The initial report issued by Liquor & Gaming NSW for a trial of cashless gaming technology in New South Wales (NSW) has been completed, and revealed that the results were positive, but not overly so.
The trial, which was spearheaded by Aristocrat and took place at the Wests Newcastle club, originally included a total of 36 machines before being expanded to 144.
Researchers were pleased that the technology lived up to expectations in terms of functionality, and that it allowed for sufficient data collection on bettors’ playing habits as well as their interactions with integrated responsible gaming tools, even though usage numbers were relatively low.
Overall, the consensus was that the implementation of cashless options may have aided in players’ ability to monitor spending.
On the other hand, researchers noted downsides related to slow enrollment times as well as spotty Bluetooth and wifi connectivity, all of which have also plagued similar cashless systems in the U.S.
Due to the fact that most of the gaming machines in Australia are spread across small venues like bars and clubs instead of large-scale casinos, researchers said that these drawbacks may be tough to overcome at first.
“Given the resources required to onboard patrons on to new technology, it may be that larger venues are better positioned to adopt cashless gaming than smaller ones,” the report conceded.
Even though the trial was designed to fully assess the capabilities of the cashless system, the effectiveness of the methodology may have been hurt by the fact that participants had “access to another legacy system (cash) and where they have opportunities to gamble on trial machines, but also others located at the same, or different, venues.”
The results showed that a total of 260 patrons ultimately registered and completed the pre-trial survey, compared to 77 who completed the post-trial survey. In terms of demographics, some two-thirds of participants were male, the majority of whom were under 45.
Data was collected from October 2022 to June 2023, before the trial period was cut short by about a week due to a reported cyberattack. Aristocrat later confirmed that no participants were affected by the breach.
In response to the attack, an independent committee was formed to oversee a larger, more comprehensive trial that is currently underway. That study encompasses approximately 4,500 machines across 28 venues throughout the state. The final report is expected to be delivered by November.
Both of the state’s casino operators—Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment—have been mandated to transition to cashless gaming in their casinos as part of regulatory sanctions, and state regulators have recommended for the mandate be extended to all machines in bars and clubs as well.
