In a contract worth more than R12 million, Sun International has purchased a total of 60 smart cashiers from the Gaming and Entertainment division of Velocit-e.
This was confirmed by Dennis Meyer, a director of Velocit-e, who said the Smart Cashiers - designed locally by the company - have been installed at Carnival City and are currently being rolled-out to Grand West casino in Cape Town, and Boardwalk in Port Elizabeth.
He said there is a potential for further Smart Cashier purchases by Sun International.
Sun International`s roll-out of Velocit-e`s Smart Cashiers is part of the gambling and entertainment group`s aim to create a cashless casino environment for its patrons.
Carnival City recently became what is believed to be the first cashless casino when, during the fourth quarter of last year, it installed Card Redemption Machines (CRM) and Smart Cashiers from Velocit-e.
"By going this route, the casino became the first casino in the world where a smart card system is operational, benefiting their patrons by increased security as winnings are transferred to the smart card which can be PIN secured."
Explaining further, Meyer said that when entering a smart-card operated Sun International casino, every customer is issued with a smart card. A gambler then goes to any slot machine, inserts the card as well as the amount of cash they intend gambling with - this amount is then credited to the electronic purse on the card. The slot machine now operates in the normal fashion. Wins and losses are credited or debited to the slot machine. On pressing `Cash Out`, all credits are automatically transferred from the machine to the card.
"When the customer requires a withdrawal of money from the card, as an alternative to performing a withdrawl transaction from a traditional cashier at the cash desk, he or she can go to a Smart Cashier, place the card in the reader and be given the current options, such as the ability to make a total or partial withdrawal, request a balance enquiry, or transfer funds to another gaming card.
The Smart Cashier, said Meyer, is capable of a lot more functionality, including the facility to accept notes to load gaming cards; transfer funds from any bank account to the smart card and back to the bank account; dispense and load gaming cards; and perform basic ATM functions, such as obtaining bank statements, and withdrawing cash. This additional functionality will be rolled-out on Sun Internationals request.
"Because of the staggering array of functionality available on the Smart Cashier," Sun International chose it as a standard, recently purchasing it for other casinos, including Grand West and Boardwalk."
Meyer said the company was also recently contracted by Sun International to develop the software interface to the propriety casino management and hi-tech surveillance systems at Carnival City.
"The Smart Cashier is the first piece of automated teller hardware that has been developed specifically for the gaming environment."
The Smart Cashiers can also be modified for use by banks as powerful, multi-purpose ATMs.
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