Finland

While almost all European countries offer access to private gambling operators on their premises, this jurisdiction remains one of the markets where iGaming has been built around a state-controlled model. The setup is strict, the rules are practical, and authorities have historically treated gambling as a harm-management tool.

However, the government has plans to shift that approach toward a licence-based structure. The direction of the transition is to move online betting and casino products into a regulated market, while keeping selected verticals reserved for a monopoly actor.

Current System Overview

Finland’s gambling regime is defined by the Lotteries Act and a model that grants exclusive rights to the state-owned operator Veikkaus in mainland Finland. That monopoly covers retail and digital play in the categories reserved for it.

Åland (autonomy within the country) is different. The islands have their own approach, where PAF operates under local arrangements and is often treated as a separate case in international legal summaries.

Gambling Oversight

Day-to-day supervision and enforcement are handled by the National Police Board (NPB). The authority is also responsible for payment blocking measures targeting unlicensed supply.

For an operator, this matters because Finland does not look the other way when gambling is offered without local authorisation. Controls are built into banking flows rather than only into post-factum penalties.

Format Legality

On the mainland of Finland, a commercial iGaming brand cannot obtain a local online casino licence during the current monopoly era. There is no route for a foreign operator to become locally authorised for online casino or sports betting before the competitive framework starts.

Players, however, are not usually the target of enforcement. Several legal summaries note that Finnish law does not penalise consumers for bets with offshore sites, which is why the state focuses on supply-side tools instead.

Online Gambling under Veikkaus

The monopolised authority runs the state offering and operates under responsible gaming limits that restrict product design and promotions. External commentary also notes that typical casino-style incentives, such as free spins, have been prohibited in the monopoly setting.

As a result, content and UX designed for heavy bonus-led acquisition do not match local expectations. B2B planning should consider that retention tools must be tied to safer play, not only to growth targets.

Payment Blocking

Finland introduced limits on financial operations at the start of 2023. The mechanism is designed to reduce access to offshore gambling with restrictions on transaction routes rather than chasing every website with legal action.

The National Police Board provides a public explanation of the measure and frames it as a harm-prevention tool. That positioning is important for operators because it signals that enforcement is not only about tax losses but also about public policy outcomes.

Financial Model

Finland’s current gambling tax is structured around a lottery tax paid on gross gaming revenue. Veikkaus itself states that the deduction has returned to 12% as set in the Lotteries Act.

This detail matters because Finland’s system has historically generated significant state income through a combination of taxes and proceeds. According to the Ministry of the Interior’s Q&A on the reform, the state’s current annual earnings from Veikkaus profits and the lottery tax are roughly €700 million.

Licensing Reform

Finland has an official government project to amend the gambling system and open parts of the market to competition through a licensing model. The Ministry of the Interior outlines that the plan focuses on online betting and casino games. The monopoly activities with Veikkaus would be separated into different companies within the group.

The reform is designed to lower gambling-related harm and improve channelisation. From an operator's standpoint, the right way to handle this is to provide regulated access with tight controls. Those who think the country will become a new easy Nordic hub should avoid entering the market.

Products to be Licensed

The Ministry describes a split between monopoly activities and the open segment. In a competitive market, licences could cover betting and certain online games (e.g., casino activities, slot machines, and money bingo).

Veikkaus would keep exclusive rights in lotteries and physical slot machines, based on the same official description.

New Regulator

Finland plans a staged supervisory setup. The National Police Board would remain the licensing authority in 2026, while a new overseeing agency would become the competent legal body from the beginning of 2027.

That change will likely affect practical processes, because a specialised regulator tends to develop deeper technical audit routines and more consistent enforcement than a general policing body.

Taxation and Timelines

The lottery tax paid by gambling enterprises is proposed to rise from 12% to 22% under the new approach. This is a major cost lever. A 22% GGR-based deduction means marginal operators will struggle unless their acquisition strategy is efficient and their retention stack is built for sustainable value.

Finland’s official project runs to the end of 2025, and public summaries of the reform package describe licensing and market opening in stages. B2C applications might open on 1 March 2026, with the competitive arena going live on 1 July 2027, followed by a supplier licensing phase that will become mandatory later.

Finland’s reform targets not only operators. Gambling software would be subject to a separate licence. For platform providers, this means Finland wants oversight across the supply chain, not only at the brand level.

Marketing and Bonuses

Promotion will be permitted for licensed products. At the same time, there are currently no timing or volume restrictions in that specific policy discussion. Meanwhile, harm-control tools will include marketing constraints.

Stricter limits on digital acquisition will also be imposed. Bans on affiliate and influencer advertising, along with restrictions that eliminate classic recruitment bonuses for new users, will be implemented.

Licence Costs and Fees

Based on recent legal commentary on the new framework, the application price for a Finnish gambling permit has been described as €29,000, with additional fees for amendments.

Ongoing oversight is expected to carry an annual charge that scales with activity. A yearly supervision fee can range up to €400,000, depending on the operator’s realised figures and the fee model applied.

How Market Entry Will Work

The Finnish gambling system is built for continuous monitoring. When the application window opens, operators should expect a process that looks closer to Sweden or Denmark than to lighter regimes.

While there is currently no official route to the application procedure, 2WinPower offers a typical sequence that makes sense for Finland. This is not legal advice, but it reflects how regulated markets with technical supervision usually work.

Supposed application process:

1. Structure the ownership file. Shareholders, controllers, and group links must be clear because the regulator needs transparency for AML, integrity screening, and enforcement.
2. Design the safer gambling stack early. Identification, limits, self-exclusion, and monitoring need to be embedded into UX. A bolt-on widget is not enough when the authority can audit transactions.
3. Build reporting-grade data flows. Technical surveillance implies structured logs, secure storage, and audit readiness. A messy database becomes a licensing risk.
4. Lock the marketing model to what Finland allows. If acquisition relies on affiliates or aggressive bonuses, rework the plan before you spend on the licence file.
5. Check supplier compliance for the platform and games. With gambling software certification in the model, your content pipeline must match the future rules.

Finland’s biggest bottlenecks are predictable:

• weak harm-prevention tools in product design;
• unclear ownership structures or funding trails;
• marketing strategy that depends on prohibited channels;
• platform data architecture that cannot support audits.

Opportunities and Challenges

Finland is attractive, and the market offers value because player demand exists and channelisation is a policy goal. At the same time, compliance expectations stay high.

Why Finland Can Be Worth It

A regulated opening in a mature Nordic economy has clear upside. A licence-based system can also improve payment stability for approved brands, because banks and PSPs prefer clear authorisation over legal ambiguity.

The reform also aims to steer gambling into supervised supply, which is exactly what serious operators want. If the framework is implemented with consistent enforcement, grey-market competitors lose some of their advantage.

Why Finland Can Be Challenging

Tax is the first pressure point. A shift toward a 22% lottery tax rate changes margin maths, especially when combined with supervision costs and strict RG tooling.

Marketing is the second constraint. Even if some channels stay open, the public direction shows that Finland prioritises harm reduction over aggressive acquisition tactics.

Supervision is the third issue. Technical surveillance and audits mean you need a platform that behaves like a regulated fintech, not a quick White Label site.

The Main Things About the Gambling System in Finland

The forward-thinking iGaming destination is moving from a monopoly approach to a controlled licensing structure. Operators should be prepared for the market not becoming easy just because competition is allowed. The framework is built to channel play into supervised operators, with strict tools for harm prevention and compliance monitoring.

Key aspects of the local gambling system:

• Mainland Finland currently runs on a Veikkaus monopoly model, while Åland has a separate setup linked to PAF.
• Payment blocking has been in effect since the start of 2023, indicating active enforcement against offshore supply.
• The reform proposes raising the lottery tax from 12% to 22% for gambling enterprises and changing the unit economics for permit holders.
• Public timelines indicate that B2C licensing will start in March 2026 and competitive operations will begin in July 2027 (supplier registration will be phased in later).
• A paid application stage (supposedly at €29,000) and annual supervision fees can scale up to six figures.

If you want to prepare for Finland without costly rework, 2WinPower can deliver all-in-one solutions for regulated markets, along with the documentation and compliance support needed for licence-stage scrutiny.