THE ability to substitute cash for another medium is a significant step forward in improving the gaming experience, but cashless systems have limited appeal in the amusement sector.

Smaller stakes and prizes mean that amusement players don’t have as much demand for loyalty programmes, and the sound of coins dropping into the cash box remains synonomous with the coin-op industry.

"To have the possibility of paying by cash means to have the freedom to play your preferred games wherever they are located and whenever you feel like," Guido Scarpetti from Alberici said.

"So many players, often nostalgically, recall the tactile and sensorial relation with the machine whose eager prelude is dropping the coin in and whose celebration is the jolly tinkling out of your win."

Suzo Happ’s managing director, Marcel Oelen, believes that giving the player something that they can put in their wallet as a reward for their custom is even more important in these difficult trading times.

Speaking to InterGame, Cummins Allison sales manager Andrew Crowson said: "Handling cash can be a very dirty, time-consuming exercise that can have significant security issues. Even in this day and age, some people 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. Coin and note 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."

Cash systems might be key to the coin-op industry, but during the development process manufacturers face a number of issues and there is always room for improvement.

Over the years, the amusement industry has already seen a number of developments. Stephen Cassidy from Money Controls believes that the major change has been note acceptance, which is now as prominent in the amusement sector as it is in gaming.

Acceptance 

Other changes include developments in security, higher note acceptance rates and the adoption of the euro, which has offered the opportunity for higher volumes of a single currency unit, benefiting the consumer with the economy of scale.

According to Robert Bird from Microcoin, operators of childrens’ rides have found that a move from AU$1 and $2 only rides to multi-coin acceptance has increased their take by up to 30 per cent.

Sim Bielak, vice president of sales and business development, global gaming, Crane Payment Solutions, told InterGame: "In the past, it was all about currency acceptance rates; the reality is the acceptance rates from one supplier to another isn’t a dramatic difference any more.

"It is how well you can maintain a high level of acceptance (both bills and tickets), security (counterfeits) and reliability. This level of performance is expected for all markets (currencies) our customers operate in, which adds an additional layer of complexity."

As technology has become more developed over time, the market has become more focused and operators have become much more sophisticated, increasing their understanding of what it takes to run a profitable business.

"The understanding of what acceptance, security and jam rate mean to revenue has allowed the product to sell itself once operators see the impact firsthand," said Mark Greenawalt from MEI.

Talking to InterGame about the changes that the cash handling sector has seen over the years, sales director at Scan Coin Steve Fitton said: "In the past, the main cash handling requirements focused on back office automation. In recent years, cash automation placed at front of house has increased.

"Front of house systems often allow faster transactions for the end user and make a more efficient use of the operator’s staff and time," he said.
Operator demands differ depending on the market and business line, but the most common requests are for cash handling systems that are both reliable and economical. Other operator demands include service support and machines that are user-friendly, secure and have a high capacity.

"The cash handling sector needs to keep pace with the ever changing demands of the stakes and prizes legislation, which varies from one country to another and quite dramatically over time," said John Bailey from Paytec.

"The use of notes and coins demands flexibility in design and the ability to accommodate changes in currency with the minimum of effort."

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Developments within cash handling have also come about as manufacturers strive to stand out from the crowd in such a competitive market.

With a company history that dates back to 1925, WH Munzprufer has a wealth of experience in the market. The company is now offering complete solutions of payment systems for all kinds of vending, gaming and leisure machines.

"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 the time," said the company’s Andrea Barnick.

In any competitive market, manufacturers seek to be the best at what they do by being innovative and reliable, and of course within each industry there are specific things that manufacturers can do to keep ahead.

When it comes to the cash handling industry, these things include better security, machines with flexible interfaces, a high note acceptance rate and low jam rate. According to Money Controls’ chief executive Mike Innes, working closely with customers is what distinguishes the company from its competitors.

"Obviously we need to have the right products," he said. "But by working in partnership with our customers we are able to offer much more, delivering real, value-added benefits to both manufacturers and operators."

Similarly, Scan Coin’s Fitton told InterGame that by understanding and responding to the market and to customers’ needs, the company is in a position to give the customers what they want and give it to them promptly.

So, is it the end user who determines what the operator wants from a cash location? As an operator, Ritzio thinks so, and Money Controls’ Cassidy agrees: "It’s a case of providing what the end user wants. With regards to payment, end users generally want the option to use coins and notes and they want first time acceptance," he said.

JCM’s Lou Rudolph, however, told InterGame that he believes it is mostly the operator who determines what type of cash handling product is used. "The most important part of any machine is the bill validator. If the customer can’t put money in the machine, the machine can’t be used. Reliability in a bill validator is what is most important," he said.

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When it comes to handling cash, features like reliability and security will always remain the most important issues, even as technology in the sector develops and improves.

As technology moves on, cash handling manufacturers will continue to work closely with operators to help integrate their products into more sophisticated software applications.

Cummins Allison’s Crowson told InterGame that he believes there will always be a place for cash handling systems as operators will always want to attract as many customers as possible.

Bird agrees saying: "The cash handling industry remains strong and viable with the many coin and note validation technologies available to the operator.

"While there is hard cash available to the user, they should be able to use it and moreover, the operator would be foolhardy to turn away an opportunity to accept any form of payment - especially in this day and age. Cash keeps up the impulse buy, cashless does not."

The question isn’t whether or not cash will remain integral in the coin-op world but more how the cash handling sector will continue to develop and take shape over time.

As cash is still very strong and cashless technologies are emerging, so the coin-op industry will continue to observe how new technology finds its position in the market.