The gambling and gaming juggernaut, Aristocrat, will be the first one to test cashless pokies in New South Wales.
A Newcastle club will have the honour to be the first to feature these cashless poker machines, which represent an attempt to stop tax dodgers and criminals. Additionally, they will deal with problem gambling as they also feature money limits and caps on gaming sessions.
The first trial will begin in September, and it will feature real-time messaging to both players and marshals.
The club, Wests Newcastle, firmly believes the trial will continue the club’s commitment to the welfare of its visitors. CEO Phil Gardner has also stated that the club’s members will get the ability to use their mobile wallets to pay for their membership, meals, and games, something the industry has yet to witness.
Naturally, the method would still require proof of identity. Privacy and security are essential elements of this venture, so you can expect to see only top-level data security features in motion.
The customer service minister, Victor Dominello, has welcomed the trial fully. He stated that it would help both problem gambling and money laundering, the biggest problems of the gambling industry.
At the same time, Aristocrat recorded a 28.9% jump in online purchases. The leap is recorded during a six-month phase, concurrent with March, and it is mainly attributed to the pandemic and gamers having to spend time in their homes.
Aristocrat stated that the upsurge is present in all of their offerings, including casino games, puzzles, and role-playing titles.
The growth spurt has got the company to issue an interim dividend of 15 cents after the year in which it didn’t pay the dividend.
The stock price reached $40.70, an all-time high, and a significant number after a sizable drop in the early days of the pandemic. Furthermore, net profits have dived 73.5% while NPATA (normalised profits after tax and before amortisation) rose 11.8%.
The pandemic has also had a significant effect on Aristocrat. The company felt the impact, especially in its US-based operations. It resigned on 1,000 staff positions, cut around 200 additional roles and turned 200 full-time ones into part-time jobs. However, revenues have mostly stabilised as of late in the land-based sector.
Thankfully for the giant, profits in Australia and New Zealand have been sizable, jumping by 10% and reaching $85.1 million, despite the losses in other regions.
The chief executive officer and managing director of Aristocrat, Trevor Croker, believes uncertain times and volatile conditions are still ahead.
However, he also stated the company is closely watching the key factors and believes they are entering the second half of fiscal 2021 in great momentum. The company has witnessed enough growth to continue investing and expanding in the months to come.
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