Do Paf’s Lower Loss Limits Encourage Crypto iGaming?

The Nordic gambling operator Paf has announced a reduction in its annual loss limits for two age brackets.

The company is owned by the Åland regional government. It introduced age-specific loss limits in 2022 and last adjusted them in 2023.

Loss Limits by Age: Paf’s Approach to Responsible Gaming

Players over 25 will now have an annual loss limit of €16,000, down from €17,500. In addition, players between the ages of 20-24 will have a limit of €6,000, down from the previous €8,000. For those aged 18 and 19, the existing loss limit of €1,800 remains the same.

Players on Paf can set their own loss limits, but they are all capped at the operator’s mandatory ceiling. The limits apply to all games and gambling activities across the operator’s platform.

Christer Fahlstedt, CEO of Paf commented: “We want to be a sustainable entertainment company for our customers, for our employees and for our owners. We are now taking the next step towards more sustainable revenues.”

“We are setting a standard for responsible gaming that is increasingly difficult for other companies to follow. We haven’t reached where we want to be yet, we have a target for the future where the limit is €8,000 a year, but we need to make the reductions at a pace we can manage,” Falhstedt continued.

In 2019, before the age-specific policy was introduced, people of all ages could lose up to €30,000.

Paf claims to be the only company internationally with such a policy and endeavors to continue its pursuit of responsible gambling.

Daniela Johansson, Deputy CEO and Chief Responsibility Officer at Paf commented: “We want to continue to prioritize young customers and strengthen the responsible gaming approach we take towards them. It is a concrete thing to do and it is the right thing to do.”

“Centralised deposit limits that customers can set themselves and that apply across all gaming operators would significantly improve responsible gaming and minimize the problems that arise when customers jump between operators,” she concluded.

Although it is a part of Finland, Åland is a self-governing region. Mainland Finland also has a gambling monopoly in the form of Veikkaus.

The Crypto Landscape in Finland

Finland’s relationship with cryptocurrency is tumultuous. Hex founder Richard Schueler, also known as Richard Heart, is wanted for tax evasion and assault in Finland.

In January this year, the crypto magnate’s Espoo residence was raided, and authorities seized around $2.6 million in luxury watches.

Crypto iGaming and sportsbooks do not operate legally in Finland, given the state-run monopoly. Although tighter loss limits may make sense from a PR perspective, critics argue that they push people to offshore operators where there are less intrusive checks on affordability.

Similarly, high-value clients are not incentivized to gamble with an operator that only allows a minuscule fraction of income to be wagered and, therefore, seek other gambling opportunities.