Digitalising land-based casino payments: How and why casinos are going cashless across the US

If you wouldn’t mind going into the development of Sightline’s cashless solutions and how they’re integrated within online and brick-and-mortar casinos?

Ten years ago, we started building out our cashless solution. The heart and core of our cashless solution is our Sightline Payments Authorization Network (SPAN). It’s the way we tie together our transaction processing between operators, which would be casinos, online gaming, and digital sports betting to the backend payments infrastructure. So, we’re really the gateway between casino operations and payment solutions. That’s really where we started that hub.

We based it on top of a financial payment vehicle. Initially, we were using what is called a stored value account, tied to a prepaid access account, which allowed for a customer to now tie their casino funds to a payment vehicle that was accessible outside of the gaming space in the open loop markets. Allowing the portability of the funds so that when they want to use them for their gaming purposes, that same account was available on-site at their casino; and when they want to leave and go back to their normal world and pay for their groceries or a pair of shoes, they also have that capability as well. That’s really the framework.

What kind of advantages do your solutions offer those companies or operators compared to typical payment solutions of the past?

First off, it’s acceptance. There’s the ability to tie the casino payment solution directly into an integration where we are processing on their behalf. So, it simplifies and streamlines as we continually look to improve the consumer experience around payments. Historically, in the gaming space, payments have been a pain point. There is friction when trying to access cash while walking onto a casino floor and, in the early stages of online and digital sports, many payment methodologies were not available.

How much work with sportsbooks, or the sports betting market in general, do you do?

As of today, we do work with most of the major sportsbooks. Many of the relationships we had expanded into sports when PASPA was overturned (the verdict was reached in May 2018). We do business with a number of the sports providers, although every operator is unique and different, and every brand has its unique strategies.

We find our solution fits well for the various brands, whether they’re small physical casinos, large brands, multiple casinos or sportsbooks. In the industry itself, sports betting started out as a kind of silo, as does most gaming. And now sports betting is becoming more of the mainstream and aligning so closely with legacy casino brands that really, it’s becoming just another feature of the entertainment offered by these brands.

So out here in Las Vegas, we noticed that a lot of stadiums and arenas this year have begun to implement cashless payment solutions, as well. Do you think it’s just a matter of time before all casinos offer cashless payments? Or is there a reason that some might stick to the old ways?

That’s a great question. So, this might be a lengthy answer... An amazing paradigm shift has happened over the past several years. First and foremost, the introduction of iGaming, digital gaming and then sports betting has really propelled. It started getting us into a space where cashless payments were absolutely needed. And we were able to fill that need. Then, the next thing that happened was the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the first time in the history of gaming and casino operations, casinos closed their doors and turned the lights off. That had never happened before. Especially in a market like Las Vegas, that’s a 24/7, 365 operation. And so there was a need to reintroduce and drive customers back to gaming facilities. Suddenly, instead of me banging on doors trying to talk about cashless, I started receiving phone calls asking me to find time to talk about cashless.

So, your question was, do you think casinos are moving towards cashless? Yes, they will. They’re in the process of it now. They’re dabbling in it. Yes, you do still have some operators who are taking it piece by piece because they’re not quite ready for that full solution. But I think the industry is moving quickly in that direction now, and I think it is just a matter of time.

That definitely paints a picture that quite the shift has taken place. Is the reason some casinos are slower to integrate this process a fear of consumer feedback, or possibly the lack of knowledge they may have when it comes to cashless payment solutions?

From the operator standpoint, it is shifting the mindset of how to run operations without cash and yet still feel they and their consumers are safe. So, it’s really about education. It’s about educating their entire teams. When you think about the casino operations, it has been much of their operations process for years. Removing that is hard at first for an operator to envision. I like to guide the operator to remember that you could turn on a cashless solution, but cash is probably not going away. Even if you try to minimise it, it’s never going away completely, so you’re always going to have an element of it.

But it should reduce over time and decrease some of that operational heaviness you deal with when handling so much cash. On the flip side, there has also been quite an evolution in the past three to five years in casino management systems. Ten years ago, when I walked into casinos, some of the floors did not have high-speed internet. Their machines were not connected. There is no way to actually connect to a machine through an integration or via a system.

That process has been evolving. A decade ago, an operator would tell me I can’t do this because my system doesn’t have the ability to accommodate it. But what we have seen is they are all moving towards modernising the games, the connectivity and the features that are available. The modernisation of the machines and the systems themselves have also made cashless more possible and relevant in the eyes of operators. It’s really a matter of how we want to connect.

What type of feedback have you received from your operators or consumers directly? Are there specific features Sightline offers that they enjoy most?

I’ll start with consumers. Consumers appreciate the access to their funds. If you say you enjoy sports or digital sports betting, one of the challenges that has occurred in that is getting your money out. It’s very easy to deposit money, it’s easy to put the $100 in. You place your bet, your team wins. Now you want to cash out – that has historically not been as easy. There are reasons why and they’re valid. It goes back to regulatory requirements around compliance that we all have to be part of. But one of the things customers really like about our program is that they have the ability to access their funds and still have the ability to use them the way they want. The feedback we get from our operators  is always an appreciation for being on the forefront of innovation – and not being afraid to get out there and do it.

Once we have deployed a solution, we do not consider ourselves finished. We consider ourselves a partner, and we continue to work with our partners to improve the experience. Take any  lessons learned that we have and apply them. We assist with marketing messaging, we assist with best practices and we also come to the table as payments  experts. We tend to be the consultants on the payment side to make sure we’re doing everything to keep their customers safe. I think it gives them the confidence that, if they’re going to take the step, they’re not alone.

Are you able to list some of the operators you work with through Sightline, whether they be land-based casinos or digital sports betting apps?

Resorts World Las Vegas and Mohegan Sun, Connecticut are a few of our brick-and-mortar casinos. We also work essentially with all of the major sportsbooks including FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars and MGM. Resorts World is a great example of going out there with a new casino. Everything is cashless there. I would say we still have some work to do on the user experience, and we continue to work with them in the direction we want to head in for that customer base.

Did their personnel changes affect you guys at all?

It does. When the original group who spearheads cashless hands it off to folks that are coming in trying to understand it, this creates hesitancy and concerns with operators. If you bring in a new team who has not had the experience, now they’re looking around saying, ‘Well, what do we do with this?’ It’s a continued process and that’s part of what we do. We continue to evolve and we will continue to educate the team. But we needed to let them get their feet wet and figure out what they are doing, too. As far as the whole operation, that certainly has an impact for sure.

Finally, are there any goals for 2024 Sightline can tell us about?

Yes, I can’t share all of it, but here’s what I will share... Our goal is always to continue to find areas where we can solve issues, whether it is for the consumer or for the operator. With our background being payments and gaming, we have an advantage of saying, ‘okay, how do we look at both of these areas and look for opportunities?’ We’re continuing to look at areas where payments can be a driving factor and a benefit for both the operator and their patrons, continuing to provide opportunities where payments can tie into their loyalty in a more streamlined way. We anticipate launching new products late in 2024 and into 2025.