Finnish operator Veikkaus extends digital loss limits to retail slot machines

Finnish government-owned betting agency Veikkaus will introduce compulsory loss limits to slot machines as part of responsibility measures to reduce problem gambling as of 1 Sept. 2021, announced the company on Tuesday.

The decision follows Veikkaus’ other similar endeavors for a safer gaming environment, including loss limits already being applied to fast-paced online games for over four years to date. The newly announced measure will cover physical slot machines placed at stores, kiosks, restaurants, service stations and Veikkaus gaming arcades.

“This is a major step on our sustainability journey, the destination of which is to enable our customers to engage in gaming that is even safer than before,” said Susanna Saikkonen, VP, Sustainability at Veikkaus. “We are offering the players a more comprehensive set of tools with which they can control their gaming.”

Customers now will be required to make their gaming subject to loss limits best suited for their individual needs when playing all of the company’s fast-paced games. Loss limits applied to digital fast-paced games were laid down by a decree of the Ministry of the Interior and are the same that the company has now expanded into point-of-sale-gaming, and range between 1 and 500 euros a day, and 1 and 2,000 euros a month.

Earlier this year, Veikkaus started requiring authentication to play decentralized slot machines in stores, kiosks, restaurants and service stations since January, a measure later expanded to gaming arcades at the beginning of July.

Slot machine gaming has decreased by over 30% in Finland in 2021 due to a reduction by 40% of total number of slot machines versus beginning of 2020, resulting from said compulsory authentication and gaming control measures. Covid-19 restrictions are believed to have also affected customer habits when engaging with slot gambling.

“Our customers now lose significantly less money on the physical slot machines than previously. We want to be a trailblazer of responsible gaming,” further added Saikkonen in a press release statement.

Based on data that has been collected from digital gaming since loss limits were introduced in said channel, the company expects problematic slot machine gaming to be severely cut in physical slots as well.

If a customer of Veikkaus feels that their gaming falls in the problematic category, they can impose a total self-exclusion on their slot machine gaming. About 31,000 Veikkaus customers have opted for a self-exclusion covering the digital games or the physical slot machines, and nearly 10,000 have set restrictions on their playing of the physical slot machines.