Gambling in the USA
REN Payments Platform from Euronet Worldwide, Inc. to Power Marker Trax™ Digital Casino Marker Management System
Euronet Worldwide, Inc., a leading global financial technology solutions and payments provider, announced it will license its REN payments platform (REN) to Marker Trax, LLC, of Las Vegas for use in the company’s cloud environment where it will provide transaction processing and other core functionalities for a ground-breaking digital casino marker management system.
The project expands REN’s use cases from traditional financial services into the gaming market where casino patrons are forecasted to spend $516 billion globally and about $150 billion in the North American market in 2021.1 Part of this expenditure includes markers (casino credit) that offer convenience to patrons while increasing “coin in” amounts at electronic gaming machines and overall gross gaming income for casinos.
Marker Trax is a first-of-its-kind, regulatory-compliant and cashless alternative to the traditional casino marker. In addition to convenience for players, Marker Trax provides casinos with the tools to manage marker underwriting and repayments, ensuring money remains with the casino by tracking the marker in the patron’s digital account and collecting funds at the end of each gaming session.
The Marker Trax solution includes a mobile app and website that casino patrons use to apply for a marker and obtain a credit decision within minutes, replacing a manual marker-issuing process casinos have historically used that is time-consuming for patrons and labor intensive for casino cashiers.
After refining its concept in recent years, Marker Trax recently received approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Many prominent casino operators have committed to the Marker Trax program following the successful implementation of the solution at other casinos in California and Nevada. Marker Trax now is turning to Euronet and REN to deliver its digital marker management system to the broader North American and global casino market.
Once fully implemented in the Marker Trax cloud environment, REN will provide scalability for a growing user base and transaction speed for enhanced user experiences. REN will also power many key features in the Marker Trax solution including patron identity verifications, underwriting, payments processing, settlement, reporting and the enablement of communications between Marker Trax and disparate credit bureaus, payment gateways and bank systems.
“Our digital marker management system has been extremely well received by both casino patrons and operators in our initial rollout to the market,” said Gary Larkin, Chief Strategy Officer at Marker Trax. “Traditional markers reach about 1% of patrons but we see the potential to expand the availability to a majority of players through the convenience of our mobile digital marker system. As an emerging and fast-growing company, we also are extremely excited to be the first to leverage the fintech-enabling technology of REN in a new market vertical like gaming that needs an innovative platform to support its rapid transformation to a cashless environment.”
In addition to its improved settlement procedures that ensure marker funds are repaid to the casino, the Marker Trax system supports responsible gaming initiatives with the transparent management of each marker.
“When we searched for new vertical markets to apply REN, the gaming industry was high on our list as long as we could identify an innovator who saw the same opportunity for disruption,” said Kevin Caponecchi, Executive VP and CEO, epay, Software and EFT Asia Pacific Division. “With Marker Trax, we found the perfect partner for breaking into a new industry and the flexibility of REN fits perfectly into their plans for expanding the product offering over time as casinos push toward cashless gaming.”
Besides physical casinos, the REN-powered Marker Trax solution will be available to online casinos and sports betting operators that deliver gaming options through Web applications and smartphone apps.
Development of the REN-powered Marker Trax solution is underway with initial versions expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
Compliance Updates
OpenBet bolsters compliance technologies with the launch of geolocation product, OpenBet Locator™, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS)
OpenBet Locator™ provides a highly flexible, low latency and scalable alternative for global betting and gaming marketplace
OpenBet, a leading content, platform and service provider to the global betting industry, has bolstered its modular product portfolio with the launch of its new flexible and scalable geolocation product – OpenBet Locator™.
Built on the backbone of Amazon Web Services (AWS), OpenBet’s strategic cloud provider, OpenBet Locator™ is a low latency solution that enables operators worldwide to locate, promote to, and monitor customers, remaining fully compliant with regulatory requirements.
The technology strengthens OpenBet’s reputation for market-leading player protection and compliance following the company’s acquisition of Neccton in 2023. With OpenBet’s regulatory reach and multiple licenses, brands will be able to ensure seamless and swift integration of its trusted and compliant technology into their ecosystem.
Initially targeting the North American market, the solution will feature a number of components, such as:
- Fully flexible geo-fence management and high precision location tracking
- Fraud prevention combined with real-time virtual private network (VPN) and location spoofing detection
- Player targeting for customer relationship management (CRM), data analysis and in-venue promotions
- Multi-tenanted solution that supports travelling wallet
- Easy and flexible configuration options to streamline business operations workflows
The product is underpinned by OpenBet’s unrivalled expertise within the global betting industry and is designed to remove the friction of geolocation to the end-customer’s onboarding process.
Jordan Levin, CEO of OpenBet, said: “Introducing OpenBet Locator™ is an exciting move for us and takes our modular product offering to a new level. Built in-house and leveraging AWS technology, we have developed a strong proposition that can be tailored to meet unique business needs.
“As a pioneer within the global sports betting arena for over 25 years, we have an in-depth understanding of the challenges and opportunities operators face within highly regulated markets. OpenBet Locator™ is a scalable, compliant and dependable geolocation solution that removes the barriers to operators’ success.”
Compliance Updates
Gaming CEOs Optimistic on Industry Outlook, Report Evolving Industry Challenges
Amidst an evolving economic landscape, gaming executives report a positive outlook on future industry business conditions while remaining satisfied with the current business environment, according to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Gaming Industry Outlook.
Nearly all gaming executives surveyed characterized the current business environment as good (44%) or satisfactory (50%), mirroring similar sentiment from Q3 2023. Meanwhile, executives are more optimistic about future conditions, with 32 percent of CEOs expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months, up from 20 percent in Q3 2023.
“Gaming’s record-setting growth over the last three years has set a new standard for industry success,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “However, as we enter a period of market normalization, continued investment and innovation in offering world-class, responsible entertainment experiences will be required to maintain industry momentum.”
Gaming Executive Panel
Gaming executives have become more positive in their views that overall balance sheet health will improve over the next 6 months (42% net positive), but they expect the pace of revenue growth (13% net negative) and new hiring (22% net negative) to slow. These expectations for decelerating growth have influenced expectations for increases in capital investment and gaming units in operation, with smaller net positive sentiments than before.
- In contrast to past Outlooks, gaming equipment suppliers are slightly pessimistic about the sale of gaming units for replacement use and new or expansion use (both 13% net negative). However, they remain optimistic about the pace of capital investment (38% net positive).
- Half of operator CEOs expect capital investments in hotels over the next year to be higher than normal, and compared to last fall, more also expect higher than normal levels of capital investment in meetings and conventions and table games (28%). Meanwhile, 44 percent of CEOs expect increases in food and beverage investment, down from 67 percent in Q3 2023.
These expectations are also informed by evolving macroeconomic challenges. Executives report that inflationary or interest rate concerns continue to be a major factor limiting operations (28%), but these have been overtaken by geo-political risk (34%) and uncertainty of the economic environment (34%) as the biggest limiting factors in the most recent Gaming Executive Panel.
Current Conditions Index
The Current Conditions Index of 102.8 for Q1 indicates solid annualized real economic growth in the industry of 2.8%. This includes gaming revenue, employment and employee wages and salaries. Notably, the Current Conditions Index shows gaming expanding faster than the overall U.S. economy which last week reported 1.6 percent GDP growth in Q1 2024.
Future Conditions Index
The Future Conditions Index stands at 102.2, indicating annualized industry economic activity, after controlling for underlying inflation, is expected to moderately increase over the next six months. This outlook reflects Oxford Economics’ forecast that the U.S. economy will slow during 2024 but avoid recession. Despite a projected economic slowdown, consumer survey results continue to indicate that more than one-third of adults expect to visit a casino during the next 12 months, consistent with prior quarter results.
About the Outlook
The AGA Gaming Industry Outlook is prepared biannually by Oxford Economics. It provides a timely measure of recent industry growth and future expectations. The Q1 2024 survey was conducted between March 28 – April 10, 2024. A total of 32 executives responded, including executives at the major international and domestic gaming companies, tribal gaming operators, single-unit casino operators, major gaming equipment suppliers, and major iGaming and/or sports betting operators.
Gambling in the USA
Colorado Launches Illegal Gambling Awareness Campaign
The Colorado Division of Gambling has launched a new illegal gambling awareness campaign.
The “Play Legit. Gamble Only Where Legal.” campaign aims to educate the public about the risks associated with illegal gambling and the importance of supporting regulated gaming venues.
The campaign emphasizes legal gambling options, including casinos in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek, as well as online sports betting and off-track betting.
“With many certified and legal gambling sites available, it’s never worth it to put yourself in danger. Together, let’s play by the rules and ensure that Colorado remains a safe and responsible gaming destination. By recognizing and preventing illegal gambling, we all win,” Chris Schroder, Director of the Colorado Division of Gaming, said.
In Colorado, gambling opportunities abound, but not all are legal. Illegal gambling operations not only fail to protect players but can also serve as a breeding ground for serious crimes, including fraud, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and burglary, posing a threat to public safety and community well-being. Participants in illegal gambling activities also compromise personal and financial information, putting individuals at risk of identity theft, unreliable payouts, and potential legal consequences, such as fines and imprisonment.
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