BILL MILLER INTERVIEW


Bill Miller interview PART TWO


After only seven months as American Gaming Association (AGA) CEO/President, Bill Miller is certain that US gaming is as mainstream as hundreds of other industries nationwide; he spoke to Casino International’s Sharon Harris.


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eliminating cash, but it is actually a winning situation for operators, regulators and next generation customers. Cash is difficult to trace, while digital is easier to track because it offers a better paper trail to audit.


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positioning itself as a “good neighbor” in their individual states and communities. Moving forward, Miller calls it critical to update the


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cash-based systems used in the daily operations. After his hiring in 2018, Miller soon realised that gaming may be one of the few cash businesses left across the commercial landscape of American industries. “It surprised me that electronic payments have not been


integrated into the gaming experience. I want to determine how the AGA can help streamline the economics of less cash,” says Miller.


ill bases the comparison on observations made from his many years working as Senior Vice President of the Business Round Table (BRT) in Washington DC. In that job, Miller managed the activities of more than 200 top international


Regulators may be reticent about


CEOs who visited Washington four times annually. Miller’s conviction about gaming being an integral part of American culture has motivated his future plans. He aims to incorporate advanced technology and operational tenets of modern business into the industry’s functions. For Miller, gaming should duplicate how other American industries are successfully growing their businesses. He states, “Today’s gaming industry


is prepared to develop creative and innovative programs to address the preferences of 21st century customers.” In one generation, American gaming has expanded from the Nevada and New Jersey monopolies to a comprehensive, nationwide industry. Such rapid growth has also brought challenges, but Miller is convinced gaming has successfully met and surpassed most expectations far more beyond just offering an entertaining, fair casino floor. The public has accepted gaming as mainstream in their lives. The gaming industry has committed to


He recognises this may be unpopular among some industry leaders who prefer the status quo of cash and voucher processing in casinos. However, Miller believes that without a modern approach to processing money, gaming will fall behind the curve in today’s business environment. Miller emphasises that the resulting economic and social benefits will bring gaming forward to be on par with large commercial corporations in any other field. At the April AGA Board meeting in Las Vegas, Miller urged members to form a work group to analyse the benefits both inside and outside the gaming industry. He claims, “If we are going to strive and succeed as a modern business in the hospitality space, we must understand how today’s customers want to pay. No one ever gets a second chance to make a good first impression. Players will have a negative reaction to being required to only use cash to buy or redeem chips. Our responsibility is to advance and modernise programs that accommodate our customers’ payment preferences.” In addition to appealing to this generation’s financial


habits and expectations, going digital and minimising the use of cash has other significant benefits. Speaking from an operator’s perspective, Miller suggests several reasons for adopting policies and procedures that accept all payment


types. These include:  Added customer security across the board. Reducing or eliminating cash transactions lessens the risk of theft and


crime committed against the players.  Lower casino expenses for moving money. There are substantial costs involved with counting, transporting and securing cash. Monitoring safes and paying for armored trucks to transport the money can exceed what operators want to spend for an item that does not contribute to their


bottom lines.  Costs for casino development will change. Operators currently build their casinos like fortresses, maximising accessibility while also securing safes and cash rooms. Extensive thought goes into smart designs during the construction process.


Updating the monetary systems to target money laundering


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