Regulators in Nevada, responding to a request by cashless technology supplier Sightline Payments, are considering authorizing remote signup for cashless wagering accounts. Sightline launched the industry’s first property-wide cashless payment system earlier this year at Resorts World Las Vegas, where customers can pay for anything at the resort using their cashless accounts.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board held a 70-minute workshop to discuss the prospect of remote signup to address bottleneck of customers waiting in line at casinos to sign up for cashless accounts in person.
The board heard testimony from Sightline co-founder and co-CEO Omer Sattar, who noted long lines at Resorts World.
“At Resorts World, primarily because of the ID verification issue, in the absolute best of cases the time was six minutes,” Sattar said. “In reality, the time was more like two hours. That included paper forms being filled out, people writing Social Security numbers on pieces of paper and handing them to cage personnel, and cage personnel trying to identify each person by looking at their ID. Our partners have been quite successful, but the experience from a user perspective (hasn’t been). The lines have been hundreds of people long waiting to enroll and fund and play. That’s what we’re trying to solve over here.”
The proposal is not without opposition. Station Casinos attorney Marc Rubinstein told the board that the Federal Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which permits remote signup for online wagering accounts, still prohibits such remote activity for physical casino transactions.
We do not dispute what is permissible for online gaming,” Rubinstein said. “Federal law indeed requires in-person validation of a government-issued ID in order for a terrestrial casino transaction.”
Board members, however, noted that FinCEN permits remote signup at both commercial and tribal casinos outside Nevada.
“It is a nuisance for players to wait in a queue when they could easily do this remotely, which they already do (for online poker),” said board member Phil Katsaros. “To not allow for that in the terrestrial world where that player has to come into the casino, and I know the commission is on the record saying we don’t want to discourage people from coming to casinos. This would actually encourage it because they sign up for it and theoretically thereafter they want to go to the casino. It doesn’t detract in any way.
“Much has been on the record in discussion on the sports wagering side of the aisle. This doesn’t touch that. I am supportive of this concept but not necessarily to this exact language. I would like the opportunity for us to tweak internally and put out another draft so it is then brought back to us for consideration.”
The Gaming Control Board is slated to further discuss the issue at upcoming board meeting, after which it would make a recommendation to the Nevada Gaming Commission, which has the final say on such a change.
