While some forms of gambling, such as slots, require compulsory authentication, many still do not — though Finland’s government-owned gambling company is looking to change this. By the end of 2023, Veikkaus will mandate compulsory authentication for all its games.
To support this decision, Veikkaus stated that customers are now losing nearly €500m ($568m) less on slot machines annually thanks to its mandatory slots authentication.
“Our extensive sustainability measures are aimed at reducing problem gambling in particular. Our most recent indicators suggest that we are definitely going to the right direction. In other words, slots gaming is clearly at a turning point,” said Susanna Saikkonen, Veikkaus’ VP of Sustainability.
Alongside authentication, loss limits have also proven effective at curbing problem gambling. Introduced in 2017, these cover all of Veikkaus’ fast-paced games, with 100,000 customers having to stop playing after hitting their limits between September and October.
Lauri Halkola, Chief Data Officer and VP of Data and Analytics at Veikkaus, commented: “Players must set daily and monthly loss limits on their gambling. These limits were hit 60% more often in September and October than in the previous months this year. Over 80% of the hits concerned self-imposed loss limits of under €200.”
In a series of surveys conducted by Taloustutkimus Oy and commissioned by Veikkaus, problem gambling in Finland appears to be at an all-time low. Presently, just 0.8% of the adult population consider their gambling problematic.
Halkola claimed this success is in large part due to the loss limits, saying: “Ever since the compulsory loss limits were introduced, gambling has fallen significantly in the groups of both men and women, and in all age groups, and the differences between gambling rates have evened out.”
