How Resorts World Las Vegas Is Bringing Digital Disbursements, Payments To In-Person Betting

Health and public safety guidelines prompted consumers to scale back their brick-and-mortar spending over the past year, drastically affecting cash flows in industries such as betting and gambling that still rely on in-person customers for the bulk of their revenues. Consumers are finally returning to physical merchants as vaccination rates rise and locations reopen, but they are now bringing with them the payment preferences they developed over the past 16 months. It is undeniable that they have begun to expect digital-first methods when it comes to making payments and receiving disbursements.

This means that supporting emerging, digital-first methods and other technologies that offer in-person convenience to consumers will be key for brick-and-mortar retailers going forward. This also explains why digital-first disbursements and other payment technologies are critical factors for Resorts World Las Vegas, the newest casino to open its doors on the Vegas Strip, explained Rick Hutchins, its senior vice president of casino operations.

“It has been nearly 10 years since a major resort opened on the Las Vegas Strip, and one of our key priorities was to bring the latest innovations to the property with a key focus on digital,” he said. “We not only want to meet the latest trends in the consumer economy, but to deliver a more efficient and streamlined guest experience.”

Addressing consumers’ digital disbursement demands could give the casino crucial advantages over its competitors as gamblers and visitors return to the Vegas Strip. Hutchins explained that casinos and resorts must not overlook the convenience of digital-first disbursements and their importance to customers.

“Access to funds, whether it be winnings or to play with, is all about creating a convenient process that aligns with consumer preferences,” he said. “Where it applies to cashless wagering, casino systems should seamlessly integrate with financial instruments to allow for transference of winnings.”

Offering seamless online and in-person experiences is one way to stand out among much more established players, especially as consumers’ preferences for digital disbursement methods grow across channels.

Supplanting The Cash-First Casino Reality

Resorts World Las Vegas and its competitors are struggling to shake off the past year’s economic consequences. Resorts World is pulling out many of the same stops as other casinos, including boasting a respectable roster of performers and providing luxury accommodations. It is also outfitting its gaming area with radio-frequency identification chips and is allowing consumers to pay using mobile and digital-first methods. This represents a significant shift from the industry norm.

“The gaming industry is widely known as a cash-forward business,” Hutchins said. “It is critically important that the gaming industry moves quickly to build capabilities to adapt to the constantly changing behaviors that are being adopted in the broader economy. If the gaming industry chose not to adopt this new technology, it would find itself losing out on customers that have become strong adopters of a cashless environment.”

Digital kiosks and mobile payments are not new innovations, Hutchins admitted, but incorporating these methods into the betting experience does represent a step toward creating a digital-first — if not fully cashless — physical gaming experience. Guests can use the casino’s GamingPlay mobile app for everything from betting to accessing the casino’s loyalty program, creating a bridge between in-person entertainment and physical play. Players can connect the app to their bank accounts, credit cards or PayPal accounts to move money. This functionality also extends to giving customers disbursements that flow seamlessly into their gaming wallets.

“This cashless wagering is fully end to end, where a guest can use the app to log into any slot machine or table game, fund the game with money from their GamingPlay wallet, and cash out and return any winnings into their GamingPlay wallet,” Hutchins said.

The resort also sees digital disbursements as a way to break down some of the existing walls between in-person and digital payouts to give customers a truly omnichannel experience. Hutchins explained that in the future, guests will be able to disburse funds from their cashless wagering accounts at any on-site ATMs, for example.

Mobile’s Role In Omnichannel Payments

Casinos must continue to monitor consumers’ evolving payment needs. Cash still dominates the space, but mobile-optimized solutions that offer omnichannel experiences will likely slowly replace more traditional payment methods.

“Cashless wagering is in its infancy in the brick-and-mortar gaming industry,” Hutchins said. “Technology solutions, as well as payment methods, will continue to improve in an effort to create a friction-free experience for guests, all while promoting responsibility. I envision a solution that is … similar to an Apple Pay ‘tap-to-play’ solution, albeit a little ways down the road.”

Supporting digital-first payment methods and disbursement options within brick-and-mortar environments will almost certainly become more important for casinos and other merchants in the years ahead. Offering the digital payments and disbursement experiences that gambling aficionados expect will be key to keeping their cash in play — in person or otherwise.