Christopher Justice
5 QUESTIONS
Christopher Justice
President , Global Payments Gaming Solutions
Global Payments Gaming Solutions was one of the first companies in the gaming industry to focus on cashless transactions . Christopher Justice has been in charge since the beginning , and now that there have been early adopters and the systems have proven to work , he talks with GGB Publisher Roger Gros about the next stages in cashless transactions . To hear a full podcast of the interview , visit GGBMagazine . com .
1
GGB : It ’ s been over a year since the cashless revolution really started rolling . What ’ s your interpretation of how it ’ s been working for Global Payments and for the industry ? Christopher Justice : I think we ’ ve been really in the typical early adopter phase of a product rollout but the pace is certainly increasing . I really believe we ’ re in the fast follower phase now , which really is the steepest phase with the right kind of movement . In terms of adoption , you ’ re going to see that there are numerous people that are on the launchpad , and that will launch in ’ 23 , which will really cause the growth of this revolution to accelerate quite quickly .
2
Global Payments was one of the first payment processors to get into the cashless space , but now there are literally dozens of companies you compete with . Do you think this is
muddying the waters for the operators trying to make a decision about what program to invest in ? There are really two ways to do it . One is based on TITO and the other is based on the traditional wagering account that ’ s been around for decades . We believe that the TITO solution really represents the easy button . It ’ s the easiest one for the consumer to download and use that allows rated and unrated play . It ’ s just a much easier path toward fast consumer adoption .
It ’ s also the easy button for the operator because it ’ s easy to install , easy to maintain , easy to account and reconcile , because it leverages all of the existing infrastructure . So where I think things are muddy is that the wager account side of things is very crowded , because that ’ s where all of the other providers really sit . And unfortunately , I think that also creates a solution whereby it ’ s hard for folks to figure out because typically it ’ s a very complex implementation for operators .
3
You ’ ve got some big clients — some of the big operators of multiple properties , but we ’ ve noticed that lately you ’ ve been signing up several tribal casinos and stand-alone commercial properties . How can you scale your products to be affordable for them and effective for the
big and small casinos alike ? Well , it really works the same way whether it ’ s a big operator or a small operator , because we leverage the TITO infrastructure . It ’ s a system-agnostic way for folks to roll out without having all of the IT integration and cumbersome complex processes that are required for some of the other systems . So it really does become very plug-and-play .
4
So there ’ s no need to install another system on top of the normal CMS system ?
Correct . There ’ s no need for expensive and complicated system changes because it leverages the existing processes and procedures . There ’ s no need to have to rewrite minimum internal controls and to add all of the incremental job functions that have to come along with overlaying a system that operates differently from the rest of the casino .
5
I would think that smaller regional casinos with that local loyal clientele would have better success at converting their players to cashless just because they know them so well . Does
that really work ? What it really boils down to is convenience , security control , and responsible gaming . What we are finding is that the biggest players that are the higher tiers in the casino ’ s database are also the players that are moving the needle relative to mobility . The players that are spending the most money are also those high-wealth individuals who typically have shorter attention and patience levels than a lot of other folks . They ’ re also folks that want it their way , and they want control . So the ability to deliver control and convenience to a player to help them really fund up their game the way they want to play is a huge advantage .
“ They Said It ”
“ Monopolies generally aren ’ t a good way of mitigating health dangers or other problems . They ’ re historical remnants .”
— Kai Mykkänen of Finland ’ s NCP ’ s Parliamentary Group on the proposal to end the monopoly of Veikkaus , the state-owned gaming operator
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