Swedish State Gambling Firm Introduces Gaming Customer Cards

Svenska Spel, the Swedish state gambling company, has introduced gaming customer cards for all forms of gambling. These compulsory cards are designed to reduce the impact of problem gambling in the country, and are the latest in a series of changes to Swedish gambling laws aimed at curtailing black market gambling.

The card is already mandatory for the company’s online and mobile casinos, but will now be necessary for all forms of gambling in the country, apart from the purchase of physical lottery tickets and gambling inside of Casino Cosmopol Casinos.

CEO Lennart Kall spoke on the matter: “We are convinced that a mandatory customer card is an important part of a more consistent and clear approach to responsible gaming, and that it will lead to the development of a healthy and secure gaming market.

“The use of our customer card enables us to provide an extended service to the customer, with new features such as information about their gambling history, setting limits with regard to time and money, and suspension from all gaming products and platforms at the Svenska Spel. It also allows us to be more proactive in customer relations and enables us to initiate dialogue with those customers who perhaps gamble too much.”

Online casinos in Sweden will also be affected, as the state run operator takes the next step in its new approach to responsible gambling. One positive the cards to have, however, is in the storage of information. Players will have their winning statistics stored on the card, so if they fail to cashout, the card can do it automatically for them, reducing the chance of lost winnings.

With the Swedish market likely to be opened up to competition, however, this card could be short lived if other operators do not agree to use it. Alternatively, the government could just enshrine it in law.