HIPPODROME’S NEW APP
network, which is most casinos in the UK and across Europe, no-one else has got this. They haven’t done this with any of their other partners. We’ve come a long way quickly and we are
well ahead of the marketplace. There are lots of new features coming through in the very near future that will allow us to do even more groundbreaking work. Simon Thomas: One of the issues we’ve got in land-based gaming is player due diligence and it can be diffi cult getting information from customers. Online, you can tell customers to upload a statement or whatever, so our customer representatives won’t have to wait for someone to turn up then tell them they can’t gamble until they’ve produced this or that piece of paper. They’ll get a message on the app saying we’re doing our due diligence, need some information but it can be uploaded using this independent, foolproof method. And this also works for international customers. People will be able to sign up fully as members with the app rather than having to bring anything in to be scanned.
GC: We constantly have the customer at heart when we do all of this. In the next release we are building in face recognition and fi ngerprint recognition so the customer again has easy access to his wallet et cetera, we know that’s nice and safe. At the moment you have to go through a
two-step registration process. If you’re outside the casino you pre-register, download the app and it tells you that you need to go to the casino and identify yourself. Going forward we’re building in a AML-KYC approval process with a third party – you will upload your driving license or whatever as part of that verifi cation process. That means we can make someone a fully registered member without having to come in to the casino. That’s a nice step forward for us. It’s a good working tool and we are breaking
ground, learning as we move forward, and developing for the future.
CI: You’ve mentioned several things in the app that are unique to you – is the app’s functionality unique then? Are you leading the industry with this? GC: There are other apps out there but if you go into them, what they have is a loyalty tracker. There’s not a lot of other functionality inside their apps. That’s looking globally. In the UK and across the Intelligent Gaming
CI: Going back a little, the wallet works like this – I’m playing at the slot or table, put my money in or down in the usual way, and then can I cash out to my app at the table or machine, or do I have to go to the desk? Is there potential to do it this way instead? GC: You can cash out to your app at the cash desk The future of the development is you will be able to sit down at a terminal and tap your phone, and the terminal will connect to your wallet and you’ll be able to transfer the money directly from wallet to terminal. That’s where we are heading. I mean, you can cash out now with the cashless wallet but your money will be sitting inside the wallet in the app. But to walk out with cash, you need to go through the standard protocol for any casino at the cash desk.
CI: Is the only way I can cash out on the app in person in the casino though? What about the PayPal integration? GC: Straight through PayPal, which is the beauty of that. You see, we have a functioning wallet that you can put money in and out of, and we can also now attach PayPal and you can withdraw your winnings direct to that PayPal account.
CI: If I’m playing in the casino and I’m on the verge of going up a member level, can I see that in real time as I play? GC: Absolutely. And our CRs will manage that accordingly.
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CI: The messaging aspect of this is of course very interesting – what does this app mean for your marketing team? GC: It’s a game changer. And the fi rst thing we need to do is the recruitment process, to make sure all of our members are downloading the app and they understand it’s now part of the membership package. Tier level offers, offers direct to the player themselves, once we have the geofencing in we can make an offer to a player and say, get up to the fourth fl oor, we have a drink waiting for you, or whatever we want to communicate.
CI: But the real potential there is for the player that hasn’t been for a few weeks, or longer… GC: A lot of customers these days are opting out of mailshots and even from email marketing, so to have the ability to still reach that customer probably in the most effi cient way, via their telephone, is great for us. I think the future for that whole marketing opportunity is simply massive. We’re not just sending offers out, of course
– we are sending offers that are redeemable. It’s not just the message, it’s a breathing token that can be cashed in at the property, there’s a process and a journey. And then you have the solid gold of redemption statistics.
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