Slots Testing “Digital Wallet” in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is trying to get frequent customers to put money in a casino account which could be used for gambling (mostly slots), food, shows, and rooms.

Does this sound a little strange …. as credit cards have been around for a long time and are used in many ATM casino machines for the same thing?

Well … a local Las Vegas Boyd casino is testing this “put your money in a casino account”… out at the Aliante Casino in the Northwest Las Vegas area. The article indicates that your phone is your “digital wallet.”

The concept reasoning indicates that …. ” wallet will enable customers to avoid “the wait times and inconveniences associated with using cash” ….

Article Link by Mark Pearson(February 16,2021)

https://www.vegasslotsonline.com/ne...o-starts-field-trial-at-aliante-casino-vegas/

 

Yes it has merit and with this COVID thing cash is drying up fast. As an example I have a cage account when COVID was at its peak here and the casino had to close due to government etc and guess what they had my money for there own use for a number of months as we could not access it. You multiply that by a few hundred accounts plus at many thousands of dollars. So yes next peak event they have to close again, they have access to cash they are holding on your behalf, yes you see why they push it. Etc.
Apart from COVID it’s a good tool for me and has merit for me. Cheers

 

Punkcity

Thanks for your feedback it pointing out some disadvantages and advantages.

I suspect there are other pros and cons on this issue … as I remain a little skeptical of the casino’s true motivation.

As you pointed out the casinos holding your money and others … has value to them. I believe for being a loyal customer the casino should be providing additional benefits or discounts.

The ease of what the Boyd Gaming Chief Information Officer Blake Rampmaie states … “ By going cashless, our customers will be able to avoid the wait times and inconveniences associated with using cash and focus on enjoying their visit to our properties,” ….

It seems like “Cash is no longer King.”

However, I can see where this “digital wallet” arrangement may be beneficial ... where access to only a few casinos may be advantageous.

With Las Vegas having over 40 different casinos to choose from … loyalty play can be a difficult decision unless they made it an offer you can’t refuse.

Tinhorn Gambler

 

I have been testing and using the Boyd cashless app. Personally I like it, but the setup instructions and interface need work. Few things to know that were my instructions:
- You have to download the app and go through a signup process that is pretty standard for any app. The app is not owned by Boyd but by a company called Play Plus where you create your account. They run the app and handle all the money transfer stuff, even though their interface is built into the Boyd app.
- You have to fill out a paper form at the cage and verify identity
- You can load money into the app from any online banking login or from Paypal. These seem to be zero fee for the moment (though the guide says there is a fee, I wasn't charged one) or from a credit card but there can be up to an 8% fee (didn't try this).
- Once the money is in the app, you click a button to move it into an wallet (another folder) that can interact with the machine.
- From there it's navigating menus on the player card screen. App links up to the machine with Bluetooth, and you can dump any amount in the app wallet to the machine.
- To get money off the machine (that you added from the app or by cash) you can either pull your player card and anything on the machine auto transfers back to the app, or use the screen menu to do a transfer. If you walk more than a few feet away from a machine it auto dumps any funds back to the app
- Any funds put on the machine from the app can also be cashed out to a regular ticket and turned back into cash, so pretty seemless overall.
- As long as there continue to be no fees for direct debit to checking/paypal, it's better than paying ATM fees, even if you just dump the money onto a machine and turn it into cash with a ticket cash out.