Aland Islands (PAF) Licensed Casinos

Licensing Guidelines in Aland Islands

The government of Aland Islands authorizes one domestic operator, which might imply lenient requirements. Their licensing system is adequately enacted and is usually well-respected in the gambling world. When it comes to the longest-standing and largest company in the business, PAF has a solid reputation in terms of responsible and safe gambling services.

PAF.com has been offering internet gambling operations since 1999. They have exclusive permission from the Aland Provincial Government. They function under one license that covers every product category that the company provides. This includes,

• Game of Skill
• Slots
• Casino games
• Bingo
• Lottery
• Betting on sports
• Poker

The permit that the operators get is set to expire after a year. So, they will have to renew it by paying a certain fee.

PAF is a government entity. So, the company does not have to go through any application process. However, they maintain a specific standard of professional practice. Their business plan, commercial performance, and financial reports are always in close evaluation throughout their tenure.

Online Gambling in Aland Islands

Because of the monopoly in Finland and Aland Islands, foreign operators can’t apply for local permits that will let them legally service Finnish residents. The operators offer online casino games and betting in the country and PAF in the Aland Islands region and Veikkaus in mainland Finland.

The EU openly pressurizes Finland to open a gaming market to foreign competition on various occasions. But the Finnish authorities haven’t shown any signs of giving up on the pressure. As the country borders Sweden, it keeps a close watch on the recent developments and changes taking place in the Swedish digital gambling industry.

PAF then urged the government of Finland to end the monopoly as it would help the country address the adverse effects of gambling more keenly and closely. But, Finland’s authorities are still skeptical about ending the monopoly. Many believe that opening the local market might ill affect the government organizations depending on the gambling money offered by the companies operating under the state.

However, that does not mean that Finnish people don’t have many options at hand. When there is no local operator, many Finns started to take all action against offshore online casinos. So, these are casinos that have licenses from other European jurisdictions.

These websites are compliant with the local regulatory policies. Usually, they offer Finns the opportunity to create accounts with Euro as the base currency. Also, they make sure that the website is in the Finnish language.

Practices like these might violate the nation’s state monopoly but the Finnish authorities don’t penalize or prosecute local people for taking part in offshore gambling activities. According to the Department of Legislative Affairs, the local players who are taking part in the foreign gaming sites aren’t committing any crime while doing so.

But it’s not the case where offshore operators are concerned. They are not allowed to advertise the products and services they offer to the Aland Islands people. A magazine editor once had to pay a fine. He was found guilty of publishing ads in 2010 for an offshore gambling company.

Responsible Gambling Scene in Aland Islands

The authorities pay attention to customer protection and security. To begin with, the registered customers have to be of legal age. This means if you are from the Aland Islands and want to take part in gambling activities, you have to be 18-21 years of age. All specifics related to the player we drafted by the Finnish Personal Data Act. PAF website is responsible for keeping a central player registry without revealing any personal details.

One of the best things about gambling on the Aland Islands is if the customers are dealing with addiction problems, they are given insurance. Players who have been registered for about a year with a minimum of €120 deposited at the time can ask for professional counseling of up to €2300 with a therapist with proper certification. In case someone wants to self-exclude, they can do so for the whole website or just for one game.

There are also measures in place when it comes to ensuring that the games that a site is offering give fair and random results. So, the authority requires the gambling sites to have a Random Number Generator certificate by a reliable third-party testing agency.

Taxes for Gambling on Aland Islands

When it comes to PAF in Aland Islands, it provides gambling products across various categories with one permit and is charged €70,000 for every renewal.

Finnish law doesn’t require the local people to pay taxes when they make any profits from gambling. But keeping that in mind, Finland or Aland Islands enforces gambling debts. However, it is on the condition that players will incur them by participating in activities that the government offers.

The Top Regulated Banking Methods at Online Casinos in Aland Islands

Two of the top deposit methods that players can use to deposit money at the casinos are Neteller and Skrill. Apart from this, they can also deposit money through bank transfer, mobile, and online services.

You can make bank transfers from the following banks in the Aland Islands.

• Ålandsbanken
• Osuuspankki
• Swedbank
• Danske bank
• LHV Pank
• Luminor
• Aktia
• Säästöpankki

Since local people can take part in gambling activities. The banks also allow the people of the nation to make transactions through their facilities.

Player Protection Offered by PAF

In the terms and conditions laid by the online casino, the player agrees to them by signing up, and again whenever the player logs in, PAF waives all guarantees and responsibilities regarding the player’s liability and protection to prevent lawsuits. Simultaneously, they play an essential role when it comes to player protection. While they have a zero-tolerance policy for misconduct of a gambler in any form, they do everything to prevent and protect problem gaming. However, in case it does happen, the player can expect to get supportive gaming insurance.

The insurance offers coverage of €2300. It will also provide you assistance from a licensed gambling therapist. You can also take a family member to a therapist.

The insurance is offered to all players over 18 years of age in the Aland Islands. All players should have an account at PAF for a minimum of 12 months and have taken part in the game with a minimum of €120 during the last 12 months. If a player needs help, they can get in touch with the helpdesk and talk to them about the situation. The helpdesk can undertake the right steps for helping players. You will find the details of the insurance policy terms and steps to be found in the website’s terms and conditions.

PAF can freeze, terminate, or blacklist a gambler’s account for obvious reasons that are if a player breaches the terms and conditions. However, they can also suspend the player’s account if there is a transaction in the casino account for two years. You can opt for self-exclusion for every game or the whole website.

Requirements for Player Registration

Aland Islands has a clear description when it comes to player registration needs in their terms and conditions. Anyone who is over 18 years of age with a bank account or registered e-wallet in the country with which practices their payment cooperation might be registered as an Operator’s Gaming Customer. If someone's customer is staying outside the Aland Islands is responsible for the validity of the use of gambling services at their location.

The Gaming Customer makes sure that a customer,

• Isn’t restricted by limited legal capacity.
• Is more than 18 years of age.
• Isn’t a compulsive player.
• Is not acting on behalf of some other party.
• Isn’t conducting any criminal activity indirectly or directly related to the Operator’s Gaming Account?
• Is not depositing money that is coming from unauthorized activities into the Gaming Account.

But there is an exception for the citizens of the country where the legal age limit for registering and playing online is 21 years. The PAF keeps the central register of complaints about the provisions in the Finnish Personal Data Act for protecting the player’s integrity. PAF has to treat all personal data as per the law. So, the details that the players are sharing with them can only be disclosed in case the online casino is obligated to do that by law. The regulatory body of credentials from gamblers online is regulated are Authorized, registered controllers.