Within the gaming industry you will sometimes hear people talk about cashless gaming. In the coin-op sector 'cashless' usually comes in the form of debit card systems and the like, but there are still many operators out there that prefer cash. Helen Fletcher looks at the payment choices available to players and how money really does make the world (of coin-op) go round.

When we talk about the use of cashless systems within coin-op amusements the sector is split, with one area lending itself better to cashless systems than the other. Firstly you have the FECs and amusement arcades where anything from redemption to video games to children’s rides are operated and then you have the adult gaming centres and pub locations where AWPs, SWPs and table games tend to be operated.

There is no doubt that FEC and amusement arcades lend themselves better to the main type of cashless system currently available to the coin-op sector, over the pub and club locations. Companies such as Embed, Sacoa and Intercard first introduced the debit card system into the market, in the mid 90s, and operators around the world have been reaping the benefits ever since.

Not only does a debit card system provide greater cash control and security due to the reduced amount of cash inside cashboxes, but it is also a great cost saver as it reduces the number of cash collections, meter readings and data entry requirements as well as allowing for greater flexibility of pricing of the game or attraction; opportunities for up sale at the POS; the ability for player tracking and loyalty programmes; real time reporting and, according to the manufacturers and operators InterGame has spoken to, it brings with it ease of use and convenience to the customer.

One of the main players in the world of debit card systems, Embed, entered the market after the system was originally developed to fill a need within the operations of the LAI Group. After a short amount of time operating the system it became very apparent that there were huge benefits in using the system and the decision was taken to market the product to other operators worldwide.

Adam Steinberg, managing director of Embed, told InterGame: “My strong opinion is that the great majority of larger amusement operations will move to cashless operation over the next decade. The advantages are just so great that it will be difficult for an arcade or FEC to be competitive going forward without this technology.”

When asked if he feels there is room for both cash and cashless systems within the amusement sector, Steinberg said: “There will be cash in the street operations business for some time still, as until we all start carrying around electronic purses instead of real money, it will continue to be the most convenient form of payment for small groups of unattended machines.”

For Sebastian Mochkovsky of Argentinean manufacturer Sacoa, which first introduced its Playcard system in 1993 and is now installed in over 500 locations worldwide, it would never be in the operator’s interest to have cashless systems working alongside cash, even though they can co-work.

“The operator would lose all the benefits from the cards,” he said. “All the benefits mentioned such as computerised management, reporting and auditing features, tools for marketing strategies and so on, lead to revenue increase and acceleration of the expansion rate, resulting in a more profitable operation.

“Because there is no cash in the machine, there are no opportunities for players to get free credit as every sale is recorded and cards cannot be duplicated.”

Funworld, based in Austria, a company not shy of innovation, has noticed the increased popularity of payments via mobile phones in northern European countries such as Finland or in central Europe like Austria and Germany and with this in mind has developed a new type of cashless payment solution - a mobile payment system that was born from an operator demand caused by player demand.

The mobile payment system, according to the company, is an attractive offer with a high potential for the bonding of players, as it is easy to handle and very convenient and operators do not have to pay attention to small change, whereas they can benefit from the image factor of the cashless payment trend as a whole and from the new mobile payment additional feature in particular.

Another system that has been introduced that does not necessarily get rid of the need for cash, but does eliminate the need for cash handlers and therefore decreases the number of staff thefts, etc, is Cash Management Industries’ MCT (Multi Cash Terminal) range of high-speed coin and bill recycling systems. According to the manufacturer, the aim of these products is an efficient, secure and quick money circulation on the gaming hall floor.

“MCT can be used in all operations where payouts are managed by floor staff,” said Birgit Böttcher of CMI. “The use of staff handling the cash may cause a lot of loss and thefts, meaning lower revenue for the operator, more organisation, more complicated book keeping and so on. Moreover, players’ wins sometimes cannot get directly paid out to the player and they have to wait for a few days because staff might not have enough money in the cash box for security reasons.”

The Multi Cash Terminal range is connectable with all sorts of gaming machines including AWPs, amusement devices, electronic roulette, electronic bingo and betting terminals and can also be used as currency changing systems as they are able to accept two different currencies at one time.

“With MCT a cashier is no longer needed,” said Böttcher. “Operation staff can look after customer and give them more personal attention thus a better floor service is guaranteed.

Although cashless systems are growing in popularity with operators and are providing a solution to the many security issues that come with the use of cash, there are still a large number of operators out there who prefer, and will continue, to use cash. It would also seem that a large number of players also prefer to use cash and according to Mark Greenawalt of MEI, the reason cashless gaming isn’t progressing as quickly as many thought it might is because “placing any step, such as the issue of a card, causes a player to do something else prior to establishing game credit and therefore inhibits impulse play.

“This is particularly true in destination environments,” he said, “where there are many thousands of potential players waling in the doors of a major property every hour. In these circumstances, issuing the redeeming cards is just non-viable due to the logistics. Putting any barrier between a consumer’s decision to play and establishing game credit is not in a gaming property’s best interests.”

Greenawalt also believes there is an issue regarding privacy and anonymity. “Cash is an anonymous transaction medium,” he said. “Obviously, card-based systems can be constructed to provide anonymous play, but the psychological barrier for the player is much greater.

“We have all seen issues with identity theft in the news and each of us continues to be more cognisant about who we give our details to and how they are used. To provide these details to yet another system may not seem inviting to many who want to simply play and enjoy,” he said.

It could also be argued that players are drawn to using cash over cards, for machines such as AWPs and SWPs in particular, because as Davide Chionna of Comestero points out: “People love playing with coins: they love introducing the coin into the gaming machine as well as collecting the winnings from a flow of twinkling coins.”

According to Chionna, cultural studies confirm that the sound of the inserted coin as well as the sound of the won coins gives the player a sense of immediate gratification, which in turn makes them remember a positive experience of the game.

As well as this, the country in which the machine is being operated in will have an effect on whether cash or a cashless system is used, as Denis Antunes of CashCode explains: “If we look at the industry globally some countries such as those in Europe, are much more cash centric than others in North America for example. There is still a very high percentage of people who are un-banked and do not own credit cards or who want to maintain anonymity.

“The cash/credit debate is very similar to the one around the year 2000, where people thought all office transactions would be paperless. The decline of paper currency is not going to happen and an operator who accepts both can rest assured.”

Another reason why operators in European countries might tend to stick with using coins over cashless could be due to the fact that Europe has large value coins, which according to John McManus of Azkoyen is significant in terms of stakes and prizes. “The use of high value coins helps with both the number of plays purchased and the number of coins paid out in prizes,” he said. “An advantage over cashless is it negates the necessity to join up a card/fob/ticket type cashless system.”

And according to Guido Scarpetti of Alberici, in Italy, one reason the street market in particular will continue to require cash payment and cash payout is because its players are very often occasional players who are more likely to play using loose change in their pockets, rather than undergoing procedures connected to cashless paying means. “Small bars or arcades would also find it too complicated to get equipped for the cashless supports when they manage only a few machines,” he said.

However, there are a great deal of security and management issues that an operator using cash has to deal with - the main drawback being that the machines are full of cash and potential targets for thieves. Also, according to Scarpetti, emptying the cash is very time consuming, needs displacements, tools and exposes the operator to possible dangers. So, while cash is still very active within the coin-op market, it is essential that operators are provided with the best technology - making using cash as stress free and safe as possible.

There are numerous companies that provide the gaming and amusement industry with systems to improve cash handling and security and one of the biggest sectors is that of coin and note validation and security.

According to Robert Bird of Astrosys International, manufacturer of the GBA range of bank note validators and the Microcoin range of coin validators, which both have a strong presence in the coin-op sector, it has been identified that there is a growing need for additional note security within the industry.

“The benefit of using cash is that it is simple and straight forward - what you see is what you get,” said Bird. “There’s no complex back-end processing to deal with and the punter is more likely to play on a whim with loose change in their pocket.

“However, it does come with its problems and validation manufacturers, such as ourselves, need to have continuing technology improvements to provide high quality and secure solutions. Our GBA bill acceptors have highly technical note validation measures for note security as well as optical and mechanical anti-stringing safeguards to protect against tampering.

“As well as this, various security acceptance levels for notes are able to be activated to defend against fraud attempts and they have a true locking cashbox, which prevents access to stored notes once the cassette has been removed from the main validator chassis.”

Unlike Mochkovsky, for Bird there is definitely room for cash and cashless systems to work side by side in the gaming and amusement industry. “Using either system, or both, offers customers differing means to pay for their game whatever that may be,” he said. “The most important thing is to offer players a choice, rather than limiting the options. They should be able to use any form of credit input to commence and play their game.

“Generally speaking people still require cash and understand the concept of cash more than cashless,” he added. “While there is a technological push to cashless, it must be accepted that the population still demands and needs the cash option. Therefore all avenues for placing credit on a game should be available to the user, meaning that cashless should and will not totally replace cash while it is readily available.”

It could also be argued that whether a player prefers cash or cashless depends on demographics. “It is a fact that the younger generation of players and the future players are increasingly familiar with cashless payment options,” said McManus. “I believe it is a generation issue. That said cash is still the preferred option currently and therefore I see an opportunity for both to exist together to maximise payment types and prevent walk-away situations.”

Azkoyen supplies a comprehensive range of high security multi-coin validators, complete with extensive options such as front plates, entry funnels, motorised reject and coin sorters. The company also offers a range of single coin hoppers for fast, accurate payout of coin prizes, as well as a range of multi-coin discriminators for multiple coin payout from the same hopper.

However, using physical cash can also bring with it concerns relating to reconciliation, as Mike Innes of Money Controls explained. “Operators need to ensure they record and pay out the correct money - if they are short changed they lose out - if the players are short changed then disputes occur and the operator’s reputation suffers.

“Reconcillation can also be in a player’s imagination, thinking they’ve inserted a higher denomination note than they really have,” continued Innes.

Money Controls does, however, offer a solution to this problem through its Ardac Elite validator, which has achieved a strong presence in the gaming market, as it provides a full-colour image of the last note inserted, which can then be displayed on a PDA within seconds. “All floor staff need to do is connect the PDA to the USB socket on the front of the Ardac Elite for instant proof of what note was inserted last, with no need to access the cashbox,” said Innes.

The actual handling of cash can in itself have significant security issues - it is a very dirty, time consuming exercise and according to Terry Lambert, managing director of UK-based Cummins Allison, even now, some operators still count all their money by hand.

“This chore can be made so much more efficient and easier with the introduction of cash handling machines,” he said. “Coin and note counters and sorters make life easier for operators and when linked to a PC they can pretty much eliminate the element of human error when counting money.”

In an environment where security is paramount, Cummins Allison has the ability to interface its cash-counting equipment with CCTV systems.

“It was initially developed for the casino market where it has proved very popular,” said Lambert. “We have linked our two pocket Jetscan to the CCTV system via a Video Serial Interface (VSI) box which enables data such as the date, time of transaction and full breakdown of the notes processed to appear as an image on the screen as the operator removes the notes from the Jetscan.”

According to Lambert this provides security with both data and photographic images relating to the count that can be monitored at the time, or be recorded for future reference. This in turn reduces operator error and enhances security.

It is clear that although cash still dominates the gaming and amusement market there is a growing interest in cashless and there are arguments for and against the two systems working together in locations. “The gambler in players will always require the cash feeling,” said Marieke Bolten of GeWeTe, based in Germany. “For the moment the market requires machines handling cash, but we have to keep our options open and will provide our customers with the required solution should the market shift towards cashless.”

But according to John Edmunds of FutureLogic, cash may be king but TITO (ticket in - ticket out) is bringing its own rewards and will remain dominant within the gaming industry for years to come. “TITO slot machines pay out cumulative winnings with barcoded tickets that customers can exchange for cash or insert into another TITO machine for additional slot play,” he said. “This obviates the need to shut down the game for payouts, reduces or eliminates coin hopper fills, and keeps the player active. Casinos have increased play by as much as 50 per cent by getting games back into action more quickly and casinos are seeing increased revenue through players choosing to re-use the tickets rather than cash out.”

The principal driver of the conversion to TITO, however, and one that operators should keep in mind, is cost reduction. According to Edmunds, industry analysts estimate cashless slots can reduce a location floor’s operating expenses by up to 40 per cent when taking in factors such as reduced time and costs of maintenance, downtime, hopper filling and payouts.

Although TITO is currently only really found in the casino and high-end gaming sector, there is no reason why the technology could not migrate over to the street market, it is probably more a matter of initial installation cost that is holding the technology back.

However, suppliers to the street market do need to offer innovative solutions at the right price and one company that, from the beginning, has aimed to do just that is Innovative Technology and managing director, Aidan Towey, told InterGame: “The future of cash handling lies in innovation. We need to step back and understand what both the operator needs and the end user needs, then come up with a more integrated and easy to use system that offers value for money. Due to the fact that cash is anonymous and cards are not, cash will always have a place in the industry.”

JCM’s Paul Spiers added to this by telling InterGame: “While cashless systems have proven to be successful both with operators and customers, people like cash. It’s convenient and it’s everywhere. For example, statistics show that a large percentage of Americans do all of their transactions with cash, not even with credit cards, so we don’t see the absence of cash anywhere in the near future.”

So, what will the future hold for the gaming industry when it comes to cash handling systems? Taking on board the comments from the companies involved, cash will more than likely have a presence within the sector, not only because it is convenient and everyone has access to it but because the player genuinely enjoys using cash, especially when it comes to gaming machines. For FECs and amusement arcade operators, the trend is shifting heavily towards the debit card system and why not?

The additional benefits an operator can gain from implementing the system outweigh any initial costs involved. And although the world of cashless will continue to grow within the industry, according to John Carroll, on behalf of Suzo, “there will never be a truly cashless world” as even cashless systems such as TITO and debit card systems require cash in the very first instance to be loaded onto the card or ticket.

So with this in mind, surely the trend in both gaming and amusement will be towards improved security and accountability measures? For Innes, the way in which this will happen is through server-based gaming and remote central systems. “This will enable rapid download of new note tables and coin specifications,” he said.

For WH Münzprüfer, a company that has more than 80 years’ experience in the cash handling industry, tradition can only live in combination with innovation. “In a market with rapid changes all components must always be up to date, or even better, ahead of time,” said Andrea Barnick of the company. “This has always been a major goal of WH Münzprüfer’s and will be in the future. With the know-how gained in the past and the dedication to the future we will continue to set new standards in the industry.”