Denmark’s Danske Spil to Launch ID Verification Card for its Retail Network

Danske Spil, the national lottery in Denmark, is going to introduce ID verification card for its retail network, to ensure that minors and those looking to launder money cannot access its products. More than 3000 vendors will now require individuals to show their cards before they can gamble.

“Danske Spil is Denmark’s gaming company, and we will not tolerate uncertainty as to whether our offering is in the hands of our children and young people or abused to launder illegal money. We already carry out extensive checks on betting in kiosks and working closely with the back office police to track down suspicious people who might have criminal intent, but we can’t live with the doubt as to whether a criminal goes under our radar,” Susanne Mørch Koch, Chief Executive of Danske Spil said.

Koch said that stamping out underage play has been a particular focus for Danske Spil for some time.

“In Danske Spil we will only take bets from adults. Compliance with age limits has long been a priority for us, and with the playing card we have an important and powerful tool in hand. Gambling is for adults and not for children,” Koch said.

Koch noted that the introduction of the card will likely harm profits, but said the trade-off for greater protection of children and prevention of money laundering was worth the cost.

“It is not possible to accurately calculate the negative consequence of introducing the game card. It is to be expected that some spontaneous players will go away and that it will cost us a significant three-digit million on our turnover at least in the short run. We have to take that write-down simply because we do not want to accept the alternative,” Koch said.

Lottery games will not require the card, as Danske Spil said that they are not associated with money laundering. The card will be available in both physical and electronic forms and Danske Spil expects it to be ready by 2020.