INSIGHT GAMING TECHNOLOGY ACRES MANUFACTURING
What are the differences between an open-loop payment system and closed-loop payment system, and what do these differences mean for operators?
Te legacy system vendors - Aristocrat, Konami, Light & Wonder, IGT - have very old technology. In the case of IGT, they bought the Acres Advantage system which my family developed. Te cashless wagering account was deployed at the Crown Casino in Australia back in 1996 or 1997. Tey're literally deploying the same era of technology today and calling it something new. Operators are getting fed up with it and with Foundation they have an alternative that they can do something about.
If you rewind all the way back to 2000, there was a method for doing cashless where basically a player would go to the casino cage to deposit money and access that money via their player card. Tat's a closed loop system. An open loop system is where you connect outside gaming processors like Visa, Mastercard or any bank account. We're able to connect those open loop systems directly to the slot machine without needing this cashless wagering account that's a relic of the past.
Te cashless wagering account is an inconvenience for the player because it means money needs moving twice. It's also dangerous for operators as they are the custodian of all those funds and deals with consumer disputes and fraud claims. Cashless wagering accounts
never sees that money. It's a giant burden relieved from casinos.
It's been just over six months since Acres introduced the Cashless Casino App. How do you reflect on this period - both in terms of the successes you've enjoyed and the challenges you've faced?
Day by day it's been a slog. Tere are a lot of casinos we are working with and plenty of moving parts - casinos, regulators, and legacy providers - who we work with for Foundation be installed without having to remove old systems. Of course, we also ensure all the reporting on the old system still works. We're very proud of the work we've accomplished but are hungry to do much more.
Prominent advertising and sponsorship were on show at G2E back in October. Did you see a noticeable uplift in sales following the exhibition in Las Vegas? Ultimately, did this pay off, or was getting the Acres brand out to the industry just as important as the sales enquiries that followed?
Both. We're the new player on the block so we have got to get our name out there. We believe in advertising and attending shows which means getting our brand visible as much as possible. I don't think anybody in the industry, even our competition, would dispute Acres bar none has the best technology. We're very proud of that.
In terms of sales were speaking to absolutely everybody. It takes time because the sales cycle in the casino sector, particularly on the systems side, is a little bit long particularly when introducing a new technology from a new vendor. We're the market leader in cashless with the most installs in the most jurisdictions, but I would also point to the lack of installs by any of our competitors. That speaks to the indecision we have introduced to the marketplace.
are bad for cashless. Operators being pitched these products see these weaknesses and that's why they aren't deploying cashless very quickly right now because they don't want to deploy cashless wagering accounts.
What risks do cashless wagering accounts pose, particular with regards to the open loop + closed loop approach we've seen in recent years? What does this hybrid approach mean for the customer experience?
It's an inconvenience to the player and dangerous to the operator who must assume all those liabilities. It is worse insofar as you are claiming conveniences without talking about the dangers that come with them. Tere is a much better way to do it which is how Foundation does it. With our cashless system, we just move the money directly from a payment system to the slot machine. Te casino
In terms of sales were speaking to absolutely everybody. It takes time because the sales cycle in the casino sector, particularly on the systems side, is a little bit long particularly when introducing a new technology from a new vendor. We're the market leader in cashless with the most installs in the most jurisdictions, but I would also point to the lack of installs by any of our competitors. Tat speaks to the indecision we have introduced to the marketplace. We are a new player with a definitively vastly superior product that makes the people used to buying from legacy system vendors take a pause.
Tat pause often occurs before they decide to go with the new player on the block. In the meantime, they're still not buying what the other guys are selling because the cashless wagering account is clearly a danger to casinos. Operators aren't stupid and they won't do it - for the most part.
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P39
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