserve, cap, release schedule, exclusions
Can an Anjouan-licensed casino get card acquiring?
Yes, from a shorter list than Curaçao, usually at a higher reserve, and always for a defined set of target markets. The regime is newer at the acquirer than Curaçao, so fewer compliance teams have underwritten it and the ones that have ask more questions about markets and ownership. We place Anjouan operators regularly; the work is knowing which acquirers have done it before and preparing the file the way they expect.
Who issues the Anjouan licence?
The Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA), in the autonomous island of Anjouan, Union of the Comoros, under legislation adopted in 2005. Separate B2C operator and B2B supplier licences, renewed annually, with the licensed vehicle typically a Comoros international business company. The regime grew sharply from 2023 as operators looked for a lower-cost alternative to Curaçao after its reform. Whether it is the right licence for you is a question for your regulatory counsel; this page is about what acquirers do with it.
Which markets can an Anjouan operator process for?
The licence itself carries no territorial restrictions under Anjouan law and no published restricted-country list; the operator is responsible for geo-blocking and local compliance. Markets that license locally (the US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Australia and others) are off the table at any serious acquirer. Beyond that, each acquirer that boards Anjouan has its own list, unsupported markets are blocked rather than processed, and the job is matching your real traffic by country to the acquirer whose list fits.
What reserve should an Anjouan operator expect?
Like Curaçao or slightly above on the same history: a 10% rolling reserve is a common opening with a new acquirer, and caps, holding periods and monitoring vary by provider. Cap and holding period are where the negotiation is. We have closed deals below the opening number for operators with clean history and a tight market list.
Is Anjouan treated worse than Curaçao at the acquirer?
By most acquirers, like Curaçao or slightly below. The practical difference is a shorter list of providers that have underwritten it. A clean file closes most of the gap; the list of acquirers is the part that does not move.
What usually blocks an Anjouan file?
The same four as Curaçao: a market mix that does not fit the acquirer applied to; a group structure where licensed entity, contracting entity and UBOs do not line up on paper; many brands under one licence with no map; and a thin AML and responsible-gambling programme. None of these is the licence. All of them are fixable before the file goes in.
How is Milestone paid for this?
By the acquirer or PSP you end up using, as a commission on volume. No fee to the operator for the review. We place with whichever of ~30 providers accepts your licence and markets, so we have no reason to push one.
Curaçao-licensed operators
The longer list, and what the 2024 reform changed at the acquirer.
iGaming by license
MGA, UKGC, Curaçao, Anjouan and US state licences compared.
Rolling reserve
What 10% at 180 days actually locks, and what to negotiate.
Tell us your markets, structure and current acquirer.
We reply within one business day with whether the file is ready and which acquirers will look at it. No fee for the review.