IGT AND CLUB YORK PREPARING FOR NSW DIGITAL WALLET TRIAL
IGT is readying their innovative digital wallet solution for mobile phones, in an upcoming trial of the technology with a NSW venue – Club York, in Sydney. The trial will commence once its terms have been fully defined by the NSW government.
Earlier this year, Liquor & Gaming NSW announced a ‘Regulatory Sandbox’ process to trial digital wallet products, in a live venue. IGT, along with other industry suppliers, submitted their application to run a trial shortly after.
In May 2021, the NSW government produced guidelines for the trial of digital wallets in gaming environments and announced that they would appoint an independent researcher to evaluate the trial – and, crucially, define the terms of the trial. IGT, and others, are awaiting these terms before proceeding
A digital wallet will enable cashless transactions, via a mobile phone, not only on gaming machines, but also across the whole of a venue. This should provide more convenience for both customers and venues as well as providing a range of harm minimisation measures including setting personal limits on expenditure.
Ultimately, it will give greater convenience to a venue’s customers as they will have the choice to play with cash or have the ease of cashless transactions using their phone, something more and more people are choosing to do these days.
IGT’s submission to the NSW government includes four key innovations:
- Digital loyalty card – stored on a patron’s mobile phone
- Venue wallet – extending a venue’s existing gaming ‘Player Account’ to cover non-gaming spend across the venue
- External funding of a Player Account (i.e. debit card deposit to venue wallet)
- EFTPOS funding (via a card) to a customer’s Player Account / TITO ticket
As part of any trial, customers will need to supply their proof of identity and link their digital wallet to an Australian bank account. Importantly, data privacy will be central to the trial, and will be essential for patron uptake.
