International Game Technology is the latest gaming equipment manufacturer to announce its entry into the casino industry’s fast-expanding cashless gaming sector.
The company said Tuesday that it cleared a hurdle with Nevada gaming regulators in which a module of its “Resort Wallet” mobile technology is now available in Nevada casinos that use IGT for its casino management system.
In the wake of COVID-19 and the interest in reduced contact solutions, the gaming industry has become rapidly open to the idea of cashless and digital transactions and payment processing.
IGT said Nevada gaming regulators approved usage of a portion of the company’s cashless technology at casinos throughout the state following a field trial at an unnamed property.
IGT Vice President of Global Communications Phil O’Shaughnessy said the product is now being used in that casino’s high-limit room.
The IGT technology allows a casino player’s loyalty card to be used for cash transfers into a secure digital wallet from either the casino cash desk or any of IGT’s mobile wallet-enabled slot machines.
Players can then insert their PIN-protected card into the slot machine, apply those funds to their game play, and cash out to their secure digital wallet. Players can also choose to move a portion of their funds from the slot machine to their digital wallet while printing a ticket at the slot machine for the balance.
O’Shaughnessy other modules from the cashless product line still require field trial testing.
The products include using a player’s mobile phone instead of a loyalty card and funding a player’s cashless wagering account from an external source, such as a bank account or credit card.
“We expect these trials to start in the second quarter of this year,” O’Shaughnessy said.
Eventually, IGT hopes that in addition to slot machine play, casino customers utilizing the IGT mobile wallet can access the funds for table game play, sports betting, and at retail point-of-sale.
IGT said in a statement the approval in Nevada enables casinos to give customers the option of a reduced-contact, safer, and effortless cashless slot gaming experience.
“Our ‘Resort Wallet’ solution ensures that our customers can experience the increased liquidity, player convenience, and enhanced safety that only cashless gaming can deliver,” said Ryan Reddy, IGT’s vice president of VLT, systems and payments products. “This solution will heighten the player experience to new levels while positioning our customers as technology leaders.”
O’Shaughnessy added that IGT’s “Resort Wallet” is currently approved and installed in other North American jurisdictions such as New York as well as several international jurisdictions such as Australia. He expects more jurisdictions will be approved later this year.
The American Gaming Association has advocated since 2019 for the casino industry to adopt cashless or digital payment solutions to help modernize the industry. In the past year, spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic, several changes have already taken place.
Regulators in Nevada and Pennsylvania have approved new rules to permit digital payments in their casinos, and New Jersey, Indiana, and Iowa are expected to follow suit.
Rival gaming equipment provider Everi Holdings is providing a mobile wallet to tribal casinos in Oklahoma and Florida. Southern California’s Morongo Casino and Resort will introduce a new cashless wagering product early next year that will provide slot players with gambling markers. The platform, which runs through Morongo’s casino management system, is not a mobile wallet, since the funds rely on credit provided by the property.
Shares of IGT, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at $16.72 Tuesday, up $1.33 or 8.64%.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
