Proposals to allow debit card use on AWP machines in the UK, where they are known as Category C, are being framed by the trade association, BACTA, which is alarmed at the rapid growth of contactless payment systems, especially among younger people.
The association has the subject high on its agenda and is due to discuss the issue at meetings in the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, across Europe, there is legislation similar to that in the UK, banning the direct use of debit cards in AWP machines and other European trade associations are becoming equally concerned.
In an article for InterGame (October issue) Kieran O’Keefe, secretary general of Euromat, the federation of European coin-machine trade associations, says: “The AWP is traditionally a cash game, so failure to anticipate a cashless future will only result in our industry servicing a diminishing proportion of the market.”
The accelerated rise of cashless payment systems has been quickly identified by BACTA chief executive John White, who told InterGame this week: “We have talked with young people. They are our future customers - people under the age of 40 are moving away from the use of cash. That is an issue for us.”
The BACTA concerns are particularly with the use of cash into pub machines - in arcades and adult gaming centres the facility for ATMs is more prevalent, but it is rare in a pub.
A major article on the subject of cashless payments’ threat to AWP machines will appear in a forthcoming issue of InterGame.
