Cashless gaming has long been seen as the industry’s future, but in 2026 adoption remains lethargic, a trend that is expected to continue next year, according to payment and gaming executives.
So what approaches are needed to drive adoption of cashless wagering?
“There are a lot of approaches you can actually take when you’re talking about cashless,” said Tom McDonald, senior director of cage, credit, and digital gaming for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
McDonald said it has always been assumed that we’re only talking about a digital wallet, but there are different things casinos can do to reduce the amount of cash that you have around you.
“The most consequential thing we did at Choctaw was to open up the ability of point-of-sale debit at kiosks” and ticket-in, ticket out, McDonald said. “The adoption of that has been fantastic. It has dramatically reduced the amount of cash we have moving around the floor.”
McDonald said the tribe is moving toward additional pieces that are out there to improve their cashless option, but didn’t provide details of what’s next for the tribe.
“We’ve been lucky, though. The technology is simple and you can improve,” McDonald said. “We want to be cautious when we get into the market for adoption levels of different pieces of technology, because you really get that first opportunity, to make a first impression.”
McDonald was joined for a discussion on overcoming barriers and driving growth of cashless gaming at G2E in Las Vegas on Wednesday by Kaleigh Thompson, vice president development with Pavilion Payments, Charlie Skinner, president of Marker Trax and Koin, and Rose Zwirn, senior director strategic partnerships with PayNearMe.
Skinner said for cashless to be adopted in a major way within the industry, vendors will have to work together, while operators need to remind their vendors to work together, so the entire industry can move forward and give players a great experience.
From an operator perspective, McDonald said, it’s a lot better than it was six years ago.
“When COVID hit, there was a lot of money floating around and everybody was trying to figure out how to take advantage of the technology advantages we saw in restaurants and retail,” McDonald said.
McDonald said what this conversation shows about the gaming industry is that it’s so far behind retail in its adoption of new technologies. He admitted that as an operator, they’re finally getting cooperation from providers and “it’s starting to be a little easier.”
“If you didn’t go early in adoption, you’re in a better place than you were five, six years ago,” he added.
Zwirn asked why a commercial or tribal casino would adopt cashless when they’ve been profiting from ATM fees. Skinner admitted it was a question they’re asked by every CFO they meet with.
“They’re like, what about my ATM fees?” Skinner said. “I’m going to lose out. When we think about direct funding … the player does not have to download an app, they can QR code or tap at the game right from the bank to their credit meter. You don’t need a wallet.”
Skinner said the CFOs will inevitably say, “Well, I’m losing out on my ATM revenue.” He said the way they think about this issue is it’s going to take over seven minutes if a player is going to get up from a game, go the ATM, get their money out and then return.
“With that you are losing time on device, and depending on how fast they’re playing, there’s lost revenue there,” Skinner said. “And when you factor in that some of those players, we model it out at 5 percent of the players never come back.
“When you think about direct funding, it’s kind of a no-brainer,” he said. “And in our opinion, that ATM discussion should kind of go by the wayside.”
Skinner admitted that during a panel discussion five years ago, he thought the gaming industry would be further along in its adoption of cashless gaming than it is. “But look, I could be dead wrong. I’ve been wrong a lot about how fast this thing is gonna progress, but I don’t think in 10 to 15 years, we’re going to be carry cash on the casino floor. I just don’t. “
Skinner added that they are very bullish that at some point in the future cash will go away.
As an operator, McDonald said there are costs associated with going cashless, so what the industry will experience is those who can do the upgrades will, but the smaller casinos obviously don’t have the available capital.
“It will take them longer,” he added.
As an operator, McDonald said there are costs associated with going cashless, so what the industry will experience is those who can do the upgrades will, but the smaller casinos obviously don’t have the available capital.
“It will take them longer,” he added.
