CMS: Building Next-Generation Loyalty
From the early days of casino technologies, casino management systems (CMS) have gathered much of the information that makes a casino work: tracking games, managing player accounts and loyalty programs, integrating systems and so on.
Today’s CMS is increasingly used to learn about players and provide them with personalized services like free slot play, meals, hotel accommodations and gifts. Operators are accessing player behavior beyond the games being played, like purchasing credits on a slot machine, dining in a restaurant, reserving a hotel room, playing in a sportsbook or shopping in a retail store.
Assessing these behaviors gives the casino an insight into true customer value and enables it to better manage the whole player experience.
From Player Cards to Digital Identity
When traditional loyalty cards are swiped or tapped on a slot machine, the CMS recognizes the player and registers his/her actions. Today, cardless authentication like that implemented by Konami Gaming’s Synkros CMS uses NFC devices, mobile phones, phone-number entry and QR codes to develop a full picture of a player.
The newest innovation is biometric identification. “Soon, Synkros will begin field testing Synk Vision, an integrated biometric solution that incorporates an AI camera into the player tracking bracket,” says Tom Soukup, senior vice president and chief systems product officer at Konami.
Using facial recognition, the technology will enable a recognized player to take a seat at a slot machine or table game and log in to a loyalty account automatically—no need to carry a physical loyalty card.
If a player doesn’t have a registered loyalty account, Synk Vision can provide an anonymous biometric identifier that will help engage and track the player. That gives operators an opportunity to learn about the previously uncarded play while still having the option to reward these players. “The technology allows operators to get a better view of both carded and uncarded play and to analyze, rate and reward it,” Soukup says.
Additionally, the system can help determine whether a player is self-banned or has problems with responsible gaming or anti-money laundering issues.
Loyalty by Phone
Aristocrat Interactive’s Modernized Membership program aims to make player interactions with the casino more convenient by means of its Intelligent Card Reader Pro solution.
The player can store a digital player card in the phone’s wallet, such as Apple Wallet or Google Pay. Just bringing the phone close to the card reader is enough to establish NFC communication.
“It’s not necessary to open your phone, press any buttons or use any applications,” notes Kristen Ranger, vice president of North America, CXS Sales at Aristocrat Interactive.
“Everything a player could do at a kiosk, players’ club or at the game itself, they can now do on their own phone.”
Kristen Ranger, Vice President of North America, CXS Sales, Aristocrat Interactive
Another option from Aristocrat Interactive, the OASIS Connect card, lets players sign up on the microsite without installing any applications, then place the digital card in the phone’s native wallet.
Through the PlayerMax product, players can also interact with the nCompass system by using a digital player card in the mobile application. The loyalty card remains but in digital form.
The adoption of mobile technology changes how players interact with the loyalty program. Traditionally, they would visit a kiosk or players club to sign up, track their points, redeem rewards or get special offers. Modern programs puts these functions on a mobile device.
“As we move forward with our Modernized Membership program, everything has to do with the player’s digital journey,” notes Ranger—no more waiting in lines.
“Everything that a player could do at a kiosk or players’ club, as well as some things that a player could do at the game itself, they can now do on their own phone from wherever they want to do it. Players can see more while doing less. Casinos can communicate more while doing less.”
Capturing the Total Player
The more complex loyalty programs become, the more information collected by the CMS. The modern player is not characterized by slot play only.
A customer could be playing slots in the afternoon, having dinner at the venue, betting on sports, staying overnight at the hotel and returning to the casino the following morning. When such actions occur independently in separate systems, the casino sees pieces of the customer. When connected, the whole picture emerges.
Synkros was designed to collect data at both gaming and non-gaming touchpoints. The solution integrates more than 100 third-party systems, including sportsbooks, bingo, iGaming, hotels and points-of-sale. The system tracks bets, theoretical wins, real wins, real losses, device time and 100-plus other indicators.
Such information enables operators to analyze not just the behavior of the players but also the profitability of their marketing campaigns. They can see if they’re over-investing in VIP or mass-market customers, review returns on specific campaigns and evaluate how their clients interact with various aspects of the property. The CMS is not just a player tracking system but a source of business intelligence.
This trend also applies to the Aristocrat Interactive software platform. According to Ranger, advancements in data collection have been made in part due to the company’s partnership model, which has made its environment easier for third-party vendors by introducing eAPIS (electronic advance passenger information systems).
It’s become possible to add more information points in the player profile on and off the gaming floor, she says. “With Loyalty and a player app, every operation can have a presence within the PlayerMax app, and every player interaction within those operations can be tracked through Loyalty. With the digital wallet, the player can have one seamless financial transaction at slots, tables, restaurants, hotels, etc.”
Integration with OpenTable and Chalkline by Aristocrat Interactive also contributes to this resort-wide concept.
Turning Data into Rewards
Information-gathering is only relevant if it’s actionable. At casinos, one of the most important actions is deciding the reward a player is entitled to.
Synkros provides a rule engine that delivers targeted loyalty rewards and bonuses with multiple award categories like loyalty points, comp points, electronic comps, free play and drawing tickets. Information from both real-time and historical data on players can be used for personalized offers.
Similarly, instead of rewards based on accumulated points, Aristocrat Interactive’s Loyalty system can create offers based on property-wide behavior and history.
Such offers can be pushed directly to the mobile device of the player through PlayerMax. This revolutionizes the concept of loyalty programs, giving players more personalized rewards based on their motivations.
Physical gifts are still a critical part of the program, but technology makes the process much more automated. Synkros will be able to automatically provide digital rewards such as point multipliers, drawing tickets, free play and tournament access.
Rewards can be configured by specific player behavior and activity, including betting amounts, devices used, birthdays and many other variables. Synkros also integrates with commercial automated gift delivery systems.
“The technology allows operators to get a better view of both carded and uncarded play and to analyze, rate and reward it.”
Tom Soukop, Senior Vice President and Chief Systems Product Officer, Konami Gaming
“Using one integration allows a third-party gifting provider to award physical gifts through the player tracking screen on the slot machine based on casino management system information,” says Soukup.
Technology allows the casino to link the behavior directly with the reward without the need for manual processing of each promotion by the employee.
Another system that provides such functionality is Aristocrat Interactive’s Oasis Loyalty, which is capable of creating and delivering “via our mobile app or kiosk,” says Ranger.
In addition, the firm could employ its partner program for integration with third-party gifting solutions. There is an ongoing trend of loyalty programs capable of functioning in the background constantly, detecting the qualified players and giving out rewards accordingly.
Progressives as Loyalty Tool
New CMS technologies allow fresh opportunities for casinos to excite the gaming floors by utilizing their systems.
One such technology is Synkros Progressive Management—a module that allows the operators to configure progressive and mystery jackpots using the CMS. It doesn’t need any in-machine hardware or extra network and allows configuring progressives for AFT-capable SAS 6.0+ game machines. However, the technology has a link to loyalty programs.
“The Synkros Progressive Management System provides casino and route operators with a highly configurable player bonusing tool designed to create differentiation and competitive advantage,” Soukup says.
Operators may choose to allow access to progressives to everyone or restrict access to loyalty card-holders only. Moreover, it allows configuring jackpots according to the loyalty tier, including different progressive contribution increments for card members of each tier.
Now loyalty is not limited to points that can be converted into free play or food. The membership level can influence access to progressive and mystery jackpots as well.
AI Arrives
Artificial intelligence is increasingly impacting casino management systems. An obvious examples is the case of Konami’s Synk Vision, which uses AI-powered cameras to support facial recognition and player identification without cards.
Soukup says AI could be applied far more widely. “As customers get used to receiving personalized recommendations for products and services, the same technology could help casinos make recommendations for slot machines and other experiences based on player preferences,” he explains.
AI-powered algorithms could also be used by marketing departments to provide even more personalized offers. “Detailed slot and table game data collected through Synkros could be used to feed the AI algorithms and help operators decide which machines should be added or removed, as well as which pay tables or denominations are the most profitable,” Soukup states.
It means a drastic change in the role of casino analytics. While CMS helps to see what happened, AI could help to see what should happen.
Aristocrat Interactive is moving in this direction as well. Since Gaming Analytics was acquired by Aristocrat, the company has invested in AI that can unify gaming, machine and loyalty data.
“Gaming Analytics unifies machine, game and loyalty data into real-time intelligence on floor optimization, database marketing, player development and compliance,” says Ranger.
The purpose of this investment is not to create yet another reporting system, but to help automate recurrent workflows and transition from performance reporting to performance engineering.
“This conversational AI agent uncovers the next action on its own in all of these areas and even table games, making insight actionable for reaching the players,” Ranger says.
The ultimate goal is something Aristocrat calls an “AI-centric casino,” where the intelligent analysis and execution happen in one ecosystem.
Security Behind the Experience
With the increased connectivity of the CMS, cybersecurity issues become more and more important. Contemporary systems may store large quantities of client information as well as operational data, and integration connects the CMS to a range of other systems. Aristocrat Interactive regards cybersecurity as a vital part of its technological strategy.
“We are laser-focused on cybersecurity and certification,” says Ranger, “to showcase our commitment to our customers and prove that we have a very secure system.”
In this way, the CXS team of the company got ISO 27001 security certification with zero non-conformities and is going through the process of validation needed in further years, demonstrating the importance of information security with the increasing digitization of casino systems.
In August, Konami Gaming announced that the information security management system of its Synkros CMS and online interactive platform had received the ISO 27001 certification. The conclusion is obvious: the more connected the casino is, the more important it is to protect the systems that connect it.
The Future of Loyalty
The coming generation of technologies for casino management will likely be influenced by technologies that are commonly used in non-casino environments by consumers. Facial recognition is gaining popularity in airports. Electronic wallets and mobile apps are now commonplace. Artificial intelligence is being used to recommend products, services and entertainment options.
CMS is redefining the loyalty program. While a modern-day player uses points for slot play, meals, hotel rooms and other perks, tomorrow the system may already predict what kind of reward is most relevant before asking a player about it.
AI algorithms will make decisions on what offer, promotion or operation strategy should come next.
Next-gen CMS technology will know the players, simplify their experience and turn intelligence into action.
