There have been reports that the coronavirus pandemic has caused growth in gambling activities online, and as a response, the Swedish Ministry of Finance has announced a set of measures that will be introduced in the coming weeks that could limit the deposits on online casino games and slots on a weekly basis.
Players will also be required to set time limits for gameplay. This means that this could affect the time and money that players would spend on online casinos like Casinowhizz. However, operators from the public and private sectors aren’t on good terms with this and have released a joint statement regarding this.
The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling or BOS which stands for Branschföreningen för Onlinespel published an open letter this week, saying: “The Ministry of Finance’s proposal for placing further restrictions on the Swedish gambling market has been met by strong and unanimous criticism. All stakeholders in the gambling industry (state and private), as well as sports clubs, the Swedish Gambling Authority, and international and national media, have all stated that the proposals are unrealistic and how they play into the hands of the unlicensed market. The Minister for Public Administration then chose to adjust the proposals somewhat, but only to improve conditions for state-controlled companies. Now a new report shows that implementing deposit limits on online casinos alone would mean that almost half of all bets would end up being placed with unlicensed companies.
“The entire Swedish gambling industry has been beset by uncertainty, with many customers abandoning licensed companies and moving instead to unlicensed companies. If we don’t start to cooperate and introduce long-term measures grounded in facts, we risk turning back the clock to what the market looked like prior to re-regulation."
The BOS and operators are therefore asking the government to improve the regulated sector instead of undermining it. According to them, the licensing framework should be expanded and include B2B operators. They also called for greater publicity for the self-exclusion register called Spelpaus.
BOS also recently commissioned a study from Copenhagen Economics to check the effects the proposed limits will have. It found that the online casino channeling rate if the amendments push through will fall from its current estimate of 72 to 78 per cent down to 52 to 63 per cent.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, the CEO of BOS, also believes that this will push the online Swedish gambling market to an unsustainable situation. They believe that the restrictions will just push the locals away and make them choose to play on offshore casinos and gambling sites instead.
BOS have also proposed seven alternative steps the government can take to improve the channeling rate in the country. These would allow the state to better monitor the gambling activities within the border and to better protect the locals from gambling harms.
The seven proposed steps by BOS and the operators are: Expand the licensing requirements; IQ campaign for the gambling industry; the data of the gambling companies should be part of the solution; being able to share data between companies; extending the Swedish Gambling Authority’s mandate; and extending the duty of care to more industries.
They suggested that campaigns to raise awareness for responsible gambling should have additional funding. The locals can always check casino review sites like wonderpunter.com to know which are trustworthy and safe.
The group also wants government and the licensed operators to analyse customer data and use the data they got to establish a risk classification system on players instead of gambling products.
The group said and elaborated: “The digital gambling industry collects and processes large amounts of data on customers' gambling behaviour. The Ministry of Finance should instruct the Swedish Gambling Authority to request regular reports, with anonymized data, on customers' gambling behavior to increase understanding about gambling habits and identify any systematic problems. The gambling companies have this data and already share it with researchers.
“Great strides have been made in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Computers are capable of handling huge amounts of data and identifying the patterns required for increasing understanding and providing the basis for decisions. The gambling industry is also making progress in this area and sees great opportunities for improving our ability to detect and stop harmful phenomena such as problem gambling, match-fixing, and money laundering. The Ministry of Finance has a golden opportunity to initiate a strategic collaboration in this area together with authorities, researchers, the gambling industry, and gambling addiction groups.”
Disclaimer: Play responsibly. Players must be over 18. For help visit https://www.gamcare.org.uk/