Finland cutbacks for slots in street locations

Finland gambling monopoly Veikkaus OV is to reduce access to slot machines in grocery stores and other street locations from next month.

It will reduce the use of the machines in a number of retail points, including kiosks, service stations and cafes between 9pm and 9am, the company stated.

Since last month, all slot players have had to authenticate themselves, using their Veikkaus card, phone or a payment card linked to their loyal customer account.

In 2019 Veikkaus was ordered to reform its corporate governance following a series of high-profile failings on safer gambling duties. The following year a new board initiated a social responsibility mandate focused on improving player protections and reinforcing safeguards.

2020 changes saw the monopoly reduce its slot terminals to under 15,000 operating across Finnish stores. This summer Veikkaus called on the government to delay the introduction of mandatory identification checks of coupon games, including lottery ticket sales.

The operator detailed that its retail network required a transitional period to implement ID and age verification requirements demanded by Finland’s new Lotteries Act.