Older players had resistance to using cashless technology to play slot machine games in a New South Wales trial, in Australia, run between Aristocrat Leisure Ltd and the state regulator, using the firm’s PRIME player smartphone application.
That is one standout finding of a 191-page report by Professor Paul Delfabbro, of the University of Adelaide in South Australia, which has now been released by the New South Wales (NSW) gaming regulator, Liquor & Gaming NSW.
The cashless gaming trial at the West Suburbs Newcastle Leagues Club, known as ‘Wests New Lambton’, was conducted between October 2022 and June 2023.
Prof. Delfabbro’s report noted: “Patron recruitment is difficult and tends to favour younger and more technologically confident people.”
His assessment said that interviews with venue staff indicated “it had been hard to recruit older participants” for the cashless trial, “particularly during the day”.
The study noted that the main challenge with the technology “was the enrolment process, which was considered too slow by users, venue staff and other industry respondents”.
“The technology generally had limited impact on player behaviour and, if anything, may have made it easier for people to control and monitor their expenditure,” it added.
The technology for the trial involved an app-based account to accept money from a bank account, with that value then being transferred to an electronic wallet able to communicate with electronic gaming machines via a Bluetooth wireless connection.
The report observed: “The PRIME technology implemented by Aristocrat generally worked well after some initial recalibration,” although “having to set up a venue wallet or digital bank account makes this technology solution initially complex for some people.”
The academic’s report also observed: “Usage of responsible gambling features is very low, but this functionality works and usage can be reliably monitored.”
Though he also noted: “People will be reluctant to shift from existing gambling technologies if these are already working quite well.”
The findings echoed to some extent some comments by Aristocrat in December, at the time of the Australia-listed company’s sustainability disclosures for financial year ending September 30.
Unlikely ‘much impact’ from Banktech hack
Other commentary in the report on the trial commissioned by New South Wales found that a “hack” of technology belonging to a third-party financial service provider during the test period “was felt unlikely to have had much impact on the trial itself”.
The paper stated, referring to publicised data breaches in other Australian businesses that were unrelated to the cashless gaming trial: “Like Wests, Aristocrat believes that concerns about privacy and security arising from the Medicare and Optus hacks were probably inimical to recruitment for the [cashless gaming] trial.”
The report added, specifically referring to the Wests New Lambton test: “The hack of the Banktech technology near the end of the trial period, on the other hand, was felt unlikely to have had much impact on the trial itself.”
The assessment noted of the Banktech hacking incident: “The event had also led to a number of useful investigations which should lead to improvements and greater security in this technology across NSW.”
The technology trial run was part of what is known as the New South Wales government’s “Regulatory Sandbox” programme.
That programme has also involved gaming supplier International Game Technology Plc (IGT) in a trial of cashless technology at the Club York venue in New South Wales. It started in April 2023 and concluded in October 2023. The product developed by IGT was installed on all 112 gaming machines at Club York.
“The independent researcher is finalising the trial evaluation report” in that instance, according to Liquor & Gaming NSW.
The state regulator had also approved a trial to test Light & Wonder Inc’s cashless gaming technology at the Crows Nest Hotel in New South Wales.
The regulator’s website noted: “Light & Wonder has since withdrawn from the Regulatory Sandbox trial, as it was approved to participate in the expanded cashless gaming trial by the Independent Panel on Gaming Reform,” set up by New South Wales.
The expanded trial “will include around 4,500 machines across 28 clubs and hotels across 24 metropolitan and regional local government areas,” according to the state authorities.
