Tag: Scandinavia

Finnish operator Veikkaus has announced the temporary closure of its slot machines in restaurants and cafes across the Satakunta region, but its slot halls will remain open.

The measure comes as a response to a resurgence of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in the area. This has led to the government reintroducing its ban on restaurant and cafe operations, as well as dancing and karaoke.

Slot machines in grocery stores, kiosks and service and traffic stations in the Satakunta region will remain playable, in addition to slot machines in Veikkaus’ own gaming venues.

Veikkaus had to halt gaming activities in the same region back in January due to pandemic-induced restrictions.

Finnish gaming monopoly Veikkaus has recently released customer data showing that 7% of players are responsible for 50% of all takings.

In the first half of 2021, approximately 1.7 million customers played Veikkaus games, meaning that half of the company’s revenue came from just 119,000 players.

When considering Finland’s gambling industry as a whole, 50% of the money spent on gambling comes from only 2.5% of players.

“This information gives us a positive message that the direction of our responsibility measures is the right one. The reading is based on data on identified gambling and covers the majority of euros played to Veikkaus, including slot machines,” Lauri Halkola, Veikkaus Director of Data and Analytics, said.

This comes off the back of Veikkaus taking more active measures to improve its domestic reputation.

A survey conducted in 2019 by Finnish polling specialist Bilendi on behalf of iGaming affiliate Kasino Curt claimed that a majority of Finns were in favour of abolishing the Government-owned gambling company.

In January, Veikkaus took a major step towards improving its image when it added compulsory ID verification controls across its network of slot machines.

So far, 80% of players are registered, with the end goal of all Veikkaus gaming being authenticated by 2023 as the company looks to create “a safer and more responsible gambling framework.”

“We have taken and will continue to take measures to prevent gambling problems in advance. Our goal is also to significantly reduce the share of problem gambling with our solutions,” Halkola continued.

The results of a recent “Trust & Reputation survey” displayed an improvement of the company’s image in the eyes of the general public.

Gambling operator Paf has implemented guidelines that give employees more opportunities to continue working remotely, even after the pandemic’s restrictions are removed. Employees also have the opportunity to work abroad for up to three months each year.

A sustainable workplace is one of the three sustainability areas that Paf has chosen to invest in and develop. The introduction of various alternatives to working remotely is part of that investment.

“Working remotely is a part of the future and something we want to offer our employees going forward. The important thing is not where an employee sits, but rather that the job is done well – and for that to happen it is important that you enjoy where you do your work,” Christer Fahlstedt, CEO of Paf, said.

All employees who can perform their work remotely have the opportunity to influence how and where they work. Under the new guidelines, they can continue to work full time at the office, opt-in for a hybrid set-up with part-time remote working or in some cases work 100% remotely.

“The balance between work, leisure and family time is incredibly important to each employee. We believe these new guidelines will provide our employees a better opportunity to find the right balance in their everyday life,” Daniela Johansson, Deputy CEO & Chief Responsibility Officer, said.

Those who work for Paf also have the opportunity to work abroad for up to three months each year.

“We have many employees among our staff from other countries who now have the opportunity to work part of the time from their home country. We might also have some employees who would like to try out working from another country,” Daniela Johansson said.

“We are convinced that this possibility will be an attractive feature for Paf as an employer in the future, especially in the increasingly global labour market,” Daniela Johansson added.

Norsk Tipping has reduced the maximum monthly loss limit on its high-risk online games to NOK 5000.

The loss limit on high-risk games, which include KongKasino, eFlax, Bingoria and Yezz, was lowered from NOK 10,000 to NOK 7500 from 1 December 2020, as an immediate measure after a period of increase in income from high-risk players. Now it is lowered by another 2500 kroner. The new loss limit of 5000 kroner for the online games will apply until further notice.

“We have seen a clear effect after we adjusted the limit in December, in that the proportion of high-risk players has fallen over a longer period of time. Nevertheless, we see that there is still a group of core players who lose a lot. Therefore, we want to see if a lower limit can affect these in a positive direction,” Bjørn Helge Hoffmann, Head of responsible gaming at Norsk Tipping, said.

Norsk Tipping estimates that the new maximum limit will reduce customers’ losses by between NOK 150 and 175 million on an annual basis. If you look at the total reduction from December 2020, from 10,000 to 5000 kroner, the estimate is between 250 and 300 million kroner.

Antti Kurvinen, Finland’s minister of science and culture, has proposed that revenues from the state-owned gambling monopoly, Veikkaus, be transferred to the state budget.

On Saturday Kurvinen said that the betting agency’s income is declining, and without a change so will the income of charities and other groups that benefit from its profits. Veikkaus revenues are distributed to organisations in the fields of culture, sports, science, and youth work as well as social welfare and health.

Kurvinen proposed making the change from the beginning of 2024.

“My view is that from the beginning of 2024, Veikkaus’ income should be transferred to the state budget in the same way as, for example, Alko transfers its own dividends and income to the state budget, from which they are used for good purposes,” Kurvinen said.

Kurvinen said that he has reached the same position on the matter as a working group chaired by former Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen, which last spring proposed a comprehensive reform to divert gambling revenues to general government revenue and transfer current beneficiaries to the budget framework procedure.

The need for reform is due to Veikkaus’ declining income. This is due to a drop in slot machine revenues because of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as measures taken to tackle gambling addiction.

“Without a clear change and reform, we will find ourselves in a situation where the income of Veikkaus’ beneficiaries is constantly falling. This is about the income of Finnish science, culture, youth organisations and especially sports and exercise,” Kurvinen said.

According to Kurvinen, the distribution of Veikkaus revenues through the budget would bring predictability to cash flows, which is essential for beneficiaries.

“Recent years have shown that we are in a strange situation here: the success of a Finnish gaming company determines what kind of resources there are, for example, for top Finnish sports and youth sports or for high-level Finnish research. This creates a strange, uncertain situation,” Kurvinen said.

The problem with the new way of distributing Veikkaus, revenues has been that it would make the funding of beneficiaries dependent on political decision-making.

Kurvinen does not deny that the change would increase the role of political decision-making, but said he considers that a lesser evil than the uncertainty and funding cuts that lie ahead if no reforms are made.

“In the long run, however, it would be clearer and less problematic to make political value decisions than for the success of Veikkaus’ business to be the determining factor in how many opportunities there are for young researchers in Finland or how much art is funded in Finland,” Kurvinen said.