In industry news, it seems like Finland is the latest country to take its first steps in offering up online bingo to its inhabitants! Both the Finnish Slot Machine Association (RAY) and Finnish state lottery Veikkhaus Oy have received permission to start offering poker and casino games online and offer online bingo respectively.
Ray and Veikkhaus Oy, are two thirds of state monopoly triad, which will be allowed to operate online gambling in mainland Finland. It is reported both companies will be able to offer their new products online as from the 1st March, when new licensing laws come into effect allowing them to enter online. However, it is understood that RAY will be facing a bit of delay to coincide with a planned August launch.
It marks another step in the notable increase of online bingo across the world. Whilst us Brits have been ahead of the game for a while, it seems like many of our continental cousins are beginning to catch up, with some of our best loved online bingo brands launching across Europe.
However, online bingo operators may have to curb their enthusiasm, as Finland is not an online bingo free for all – yet. Finnish regulators are keen to keep online bingo a strictly family affair, with the country ruling that the monopoly situation is not in violation of EU Law, despite some protestations to the contrary from land based gambling operators in Finland. In fact, it is thought the legalisation and licensing of online gaming, including online bingo, is to provide Finnish bingo fans with some serious competition to the growing competition offered by non Finalnd based private operators. Kaisa Fahllund, a partner and head of the technology group at the Helsinki office of law firm Hannes Snellman said: “Basically Finland sticks to its monopoly but the reason that RAY has been allowed to offer these games is to compete with the foreign operators.”
As we predicted, this Euro expansion of online bingo looks set to be a big trend for the coming year as the online bingo world tries to capitalise on the success it has found in good old Blighty. Take Foxy Bingo for example, which will be staging an imminent Scandinavian invasion when it launches in Sweden in the coming weeks. Whilst the Swedes may have given us Ikea, there sure aint anything flat pack about the arrival of our beloved Fox on their shores… And we for one, think a world in which everyone knows about the wonders of Foxy Bingo may not be such a bad thing. With a first deposit bonus of 200%, giving you £20 for free when you deposit a mere tenner, it seems like no matter what language you speak, “great sign up bonus offer” can most certainly be translated as “Foxy Bingo”!
