accounts with FDIC insurance — a way to reassure customers that their money is safe even in spite of the occasional scary headlines about the financial health of some banks .
As for online casino gaming , Webb says his company ’ s research shows that debit card payments were important to 63 percent of surveyed players , while credit card payments were important to 57 percent . The most preferred payment , he adds , was PayPal — at 64 percent — with Venmo being a preferred payment method for 48 percent of respondents .
Says Skinner of Marker Trax : “ The secret to the success of any technology is that it never remains stagnant , and there ’ s always more work to be done . Overall , though , the technology ( for cashless payments ) is at a much better place than it was in its infancy . We understand that from our own internal reporting and modeling , through the operator dashboard that Marker Trax provides to all of our property partners , but also from the rigorous , thorough consumer testing we constantly are engaging in .”
Kubajak says JCM Global ’ s business model is to “ connect , listen , and partner ” with consumers .
“ It ’ s not our blueprint that matters — it ’ s our customer ’ s ,” he says . “ Specific to cashless gaming , players want payment options , and we work with them on that .”
Skinner adds that while its technology initially was targeted to slot gaming , “ we ’ re looking at several exciting avenues for growth , including expanding to table games in casinos , sports betting , and online gaming .”
Seamless Experience
For Webb , the core focus for consumers — and therefore , for PayNearMe — is “ a streamlined , seamless experience .”
“ At the first sign of a hiccup or glitch in the online payment process , players — especially new ones — can become leery of the entire app or site ,” Webb says . “ In addition to ease of use , there ’ s the issue of speed , especially when it comes to payouts .
“ A major ‘ pain point ’ in the online gaming industry is how long it takes a player to withdraw their winnings , which can result in operators losing out on customer loyalty and retention . MoneyLine solves this by offering nearly instant payouts through a variety of tender types including debit , cash , Pay- Pal , and Venmo .
“ We ’ ll continue to see progress as far as new digital payment types and emerging technologies for the younger and newer gaming audience ,” Webb adds . “ We always talk about ‘ future-proofing ’ your business , meaning that we want our platform to set operators up to succeed no matter what new technology might hit the market . The work we ’ re doing currently definitely will help with that .”
Traditional cards , Webb says , “ can be subject to higher decline rates than some of the newer digital payment types . We already know that declines are a player deterrent , so that ’ s something to consider . In addition , the rising rate of new and younger players will likely cause the preference in alternative payment methods to rise with them .”
Skinner explains that the company ’ s product is “ a cashless version of the
“ Marker Trax is tied directly to the property and the player ’ s account , digitally . Inside that property , those funds have all the value of cash . But outside the property , they ’ re unusable . It ’ s helping to protect operators ’ bottom line in a way our industry has never seen before .”
— Charlie Skinner , President , Marker Trax
traditional casino marker system .”
“ One of the most important differences , though , is that traditional markers become literal cash . And at that point in the transaction , there ’ s absolutely nothing preventing the player from taking that cash elsewhere — whether it be another gaming property , depositing into their own bank account , or something else .
“ But Marker Trax is tied directly to the property and the player ’ s account , digitally . Inside that property , those funds have all the value of cash . But outside the property , they ’ re unusable . It ’ s helping to protect operators ’ bottom line in a way our industry has never seen before .”
Another important attribute , he says , is that Marker Trax reduces the approval process for traditional credit that elsewhere can take days , or even weeks , and shortens that time frame to “ just minutes .”
Responsible Gaming
A report issued in March by the University of Nevada , Las Vegas International Gaming Institute identified a variety of customer payment behaviors from data provided by Sightline Payments . The purpose of the study was to identify how such data can support responsible gambling efforts .
A cluster of customers comprising 1.2 percent of the sample showed a high volume of deposits and withdrawals , as well as a significant variability in the size of the deposits . The researchers concluded that “ it is possible that these customers engage in unsustainable gambling behaviors .”
A second cluster , about double the size of the first one , had the highest deposit activity — about 15 per week . These same customers also had the highest number of “ declined transactions — a potential red flag that might indicate their frequency or limit amounts had been reached .”
Finally , the study concluded that “ 88 percent of customers exhibited patterns of behavior that were not suggestive of any unsustainable or harmful behavior ” at all .
Whether these numbers are higher or lower than any particular person might expect , they help identify the likely extent of irresponsible gambling . While privacy and security issues rightly are a potential concern these days in the tradeoff for convenience , at least the industry and state regulators have somewhat of a handle on the magnitude of the problem .
What isn ’ t known , of course , is how many brick-and-mortar casino patrons go to a window to exchange hundreds or thousands of dollars for casino chips with money that may not truly qualify as “ disposable income .” If they leave broke , only they — and quite possibly their impacted family , and under potentially serious circumstances — know what happened .
But to sum up Christie ’ s initial point , both he , with his money clip , and his son , via online payments , indeed each are able to seamlessly find their own respective ways to gamble should they choose to do so .
16 Global Gaming Business MAY 2023