Vegas Inc – For years, gaming regulators have created barriers between debit or credit cards and slot machines so that gamblers wouldn’t drain their bank accounts or ruin their credit ratings. While they’ve allowed automated teller machines at casino properties, regulators have never crossed the line of enabling players to put their cards into a slot machine to access money directly.
But now, a Las Vegas company is proposing a change in state gaming regulations that would allow the use of a prepaid card for slots that puts casinos one step closer to a player’s bank account.
The biggest trade-off would be that jackpot winners could be safer when they leave casinos because they wouldn’t have wads of cash that would make them vulnerable to robbers and thieves. Still, problem gambling advocates are concerned that any new easy access to funds may also make it easier for compulsive gamblers to try to chase their losses.
In a workshop meeting conducted by the state Gaming Control Board Thursday, Sightline Interactive introduced proposals to amend two gaming regulations that would enable the use of prepaid cards.
Harry Hagerty, president and chief financial officer of Sightline, said the use of cash for retail transactions is shrinking, with one study suggesting that the percentage of cash transactions would fall to 9.8 percent by 2015. That’s not the case in a casino where it’s estimated that 60 percent of cash wagered is acquired in a casino, either through check cashing or an ATM withdrawal.
Sightline is proposing the use of prepaid cards similar to prepaid gift cards and casino loyalty cards that could be loaded at banks and debited and credited at slot machines. Under the Sightline plan, players using the cards would be required to fill out a one-time registration form at a participating casino with a validated name and street address.
It’s virtually the same process that online poker and mobile sports wagering players go through when they sign up for play. Sightline already uses its proprietary system using the Discovery credit card system for Internet gambling in New Jersey.
