FROM 20–30 MINUTES TO UNDER 5: FOUR MONTHS AT THE OXFORD HOTEL BATHURST
It’s easy to talk about what a digital AML payout process should look like. It’s more useful to see what actually happens in a venue once it’s running. The Oxford Hotel Bathurst went live with Checkd in April. It’s a single-site hotel in regional NSW with 20 EGMs. Payouts over $5,000 don’t happen every week there; they happen a handful of times a month.
We’ve just finished a full write-up of how those four months have gone, and a few things in it are worth sharing now.
The Risk Isn’t Volume. It’s Infrequency.
This is the part most venues don’t think about until it’s pointed out.
A venue processing large payouts every shift builds muscle memory. Staff do it often enough that the steps stick. A venue doing it a few times a month doesn’t get that repetition. The process is never routine, so every payout depends on the person on shift remembering it all correctly, under pressure, possibly weeks after the last one.
AUSTRAC doesn’t adjust its expectations for how often a venue processes a large payout. The obligations are the same, and so is the exposure; penalties for breaches run to millions of dollars regardless of venue size. An honest mistake carries the same weight as a deliberate one.
“With a manual system, it’s a little bit of Russian roulette… potentially fraught with errors. Using Checkd is just future-proofing us.”
Ash Lyons, Director, Lion Majestic Hospitality Group / GM Licensee, The Oxford Hotel Bathurst
Nine Steps, Down to One Workflow
Before Checkd, a single payout at The Oxford took nine manual steps, everything from photocopying the patron’s ID through to running sanctions checks and filing the paperwork. Each step was a point where something could be missed, delayed, or done differently depending on who was handling it.
Checkd replaced that with a single guided digital workflow: ID verification, PEP and sanctions screening, and payout history, captured in a single process with a timestamped record at the end.
The measurable difference:
- Median time for floor staff to complete their part of a payout: under 5 minutes, down from 20–30 minutes
- Manager review: an additional 1–2 minutes on top
- Every payout timestamped and audit-ready, regardless of who was on shift
When Payouts Actually Happen
One number from the case study surprised us more than the rest: 64% of payouts at The Oxford occur outside standard office hours, and 36% land on weekends. That’s worth sitting with.
The majority of large payouts are being handled at exactly the times when the duty manager is stretched thinnest, when head office isn’t contactable, and when a paper-based process is least likely to be completed properly. It’s also why every Checkd venue is backed by 24/7 Australian-based support; the help needs to be there when the payouts are, not when the office is open.
“Now I know Checkd follows the same process and does those checks every time, so I don’t have to worry a staff member may have missed something.”
Ash Lyons, Director, Lion Majestic Hospitality Group / GM Licensee, The Oxford Hotel Bathurst
Get the Full Case Study
The full 6-page write-up goes considerably deeper than what we’ve covered here. Inside it:
- The complete 9-step manual process it replaced, and where each step created risk
- A full before-and-after comparison across 10 compliance metrics
- How the workflow splits across floor staff, managers and accounts
- Additional insight from iDU Identification’s founder on what’s changed
Every venue paying out over $5,000 carries the same obligations, whatever the size of the gaming floor. What changed at The Oxford is worth a look regardless of where your venue sits.
Get your copy of the full case study
As always, Checkd supports your venue’s AML/CTF processes; it doesn’t replace your program or constitute compliance advice. What it does is make sure the process you’ve already signed off on gets followed the same way, every time.
