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Danish lawmakers have agreed to introduce a “player card” for land-based gambling activities, meaning consumers will have to register with betting providers before they can gamble.
The mandatory use of the new playing card is expected to take effect on July 1, 2022.
Its introduction, along with numerous other changes, were agreed by the Danish government and a large number of other political parties, and published on November 2.
“There is a need to tighten the rules in the gaming area. Many Danes — especially young men — have problems with gambling, and this often has major consequences for themselves, their future, and their families,” according to the Morten Bødskov, the minister of taxation.
Lotto coupons and scratchcards are not covered by the requirement for the membership card.
Danish Online Gambling Association (DOGA) chief executive Morten Rønde told VIXIO GamblingCompliance his trade group “fully supports this agreement”.
“In fact, it's been the position of the group for years that betting shops should be required to register players,” Rønde said.
Alongside the introduction of player cards, the agreement will also see advertising content and volumes being assessed and further regulated.
“The marketing of games has evolved tremendously in recent years. The number of betting ads has tripled during the period 2012-2019, and the marketing culture has become more aggressive,” according to the agreement.
The use of player cards will be accompanied by a requirement for operators to cross-check players’ identities with ROFUS, the country’s self-exclusion scheme, before they place bets.
Once a player is registered, they will be required to set a deposit limit.
Game providers will then have to collect and analyse player data, including deposits, losses and gains, to identify behaviours resembling match-fixing, money laundering or gambling addiction.
The Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) will provide an evaluation of operators' compliance with the new requirements at the beginning of 2024 and assess the “data ethics issues that the proliferation of digital gaming solutions raises”.
As part of the agreement, a technical solution will be developed that allows the gambling authority to gather and analyse data from all licensed operators, to prevent criminals and problem gamblers from obscuring their activities by using multiple operators.
The creation of this new solution is expected to be completed at the same time as the player card comes into effect.
The cross-party political agreement also covers a raft of other areas the lawmakers intend to amend, including the treatment of gambling addiction and strengthening the regulator’s match-fixing enforcement powers.
A discussion will be held on the role treatment centres can provide on reducing harms and the possibility of securing longer-term grants for the Centre for Gambling Addiction, which is independent of the regulator and state-funded.
Lawmakers also pledged to strengthen and modernise the controls for non-profit lotteries, including banko and bingo, such as assessing the current requirement for physical lottery tickets.
The use of skins betting and loot boxes will also be evaluated in the near future.
Separately, the Ministry of Taxation has launched a consultation on two executive orders.
One is aimed at facilitating the phasing out of NemID over the next year, a digital signature used to log on to public websites, as the country switches over to MitID.
“The new draft executive order does not specifically require the use of MitID, but requires the utilization of an electronic ID system from a Danish national identification system or an electronic ID approved by the DGA,” according to a blog post by law firm Nordic Gambling.
The other executive order pertains to altering the rules around TV-based lotteries.
The Ministry of Taxation will accept comments until November 30, 2021.
