Veikkaus becomes “first gaming company” to require ID for all gambling

The Finnish gambling operator has expanded the requirements to cover all products.

Finland.- The state-controlled gambling group Veikkaus has implemented mandatory identification for all gambling in Finland. The move had already been rolled out for coupon games such as Lotto and Eurojackpot last year.

Veikkaus says the measure is intended to prevent underage gambling and allow better monitoring of gambling harm. Players will need to identify themselves via a Veikkaus Card, a driving licence, a Kela card or a mobile card in the Veikkaus application. 

Veikkaus’ director of responsibility Susanna Saikkonen said: “From the beginning of 2024, Veikkaus will be the first gaming company in the world to require identification in all digital and physical channel games. When customers can play only using identification, it is possible for them to track total play from the game history.”

Veikkaus head of lottery games Ville Venojärvi said: “The change is certainly big for our lottery players, but identification is already quite familiar to players from the coupon games side. This Christmas’s lottery sale was in line with expectations. Even though lotteries purchased this Christmas can be redeemed without identification until the end of 2024, there was no evidence that lotteries were purchased for storage. This shows that identification is a familiar procedure for our players and we expect this to go well with lottery sales too.” 

The future of Veikkaus

The move comes as Veikkaus prepares for the end of its monopoly over all forms of gambling in Finland. The Finnish government plans to launch a licensed gambling market by 2026. It moved to close several venues including Casino Tampere in December as it restructures.

Veikkaus will be divided into three units: domestic games of chance, slots and arcades; domestic online casino and betting; international. It expects around 200 job losses, while over 100 will see material changes in employment terms.

The move reverses the 2017 merger between Veikkaus (betting), Raha-automaattiyhdistys (slots) and Fintoto (horse racing betting). Each of the three units will be led by a senior vice president.

Nora Vähävirta, the present chief operating officer of business operations, will take the role for the unit dedicated to domestic gaming, slot machines and arcades. Jarkko Nordlund, who became an executive director at Veikkaus in September, will be SVP for domestic online casino and betting operations and Jonas Reuter, who also joined in September, will take the corresponding position for international business.

In November, Veikkaus signed a deal with OpenBet to update its fixed-odds betting system after a public tender. The deal will also expand the operator’s Pitkäveto and Live Bet products and add new sports to its build-a-bet product. The updates will be implemented by the end of 2024.