Nordic gambling operator Paf has announced a further reduction to the loss limit for players aged between 20 and 24 to €8,000 ($8,610) per year. The effort has already been implemented on all Paf gaming sites and markets, with the company expecting that the mandatory loss limits stop young players from losing more money.
Christer Fahlstedt, CEO of Paf, said: “This is an important continuation of the responsible gaming direction we are striving towards at Paf. Now young customers can only play with us for amounts that are at a more sustainable level and within the framework of the customer segment that we have defined ourselves as the green segment.”
“We need to be able to be sustainable in the long term. We believe that in a future highly regulated European market, you cannot lose more than €8,000 a year, which can be equivalent to an expensive leisure activity.”
Every year, Paf publishes a table showing how the profits and losses look for different customer segments. Over the years, the customer segments have been significantly affected after Paf introduced mandatory loss limits and lowered the maximum limits, as per the operator. Paf’s customer segments for 2023 will be published this month. In the meantime, the latest publication can be found here.
Daniela Johansson, Deputy CEO and Chief Responsibility Officer at Paf, said: “We believe it is important to focus on young people and their gambling from a responsible gambling perspective. Together with our other responsible gambling measures, the loss limits are a good complement for better responsible gambling.”
Paf informs that customers can set their own lower limits, but cannot exceed the mandatory loss limits set by the company. The loss limits apply to all of the operator’s registered players and all game categories.
“We are not selling teddy bears, and we have a responsibility for the product we provide. As a gaming company, we can say no before a person has gambled away both house and home,” added Fahlstedt.
In a statement, Paf asserted that it strives to be “a leading gaming company” when it comes to responsible gaming in the industry. “Paf was the first international gaming company to introduce loss limits in 2018, and since then the maximum limits have been lowered several times,” the operator says.
According to the firm, young people aged 18-24 are at a higher risk of developing problems with their gambling. Research on gambling problems and different risk groups generally indicates that young people are a risk group. Paf’s current loss limit for 18-19 years is 1800 euros ($1937).
Paf is based in Finland and operates across Finland, Sweden and the Baltics. In July 2022, it petitioned the Swedish government to ban gambling advertisements and increase gambling tax. The company has also called for Sweden’s self-exclusion program Spelpaus to centralize players’ loss limits to make them apply equally.