Written by :
Published on :
The online casino business is a thriving industry. With the advancements in technology, more and more people are eager to play audiovisually incredible online slots. Modern bonus games and free spins modes come packed with high-quality graphics, fun features, and crisp soundtracks.
One especially active online casino hotbed is the Nordics of Europe. In countries such as Finland and Sweden, casinos are super popular and frequented by millions of people. In this article, we take a look at these markets as well as one of the key factors that makes them blossom: the new pay n play phenomenon.
Finland and Sweden have similar stories
While there are more than just Finland and Sweden in the Nordics, these two countries have arguably the hottest online casino scenes. In fact, Finnish people are known world over as some of the most active gamblers on the planet. Ranking behind only Japan and Australia, the Finns really love their casino games. Swedes, on the other hand, are very well known for their online casino business acumen. Several of the biggest casino game developers, including Evolution Gaming and NetEnt, are of Swedish origin.
Once upon a time, Finland and Sweden both held on to extremely strict state-run gambling monopolies. Sweden finally ended up caving in in 2019, whereas Finland is set to follow in 2027. Both countries’ government officials finally decided that the online casino phenomenon could not be fought—it was better off being tamed with their own licensing system.
One major thing that led up to Swedish and Finnish politicians bending the knee was the rise of so-called pay n play casinos.
What are pay n play casinos?
When the first online casinos were introduced to the world, they were not particularly user-friendly. In order to use them, customers would need to download them onto their desktop devices. Back then, in the late 90s and early 00s, mobile devices that could access the internet were not yet available. In other words, becoming an online casino customer was a long and time-consuming process that involved lengthy downloads and required a lot of patience and effort.
Not long after these first online casinos arrived, browser-based casinos would appear. They did not have to be downloaded, but the customers still needed to spend some time entering their information on the platforms before they could play.
The whole Nordic online casino landscape changed when the first pay n play casinos came along in 2017. These casinos could be accessed through the customers’ online banking services with Brite or other similar payment methods. The groundbreaking thing about this was that players no longer needed to enter any of their details manually. Instead, banking services were used to identify the user as well as help with their initial deposit. This would make registering to new online casinos quicker and easier than ever before.
Another thing that really helped solidify the popularity of pay n play casinos was their fast withdrawal process. At older casinos, players would always need to verify their identity by sending the casino multiple identification documents. These included images of the player’s ID, proof of address, and proof of payment. However, with pay n play casinos, this verification process was already taken care of at the start via the player’s very own banking services.
Long story short, the pay n play feature has made accessing online casinos and withdrawing money extremely painless, which, in turn, has contributed immensely to the overall popularity of online gambling.
Traditional casinos are disappearing
Once the pay n play casino phenomenon really got going around 2019, more or less every new online casino has adopted the pnp way. What is more, even many older casinos have decided to make the jump, adding faster payments and quicker ways of signing up to their platforms. Nowadays, it is almost rare to find a Finnish online casino that requires the player to open an account through old-fashioned means.
It will be interesting to see what potential new developments the Nordic online casino scene could see in the next couple of years. While it might be difficult to see how things could get any smoother, at least the rise of AI will likely end up leaving its mark on the industry as well.
- B.E. Delmer, Gambling911.com
One thing is for certain: the online casino industry will always keep trucking along.
