IGT CASHLESS TRIAL IS LIVE AT SOCIETIE GROUP CLUBS
This week The Drop had an opportunity to talk with John van Waard, IGT’s Director of Systems Product & Sales for the Asia Pacific region, about their ongoing cashless trials. IGT have just rolled out cashless gaming technology in the Societie Group venues, Ramsgate RSL and Fingal Bay Sports Club as part of the NSW cashless trial, making IGT the only technology provider to have participated in both a Regulatory Sandbox trial and the NSW governments cashless gaming trial.
Learning from the rollout in other venues, IGT have made a few changes to the onboarding process to make it easier by allowing club members to enrol with their member number and a PIN, so that it can be done offsite. The application still needs venue verification, but members won’t need to be standing in the foyer filling out the forms.
The payment process has also been adjusted a little, with IGT developing an app specifically for each venue, and branded to the venue, so that players can simply link a debit card (their bank account), and now also a PayTo account, through a one-off secure connection, to transfer money to and from their bank account and the gaming account app.
In Australia, cashless card systems have been approved and operating since the 90s, so the Player Account process is not new – in fact it is a defined term in the NSW Gaming Act and Regulations. It’s just the digital funding from a bank account to a Player Account that is not approved yet and that is what the trials are testing. The cashless EGM payment system itself, transferring money from a Player Account to and from EGMs has been around for 10+ years.
John van Waard was involved in the Societie Group cashless technology rollout, and he made an interesting comment:
“At Ramsgate RSL and Fingal Bay Sports, the staff are really engaged with the customers in the technology rollout process, and I believe this makes a big difference. The staff at the club are keen to provide this additional service and are proactive in ensuring the customers find the process a simple one.”
“The staff are aware that cashless is another choice for players. They will still be able to use TITO tickets, cash, cashless cards and now digital transfers to the machines. They can even start with a digital transfer and then put their phone away, switching back to cancelling credits through a cashless card, or TITO ticket to move around the floor. It’s just one more service offering for players.”
We have all read the data from the banks that show a clear decline in people wanting to use cash and a significant move to cashless payments in Australia. This is our customers preferred transaction method. David Moorcroft, CEO of Societie Group believes this is important:
“At both Ramsgate RSL and Fingal Bay Sports, we are giving our players choice and a new way to play that mirrors payment options readily available to everyone outside of the gaming floor and is an extension of our service levels”.
If you want to see how it works for yourself from a customer’s perspective, pop into Ramsgate RSL or Fingal Bay Sports and sign up!
Written by Justine Channing – Gaming Specialist (The Drop)
