The coronavirus has had a big impact on many industries over the past few months including the gambling industry. While the majority of it has been bad it has also resulted in the American casino industry asking for cashless payment transactions. The industry has asked that gambling regulators make it easier to adopt cashless payment transactions on the casino floors. With one of the top reasons being a desire to help customers avoid handling money during the outbreak.
A Push for Cashless Transactions
According to a report released earlier in June 2020, the American Gaming Association (AGA) called on state regulators in gambling licensed states and asked for the update of laws and regulations. They are requesting that the rules and laws are updated to integrate cashless options for gamblers.
The push for this comes after an 18-month study of the issue one by both commercial and tribal casinos. While there is already a small number of US online casinos making use of such cashless payment systems there is a need for wider acceptance of these options in the gambling industry. A small number of US Casinos currently accept apps such as Google Pay, PayPal and Apple Pay.
According to the gambling groups president and CEO, Bill Miller, advancing opportunities for digital payments has been one of their top priorities since his first day at the AGA. Miller state that implementing cashless payment options aligns with gaming’s role as modern 21st-century industry. And it bolsters their already rigorous regulatory and responsible gaming measures. He continued saying that the current pandemic has made it even more important to advance their efforts to provide customers with a payment choice they are comfortable with and have come to expect.
At this stage, there has not been many casinos or gambling facilities in the US that have adopted the digital payment options available. The main reason being due to limits imposed by state legislators and gambling regulators. There are only a few Nevada casinos and other US tribal casinos that have digital payment options available.
A Step Towards Digitalisation
The Nevada Gaming Commission has scheduled a hearing for the 25th of June where they are expected to accept the state Gaming Control Board’s recommendation for amendments to their state regulations. With this, they will streamline approval and testing processes for modern payment methods in casinos.
Nevada gambling regulators said they are open to looking at new ways to attract customers and implement responsible gambling measures.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Director, David Rebuck, stated that cashless transactions are already legal in the state and that they await the submission from casinos for products to be used on site.
Cashless and Responsible
According to the AGA cashless transactions are not just modern and a step in the right direction in light of COVID-19 but also responsible gambling. The AGA stated that it will allow gamblers to set limits and follow them more easily. It will also cut down the number of currency transaction reports casinos to have to file with the government regarding customer transactions at the casinos.
The coronavirus continues to spread and in light of this, it is vital to the industry to implement cashless payment systems as quickly as possible. Especially since many states have started with gradual reopenings of some of their land-based casinos.
