Sweden: new survey finds low awareness of how to identify licensed gaming sites

Awareness remains low, with only 10 per cent saying they know how to identify licensed sites.

Sweden.- A new survey has found that Swedish players still express a low awareness of how to identify licensed gaming sites. Only 10 per cent of players said they knew how to identify sites licensed by the national gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen.

Spelinspektionen commissioned the consultancy Skopm to complete the survey, which asked 1,600 adults about gambling habits in 2021. It found that 53 per cent of gamblers saw advantages in playing with licensed sites, and just 2 per cent had intentionally and knowingly used an unlicensed site in the past year.

On top of that, 31 per cent said being licensed was one of the most important reasons to choose a particular operator and only 21 per cent said they will or might play with unlicensed operators. Despite that, only 10 per cent said that they knew how to tell if an operator was licensed.

The figure was the same as in the previous years, suggesting no advance has been made in increasing awareness. More regular players had more likelihood of saying they were able to identify licensed operators.

The survey found that 72 per cent of adults in Sweden gambled in 2021, down a little year-on-year. Of that number, 52 per cent had gambled in the past month and 38 per cent in the past week – the highest since 2013. Men and older age groups outside of the main cities were much more likely to have gambled in the past week. But 19 per cent of all respondents said they might reduce their gambling because of the rising cost of living.

Lotteries remained by far the most popular type of gambling, followed by horse racing and bingo. Casino gaming, poker and slots each received no more than 5 per cent. Asked if gambling companies take responsibility for gambling problems, 31 per cent answered “to some extent”, 7 per cent “absolutely” and and 24 per cent “not at all”.

Sweden proposes to make more data available to operators

The Swedish government is considering proposals to make more customer data available to licensed gambling operators in a bid to help reduce gambling-related harm. A memorandum from minister of financial markets, Niklas Wykman, suggests that operators be allowed to process more personal data on players’ gambling behaviour.

The move would allow operators to review and analyse self-reported details on health and finance, only for the purpose of addressing apparent or potential problem gambling behaviour. The measures would be implemented from January 1, 2024 if they are approved.

Last week, the Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, held an information session to provide details on the process for its issuance of new online gambling supplier licences. The permits are due to become mandatory from July 1, 2023, under new Swedish gambling legislation passed in November.

Spelinspektionen says it will open the application process for the permits on March 1 and urged suppliers to be ready to submit their applications for that date in order to receive a licence on time. The objective of the permit system is to improve channelisation to the regulated market.