A Macau firm has developed a casino-management product designed for use at gaming tables. “Intelligent Mini Cash Processor” is said to be able to validate banknotes received by a dealer for buy-ins at a gaming table, and to allow real-time tracking of cash flow at the table.
The developer Macau Sun Rise Production Ltd, showed the equipment at the latest Global Gaming Expo Asia (G2E) Macau.
Banknotes and deposit receipts – once validated – are transferred to a deposit box beneath the gaming table, and which is part of the system, says entrepreneur Vincent Fung, a veteran of Macau gaming operations. The deposit box has a radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking device for security.
“This machine is basically a table-top money repository that can solve cash-handling issues at gaming tables, which is still pretty much a manual task,” Mr Fung told GGRAsia in an interview during the event.
His manufacturing partner is a mainland China group called GRGBanking. It is a specialist in automated teller machines (ATMs) and is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. Previously Mr Fung’s company had worked with GRGBanking, testing and maintaining ATMs it had installed in Macau.
According to Mr Fung, the deposit box on his system is able to communicate with the hosting casino operator’s back-end system, giving the operator real-time knowledge of the drop generated at any gaming table. He says currently that with conventional deposit boxes the drop can only be known when they are physically emptied and a count done manually.
The Intelligent Mini Cash Processor can “resolve this lag,” Mr Fung remarked to GGRAsia.
The product can also process ticket-in-ticket-out (TITO) vouchers typically generated for cash buy-ins at casino slot machines. That includes converting residual value on a TITO slot voucher, for purchase of table chips. Conversely, residual value on small-denomination chips at the table, can be converted to a TITO voucher that can be used in slots.
Mr Fung says the Intelligent Mini Cash Processor has been certified by Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), with promotion effort among the city’s gaming operators beginning last year.
His company has also received expressions of interest in Malaysia, Russia, Vietnam, and South Korea towards the Intelligent Mini Cash Processor, stated the businessman. An application for a Macau patent is pending on the product, he noted.
Mr Fung’s company also displayed its “ChipMate Automatic Machine”, at G2E Macau. “Currently it is designed with two functions: one is that you can insert your money into ChipMate and it will dispense the gaming chips… the other is that you can insert your casino membership card into the machine, and get the chips that your [carded] programme offers you,” said Mr Fung.
ChipMate’s gaming chip processing module is designed to support up to six gaming chip denominations. The machine can also store transaction data, and protect against such data being lost in a power outage. It has an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) unit installable within the machine, Mr Fung noted.
“Basically the gaming chip denomination, and that of the banknotes, as well as the size of the machine and its display screen, are all readily adjustable upon client’s request,” Mr Fung told of ChipMate.
ChipMate is currently still going through further fine-tuning of product functions in response to industry feedback, Mr Fung stated. The product will then be submitted for patenting and gaming laboratory certification.
