Danske Spil introduces mandatory deposit limits
Danske Licens Spil, the regulated market subsidiary of Danske Spil, has made it mandatory for players to set deposit limits across all its igaming brands, effective today (July 2).
Effective today (July 2), customers must set daily, weekly and monthly maximum deposit limits for its Casino and Oddset brands. Customers will be unable to gamble via the sites until a limit is in place.
Customers of the operator’s lottery and instant win games will have the option to set limits, though they will not be mandatory.
Danske Spil has offered limit setting controls for a number of years, but noted that no more than 15% of players had taken advantage of the service.
“We know from addiction experts that deposit limits are a tool that helps players better control their games,” said Niels Erik Folmann, chief executive of the operator’s igaming subsidiary Danske Licens Spil. “We want our customers to play with care and would like to help them be aware of their game consumption.”
The new controls have been introduced in the wake of the Agreement on New Actions Against Gaming Addiction and the Game Agreement Adjustment, through which the Danish government committed to ensuring operators do their utmost to protect players. Among the measures, which were agreed in June 2018, was mandatory deposit limits.
While Folmann noted that these controls had not yet been implemented, he believed there was “no excuse to wait” before they were brought into effect.
The operator will closely monitor the limits customers put in place, and whether these are changed. Customers that set particularly high limits will be closely tracked.
In addition, Danske Spil will also introduce online pop-up messages, or “reality checks”. These will inform customers of how much they have spent, and how long they have been playing, at set points.
“We hope our customers will generally welcome the opportunity to be kept up to date with information about their gambling,” Folmann said. “In addition, studies show that a major challenge among problem gamers is that one loses the ability to track their habit. Pop-up messages may remind you that it may be time to take a break and do something else.”
Pop-up messages were one of the initiatives set out in a new industry-wide code of conduct, developed by a number of Danish stakeholders in the wake of the new political agreements.
The Danish Online Gaming Association (DOGA), in partnership with the country's slot machine operator association Dansk Automat Brancheforening, and the country's casino operator body Dansk Kasinoforening and the Aarhus-based Royal Casino were all involved in its drafting. Danske Spil and fellow lottery operators Klasselotteriet, Landbrugslotteriet and Varelotteriet also had input.
“The mandatory deposit limit and pop-up messages will complement our general efforts in the area of fraud prevention, where we, for example, also make preventative care calls to customers if we see signs of risky gambling behaviour,” Folmann added. “It is part of our responsibility as Denmark's gaming company.
“We look forward to following up on how our customers react to the new tools.”