Veikkaus Will Require Accounts for Slot Play

Finnish gaming group Veikkaus announced that they will require identity verification for gamblers to play some of their slot machines beginning next month, with the goal of implementing the requirements next year.

The pilot program will see players required to provide valid identification in order to play at the affected terminals, which will number about 100 throughout the Pelaamo and Feel Vegas locations. The goal is to use the mandatory identification to help identify problem gamblers, who can then have support offered to them. It's believed that 2.3% of Finland's population (about 95,000 people) have a gambling problem, and there are various methods being introduced in an effort to combat these issues.

Commenting on the decision Veikkaus' Jari Heino said, "The transition to mandatory identification is one of Veikkaus' most important responsibility measures, which aims to prevent gambling problems. With the pilot to be carried out in the autumn, we want to test the functionality of the identification controls."

"We hope that as many slot machine players as possible will register before it becomes mandatory. Currently, only about 10% of slot machine players are registered. By offering games only to verified players, we aim to increase the registration rate before January."

We'll be sure to report on how the measure goes during the test phase.