Betfair 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

Your Betfair account is the one you sign in with to bet on Betfair, including the Betfair Exchange. Betfair calls its 2FA two-step authentication. It's optional. Once it's on, Betfair asks for a one-time code after your username and password, either from an authenticator app or by text message (Betfair, archived).

Two things set Betfair apart. Its backup codes aren't typed into a separate box: you add one to the end of your password. And a few Betfair products have no code screen at all, so you add the authenticator code to your password there too. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Betfair's page names Google Authenticator, but Betfair's codes change every 30 seconds, which is the standard kind that Novaz and other authenticator apps make.

How we checked this guide: the Betfair steps come from Betfair's own help page, linked below. Betfair's help site blocks automated access, so on October 21, 2026, we read an archived copy that web.archive.org saved on October 6, 2025. The page is older than that copy (it still mentions BlackBerry and Windows Phone), and we haven't tested it on a Betfair account, so labels may have changed. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app

Betfair's help page only gives the starting point. After that, it says to follow the instructions on screen (Betfair, archived).

1. Sign in to your Betfair account and open My Account.
2. Go to the My Security tab. The two-step authentication setup is there.
3. Follow Betfair's setup instructions and choose the authenticator app option.
4. If Betfair shows a QR code, open Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If the QR code is on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
5. If Betfair shows a key instead, tap +, then Enter key manually. Fill in Service (for example, Betfair), Account if you like, and paste the key as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
6. Type the code from Novaz into Betfair to finish.

Betfair's page doesn't say whether a text key is offered or what it's called.

Save your backup codes

Betfair gives you a list of backup codes during setup. You can see the list again later under My Account > My Security. To use one, type your password and then the backup code straight after it, with no space, in the password field (Betfair, archived).

Unless you back up Novaz, its keys exist only on your iPhone, so these codes are your way back in if the phone is lost. They also cover you if your last Novaz backup file predates Betfair. Store them away from the phone. More in 2FA backup codes.

Every sign-in or only new devices

After a correct password, Betfair shows an extra screen for the code. In My Security you can choose to be asked on every sign-in or only on new devices. When you sign in on a device you trust, tick the box that marks it as trusted. Betfair's page gives it two names: Tick to confirm this is a trusted device and Remember this device for future logins. After that, that device needs only your username and password.

To forget all trusted devices, open My Account > My Security, select Edit next to Login Settings, check Forget previously trusted devices, and select Save changes. Each device then needs a code again (Betfair, archived).

Betfair products with no code screen

Some Betfair products don't ask for the code separately. On these, you type your password with the current Novaz code added to the end, the same way as a backup code. Betfair lists Mobile Web Exchange (touch.betfair.com), Lite, Mobile Timeform, the iPad Exchange app and Mobile Mobet. Betfair says Bet Trader Evolution doesn't work with two-step authentication, and bots on the old API6 stop working; developers should use API-NG (Betfair, archived). The list is old, so some of these may be gone.

If Betfair rejects your code

Betfair's page has no advice for a rejected code. When you add the code to your password, leave no space and type it before it changes. Also check the iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes in Authenticator code not working?

Pausing or turning it off

In My Security, two-step authentication shows On when it's active. From its drop-down you can choose Turn Off, or pause it with Suspend for 1 day or Suspend for 1 week (Betfair, archived).

Changing phones

Betfair's page doesn't cover changing phones directly. For a suspended setup, it describes selecting Resume, then Remove, in the two-step area of My Security, so you can add it again on a new device. Do this while the old phone still works. If you have a Novaz iCloud backup or backup file, you can restore your accounts on the new iPhone instead and skip this. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.

If you lose your authenticator

1. Use a backup code at the end of your password.
2. If you've given Betfair your mobile number, choose to get a one-time code by text message.
3. If neither works, call Betfair. After answering security questions about your account, Betfair can suspend two-step authentication for 1 hour, 24 hours or 7 days, so you can sign in without a code (Betfair, archived).

Once you're in, go to the two-step authentication area of My Security, select Resume, then Remove, and set it up again on your new phone. Betfair doesn't say how long the identity check takes. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official Betfair help

• Two-Step Authentication Help (read in an archived copy of October 6, 2025)