The first fruits of the new highly-experienced partnership in automated teller machines will go to a new casino “in eastern Europe” in the next few weeks.
So said Erik de Kat, who is the sales chief of the newly-formed Cash Support in the Netherlands. De Kat left the Gauselmann Group subsidiary Hess last year to team up with the brains behind the REAC management systems business in the Netherlands, which has seen 25,000 machines in Dutch arcades linked.
REAC founder Martin Grandia has disposed of his holding in REAC to concentrate on the new venture with De Kat. They have opened offices in Rotterdam and engaged an experienced team to develop their new automated teller machine.
The product is based upon the Hess Scorpion, which De Kat sold around the world in his days with the Gauselmann Group. His departure from Hess came about when Gauselmann decided to sell off the Hess interests in the casino and arcades sector, retaining only its banking business.
Grandia bought up the casino supply business from Gauselmann’s Hess holdings and used his own considerable software experience to lead a team to develop and improve the Hess product still further. The first 30 units of the new CTM-ONE were due off the production lines in the Netherlands in mid-July.
De Kat said: “The improvements and enhancements to the Scorpion are significant. They have been devised by a group of gaming professionals with considerable experience because through the REAC business Martin Grandia and his team actually operated over 150 Scorpions in Dutch arcades in partnership with Scorpion. He has direct experience as an operator of the areas in which the Scorpion can be improved still more - and the software experience to handle it.”
CTM-ONE will go into the first location in eastern Europe in October. “We have secured the first major order for the CTM-ONE,” said De Kat, “and there are many indications of other business in different parts of the world.” He cited South Africa, Europe and South America as the source of the initial contacts and De Kat and Grandia will take CTM-ONE to the G2E trade show in Las Vegas at the end of September to introduce it to the wider market. It will also go to the Gambling Indaba show in Johannesburg.
Suitable for both arcades and casinos, the CTM-ONE can carry out all of the functions of the live teller. The automated cashier will accept coins, bills and tickets, break bills and redeem tickets for cash and the Cash Support team is now working on the development of a currency exchange function plus the enabling of smart card operations. Jackpot payouts combined with automated money laundering regulations, adjusted to local conditions, are also included.
“Now we can access the CTM-ONE from any part of the world,” said De Kat, “through the online system based in our headquarters in the Netherlands, so that we can take care of after sales maintenance. It is now the most complete and efficient automated teller machine in the industry.”
