“You can hit a button, and be in the middle of that craps game on the next roll.” —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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
