Veikkaus, Finland’s state-owned gambling operator, is attempting to pave the way when it comes to customer protection. The company is now the first in the world to introduce an identification system for both its online and retail games.

The mandatory ID system, which Veikkaus launched on New Year’s Day, will require players to verify themselves via one of a multitude of options. They can choose to provide a Veikkaus Card, driver’s license, Kela card, mobile card within the Veikkaus application, or a personal identification card.

The measure builds on one already put in place by Veikkaus in relation to its coupon games, such as lotto and eurojackpot. The Finnish operator introduced an ID system for those games in early 2023.

Christmas lottery sales met expectations despite the new ID requirements

Commenting on the transition for players, Veikkaus Head of Lottery Games Ville Venoj?rvi said users should not see much change, particularly those already used to the process for coupon games. He emphasized this point by highlighting that Christmas lottery sales met expectations despite the new ID requirements.

Finland has a problem gambling rate of around 0.8%, slightly higher than its Scandinavian neighbors Denmark (0.7%) and Norway (0.4%). A 2023 study found that 50% of Finnish gambling takes place on unlicensed sites.