Sustainable business growth can only come from happy players. That is why responsible gaming is at the heart of everything we do.
Paf is an award-winning industry leader in responsible gaming. We are constantly evolving and innovating in this field. Not only is this socially responsible behaviour, but it also makes long term business sense. This is how we achieve sustainable growth that reflects our values.
We bring our responsible gaming mindset to every level of our business. All of our employees are empowered to put responsible gaming first. Essentially we believe that each player chooses how to play responsibly themselves. Our role is to build an environment in which the best choices are easier to make.
To contribute to the local Åland development and the sustainability agenda´s strategic goals, as well as to the UN´s global sustainability goals, we have identified our sustainability work. With our work towards responsible gaming we have identified two goals within the Åland deveopment and sustainability agenda, and one goal within the UN´s global sustainability goals.
The Åland Sustainability Agenda
Goal 1: Prosperous people with increasing inner resources.
Goal 2: Everyone feels trust and has real opportunities to participate in society.
UN’s Global Development Goals
These are some of the ways we keep responsible gaming at the heart of our business.
- A Yearly Loss Limit of €20,000
- A Yearly Loss Limit of €10,000 for young people (18-24 years)
- Paf's Risk Segmentation (Responsible Gaming Radar) that triggers preventive and responsible communication to players.
- Responsible Gaming tools for the players
- Dialogue with players (a multi-level communication plan)
- Responsible Gaming competence development for specialists
- Responsible Gaming training for all our employees
Paf's mandatory loss limit
In 2021 Paf introduced their lowest loss limit to date. The limit has been lowered by one third to 20 000 euros since 2018 (200 000 SEK). Paf has now created new guidelines to try to lower it further.
“Paf has been around for over 55 years, we want to stay for another 55 years, and this is the direction where the gaming industry is headed. We want to stay ahead of the curve and adjust. This means that we will be long-term sustainable,” says Paf’s CEO Christer Fahlstedt.
Paf wants to help their customers to gamble responsibly, and the introduction of a loss limit shows that it is possible to survive as a gaming company without revenue from those very big players. Paf’s loss limit includes all gaming categories for all our registered players.
Paf’s yearly loss limit is a measure that the gaming industry has taken notice of and it has been praised widely. Among other things, Paf was named the Most Sustainable Gaming Company in the Swedish market.
Our responsible gaming tools
We have developed a wide range of tools to help our players play responsibly. We frequently remind our players that these tools are available to them.
We believe in openness
In 2018 we began to openly report Paf’s customers’ winnings and losses. No other gaming company has had the courage to present an equally detailed report, which makes Paf unique in the gaming industry. We believe in openness and highlight these numbers to be able to change the future gaming industry.
During the last few years Paf has had zero income from the red segment. Therefore, Paf has changed focus point to the orange segment. The orange segment has in 2021 been reduced by 23,3%, while the green segment has increased by 11,3%. This shows a decrease in players who gamble away larger amounts of money.
“We believe in openness and that openness lends strong credibility to the discussion about responsible gaming. We are proud and happy that our development is going in the right direction”
– Paf’s CEO Christer Fahlstedt
Paf Radar
The Paf Radar is an in-house developed responsible gaming system that we developed many years ago in order to detect potential risky gambling behavior among our players.
The Paf Radar segments all players in risk levels (R1-R4) depending on their gaming behavior and how much money they have lost in the last 90 days. This is being updated every day, so a player can change risk segments on a daily basis depending on the player’s gaming intensity. The other part of the Radar is the specific parameters (S1-S4) that trigger preventive communication to players based on a potentially problematic gambling behavior.
The risk segments are also combined with a specific communication plan depending on which risk segment the player is in. The higher risk segment the player is in, the more often the player will receive preventive responsible gaming communication, and the more specific and direct the communication will be. The aim with this is to protect our players from excessive gambling and help them reduce their gambling through continuous responsible communication.
The risk segmentation is in sync with our marketing blocks, which means we don’t send any marketing to the players in segment 2-4. Players that have lost more than €2000 in the last 90 days will therefore not receive any marketing or offers from us.
Taking the lead on responsible gaming
Leading the industry
Already in 2013 Paf started the conference Paf Responsible Gaming Summit, where gaming operators, partners, academics and decision makers were invited to our home island of Åland to share knowledge and work proactively with different parts of responsible gaming. The aim, which was to change the way we discuss responsible gaming within the gaming industry, has now been reached, but ongoing discussions are still taking place in every field.
- Spelakademin 2019 (replaced the RG Summit)
- Paf RG Summit 2017
- Paf RG Summit 2015
- Paf RG Summit 2013
Investing in new research
In September 2015 Paf embarked on a 4-year research project with the Department of Psychology at Stockholm University. This research centres on money gaming with a focus on setting limits, playing behaviour, attitudes to gaming tools and prediction. Real data from online gaming at Paf.com is used for the analysis. The research is divided into three studies:
- The preventive effect of players setting a voluntary monthly deposit limit at registration. A research article about the study was published in Frontiers in Psychology.
- Players’ attitudes towards responsible gaming tools and communication
- Finding patterns that lead to self exclusion and making predictions from them
Insights from this work will helps us fine tune our responsible gaming tools, which helps our players make better informed decisions. The research done at Stockholm University can be found here.
Responsible gaming at Paf
Significant investment in responsible gaming
Paf has once again chosen to lower the mandatory loss limit. At the same time, Paf is introducing a new loss limit for young people aged 18–19. The measures are estimated to cost about 7 million euros annually. Paf is lowering the annual mandatory loss limit from 20,000 euros to 17,500 euros, which means that no customer can lose more…
Paf won two awards at the EGR Nordics Awards
Paf was awarded the Safer Gambling Operator award and the award for the best Diversity & Inclusion model at the EGR Nordics Awards 2023. The EGR Nordics Awards celebrates the most successful and innovative gaming companies operating in the Nordic region. Paf was shortlisted in two categories at the ceremony and won both awards. "We are proud that our efforts…
Paf introduces lowered loss limit for young people
Paf has implemented a lower mandatory loss limit for young people. The reduction is implemented to strengthen the responsible gaming measures for all young people who play at Paf. Paf is the only international gaming company that has introduced an annual mandatory loss limit that applies to all online customers. The loss limit is set at €20,000 on an annual…
Ban gambling advertising and raise the taxes
Paf presented its own proposal for a gaming policy program in Sweden. Raising the gambling tax, banning large parts of the gambling advertising and stopping the exposure of gambling adverts in connection with sports are some of the points in the program. Paf participated in the annual event Almedalen Week in Sweden, by arranging a gaming policy discussion under the…