Online gambling in Seychelles: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Seychelles?

The Seychelles Gambling Act 2014 (Act 29 of 2014), in force since 1 November 2015, makes the Financial Services Authority (FSA) the gambling regulator and creates three licence kinds: casino, slot machine operator and interactive gambling. The Seychelles Gambling (Interactive Gambling) Rules 2024 opened two online licence types for Seychelles-incorporated companies, with SCR 1 million paid-up capital, a SCR 3 million reserve, player registration servers in Seychelles, certified games and a ban on gambling with virtual assets. Licences cost SCR 1.5 million a year and may serve players abroad outside a schedule of excluded jurisdictions, provided the licensee obtains legal advice for each target market. The domestic market of about 121,000 people is small and tourism-led.

Regulated: Private operators can hold a local licence for online casino and/or betting.

Who regulates gambling in Seychelles?

• Financial Services Authority of Seychelles (FSA) — Licenses and supervises casinos, slot machine operators and interactive gambling under the Seychelles Gambling Act 2014, approves key employees and games, and imposes administrative penalties
• Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) — Administers business tax, including the special treatment of casino gross gaming revenue under the Business Tax Act 2009

Seychelles gambling licence: how it works

Section 3 of the Act prohibits gambling without a licence and section 4 lists casino, slot machine operator and interactive gambling licences, all issued by the FSA after investigation and police reports. Under the Interactive Gambling Rules 2024, only a company incorporated under the Seychelles Companies Act 1972 may hold an Interactive Gambling Operator licence: Type 1 for operators that develop their own live online games and software, Type 2 for operators using third-party games and software. Applicants prove paid-up capital of at least SCR 1,000,000, a cash reserve of at least SCR 3,000,000 held at a Seychelles-licensed bank and a revolving fund, appoint a resident designated official and approved key employees aged 21 or over, submit independent test certification for every game and random number generator, and keep player registration servers in Seychelles with at least a mirrored game server locally. Licensees may take players from outside Seychelles except from the jurisdictions listed in the First Schedule, and must obtain legal advice before soliciting any foreign market. A 2022 regulation caps the number of casino and slot machine licences.

What an applicant needs

• Company incorporated in Seychelles under the Companies Act 1972 with fit-and-proper shareholders and directors
• Paid-up capital of at least SCR 1,000,000 and a cash reserve of at least SCR 3,000,000 at a Seychelles-licensed bank
• Resident designated official and key employees holding FSA certificates of approval (minimum age 21)
• Independent test certification for all games and RNGs before launch and after any change
• Player registration servers in Seychelles; game servers abroad only with FSA approval and a mirrored server locally
• Annual audited financial statements, interactive gaming revenue reporting on demand and AML compliance under the FSA Act 2013

Gambling taxes in Seychelles

• Operators: No separate gaming tax in the Gambling Act or the 2024 Rules; licensees pay Seychelles business tax on profits at the standard rates. For casinos, section 44 of the Business Tax Act 2009 deems gross gaming revenue (losing stakes and commission less payouts and uncollected credit) to be taxable income and levies business tax on it in addition to ordinary assessment.
• Players: No withholding on player winnings is provided for in the Gambling Act or the Interactive Gambling Rules.
• Also: Administrative penalties of SCR 20,000 apply per breach of the Interactive Gambling Rules. Confirm the current business tax rates and any VAT treatment of gaming services with the Seychelles Revenue Commission.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Rule 34 of the Interactive Gambling Rules bars advertising that targets minors or vulnerable persons, is misleading or contravenes advertising standards, and prohibits unsolicited promotions; every page of a licensee's website must link to its responsible gambling policy. Promoting unlicensed gambling is an offence under the Act.

Responsible gaming

Minimum age 18 to register and play; licensees must publish responsible gambling information covering time-outs and self-exclusion, honor written self-exclusion requests across their sites, maintain a register of excluded persons and notify players when an exclusion period ends. Persons under 18 or on the excluded persons list may not enter casino gaming areas.

Identity and age verification

Identity and age verification at registration and before withdrawals, customer due diligence and reporting under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act, and fit-and-proper vetting of owners, directors and key employees by the FSA.

Payments

Deposits and withdrawals by bank card and bank transfer through accounts at licensed banks; rule 37 prohibits any interactive gambling with virtual assets, so cryptocurrency is not permitted under a Seychelles licence. Player funds are protected by the reserve requirement and the revolving fund.

Notable restrictions

• No gambling using virtual assets or cryptocurrency under an interactive licence
• Sixteen excluded jurisdictions in the First Schedule, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, Poland and Cyprus, may not be served or solicited
• Legal advice required before offering services to players in any other foreign jurisdiction
• Player registration servers must remain in Seychelles
• Casino and slot machine licence numbers are capped under 2022 regulations

Seychelles iGaming market: size, players and payments

No reliable public estimate; the domestic market is limited to a population of about 121,000 plus tourists, and the interactive licence is designed mainly for operators serving players abroad.

Mobile and internet coverage is near universal on the main islands, but the domestic player base is too small to drive product decisions.

A handful of licensed land-based casinos on Mahé serve tourists and residents; the FSA publishes its register of licensees, and the interactive licence has attracted a small number of internationally focused operators since 2024.

Timeline: how Seychelles got here

1. 2014-12Seychelles Gambling Act 2014 assented on 31 December
2. 2015-11Act commences on 1 November with the FSA as regulator
3. 2018Seychelles Gambling (Fees) Regulations 2018 set licence fees; revised in 2020
4. 2022-11Regulations cap the number of slot machine and casino licences
5. 2024-01Interactive Gambling Rules 2024 and fee amendment gazetted on 8 January, creating Type 1 and Type 2 online licences at SCR 1.5 million a year

Outlook

The 2024 rules are the framework operators are working with; expect the FSA to refine reporting, server and certification requirements through directives rather than new legislation, and to keep the excluded jurisdictions schedule under review. The ban on virtual assets and the local server and reserve requirements make the licence a fit for fiat-based operators that want a regulated Indian Ocean base rather than for crypto-led brands.

Launching in Seychelles with GameBridge

Turnkey (your licence, our platform). The Seychelles interactive licence is issued to a Seychelles company that the operator owns and capitalizes, so the operator holds the FSA licence and runs on GameBridge technology; GameBridge holds no Seychelles licence and does not guarantee approval.

A Seychelles-licensed brand on GameBridge is configured with player registration hosted in Seychelles and a mirrored game server locally as the rules require, with geo lists that exclude the First Schedule jurisdictions and any market the operator's counsel has not cleared. Wallets run in SCR and the fiat currencies of the operator's approved markets through bank card and bank transfer rails; crypto rails are disabled because rule 37 prohibits gambling with virtual assets. Responsible gambling settings cover age gating at 18, self-exclusion across all of the operator's sites and time-outs, marketing tools block unsolicited promotions, and the catalog is curated to games with independent test certification the FSA accepts, with GameBridge Studios and Originals shipping their certification package for the FSA's approval file.

• Seychelles-hosted player registration with mirrored game server
• Geo lists excluding the First Schedule jurisdictions and uncleared markets
• SCR and multi-currency fiat wallets with card and bank transfer rails; crypto disabled
• Self-exclusion across brands, time-outs and 18+ age gates
• Interactive gaming revenue reports on demand for the FSA
• Certification package with every GameBridge Studios and Originals release

Casino content leads for Seychelles licensees serving international players; the aggregated catalog of {providersAvailable} game providers is filtered to certified titles and GameBridge Studios builds exclusives with the test certification file the FSA requires.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Seychelles Gambling (Interactive Gambling) Rules, 2024 (SI 2 of 2024) — SeyLII, accessed 2026-09-11
• Seychelles Gambling (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (SI 1 of 2024) — National Assembly of Seychelles, accessed 2026-09-11
• Seychelles Gambling Act, 2014 (Act 29 of 2014) — SeyLII, accessed 2026-09-11
• Licensing and Registration Fees (Appendix G: Gambling) — Financial Services Authority of Seychelles, accessed 2026-09-11
• Business Tax Act, 2009 (section 44, casinos) — Government of Seychelles (via Africa Laws), accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.