In focus: Axes

The Cashless Confusion

The land-based gaming Industry is lagging in its desire to evolve to cashless solutions. Notwithstanding the hype and the publicity, the adoption rate of cashless in land-based segment is quite low compared to other consumer and retail experiences. The fractional solutions on the market create friction with clients, as well as add layers and cost to the already onerous and expensive legacy systems that casinos host on property. Cashless is largely considered as another application, system and standalone solution that must be painstakingly integrated with the many other systems and countless providers, which all share a portion of the global solution on the cohesionless gaming floor.

The notion of cashless is quite simple. It is the action of moving funds from the banking system (open loop) to the casino or gaming environment (closed loop). The lack of understanding of cashless and the limitations of open loop cashless to provide true value are at the root of the slow adoption.

Open Loop Cashless

Open Loop Cashless has been used in many industries for decades. Plastic cards with chips and pins authorise the movement of funds from banks, credit cards and other sources to pay for goods and services. In recent years, the plastic, chipped card has been virtualised and placed inside of a smart phone app. Open loop cashless utilises major payment networks such as Visa or Mastercard to verify, authorise and transfer funds from the source to the utilisation destination. The fundamental principle of open-loop cashless is the transaction fee for each utilisation. This is frictionless, and the transaction cost is embedded in the purchase of goods and services pricing. However, for cashing in and out of multiple gaming machines during a visit to a casino, this methodology is impractical because of the cost. This is where the value of closed loop is important to grasp in a cash-less strategy.

CLOSED-LOOP CASHLESS

Closed-loop cashless is the standard in many European and Latin American countries. As leading gaming jurisdictions sought efficiency, the evolution from coin to paper cash to ticket in/ticket out did not yield the desired results. The need to understand the player, the gaming machine and to correlate all available data to seek maximum performance paved the way for smart card cashless. With the same plastic card and the same chip as open -loop cashless, leading-edge systems providers could capture all player information, behavior, decisions and data, whether anonymously or not. Smart-card cashless is the genesis of what is known today as closed-loop cashless. Whether the player uses a smart card or a virtual smart card in a smart card app, money is transported around the casino and cashed in and out of gaming machines without any cost, friction or approvals. Moreover, closed-loop cashless card balances are controlled within the casino environment and players can be compensated to leave balances on the app, which is another strategy for player loyalty.

THE TRUE VALUE OF CLOSED-LOOP CASHLESS

As we enter a business intelligence, big data-driven world, real-time, fine granular data is essential to competitiveness and profitability. Fine granular data can be defined as multidenominational, multigame data where every aspect of every spin, including speed, are tracked in real time. As we evolve into a highly intelligent, predictive marketing world, the value of real-time information translates to actionable intelligence to increase customer satisfaction, lower marketing costs and vastly improve machine to player performance. Competition in the very near future will be defined solely by your ability to access, process, and take actions based on real-time, available data. This is where Axes operates in a league all its own.

ABOUT AXES.AI

Axes.ai, founded over 10 years ago, provides real-time actionable intelligence, cashless and enhanced player engagement solutions to clients in more than 40 countries. The Axes ingenuity lies in the potency of real-time, fine granular data. The cloud big data set is accessible 24/7. It empowers correlations between functionalities and applications to interact seamlessly to make real-time decisions, enhance player protection, and boost performance. By leveraging the strength of artificial intelligence, Axes.ai seeks to make the land-based gambling industry safer and more fun; by analyzing patterns and recommending actions to empower the elimination of addiction, and curtailing money laundering activities.