This year Finland overtook Norway as the world’s happiest country according to the UN’s World Happiness Report. Known for its beautiful fjords, spectacular Northern Lights and indigenous reindeer, it’s not difficult to see why Finns top the list.
You may be slightly surprised to hear that Finland enjoys a near-universal love of gambling. Finns rank fourth for the amount spent per person on gambling, and its population places more bets than any other in Europe, spending around €2 billion every year on various games of chance.
In many diverse countries across the globe, including the UAE, Japan and Poland, gambling is completely banned. In contrast to this, Finland has intelligently engineered its gambling industry to make it a socially-beneficial, profitable asset to the whole of Finnish society.
The gambling industry in Finland is directly controlled by the state through a government monopoly which funnels profits into public spending. In the post-World War 2 era, state-driven gambling advertising focused on gambling’s role in driving social good. As such, gambling became a normalised activity void of traditional negative connotations found in other countries. The proceeds from gambling monopolies were, and continue to be, used to support youth programmes, sports, non-profit organisations and many more government-backed initiatives that benefit Finnish society as a whole.
Of course, the globalisation of gambling through online sports betting and casinos means that betting companies everywhere can cash in on Finland’s love of gambling. With 80% of the population gambling in some form every year, the market is sizeable enough to share with the world.
Doing this is easier than you think. By creating an online gambling platform that Finns find easy to navigate, and which offers quick and easy deposits and withdrawals, your online casino or sports betting site will appeal to thrill-seeking customers from Finland.
Alternative payment methods essential for breaking into new markets
A great way to tap into the Finnish market is by offering locally preferred payment methods and eWallets. These create an optimised payments ecosystem in which to make deposits and withdraw funds quickly and without hassle – which is the number one concern among online gamblers and gamers when it comes to payments.
Three key alternatives to card payments in Finland are Trustly, Verkkopanki and Zimpler. The former two are bank transfer methods, which make up 44% of the Finnish payment market, meanwhile Zimpler is an eWallet, a payment method that accounts for 6% of payments in Finland.
Alternative payments tower over cards in terms of popularity, with card-based transactions making up only 28% of transactions. If you want to attract and retain online gamblers from Finland and profit from the country’s furore about gambling, you need to offer these three payments.
Trust Payments have partnerships with a number of eWallets and alternative payments which allow gaming merchants to break into new markets; for merchants wanting to win big in Finland, we work with Trustly, Verkkopanki and Zimpler to help them achieve this.
To speak to one of our team of experts, please give us a call today on 02036912697.
