The way we pay is changing rapidly in all walks of life, but none more so than the casino gaming industry.
THE change in the name of the subject matter says it all.
Not so very long ago we would talk about “cash handling.” That is no longer a suitable name for the sector we now refer to as “payment solutions.”
We moved on from change machines and hoppers to banknote validators and recyclers, ticket-in, ticket out and numerous technologically advanced cashless systems. There is fierce competition in the field but the desire of the participants is the same - to make payment easy and convenient for both the operator and the player.
The competition is hottest in the note validator sector, a sector which has seen much convergence recently with a raft of mergers and acquisitions. Once an optional feature, the validator is now a must-have for every slot machine in every casino. The technology involved has moved on in leaps and bounds in recent years as the manufacturers strive for ever-greater accuracy. Currency changes regularly on a global basis and the companies have to be aware well in advance for every change that is made to every banknote out there.
On average banknotes get updated every five to seven years, so operators need to know that their validator technology is future-proofed. In other words, it should be able to accept old and new series of banknotes effectively.
Acceptance rates of over 98 per cent on first insertion are now the norm and today’s validators are extremely sophisticated when it comes to identifying counterfeit money. Today’s machines are designed to read all kinds of security features in addition to having high memory capacity and dual processors.
Read the full article in the December issue of InterGaming
