Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, confirmed Tuesday the government is encouraging Macau’s concessionaires to use RFID technology to calculate the betting turnover of foreign gaming customers.
The Macau government announced at the end of 2022 that Macau’s concessionaires can receive a tax deduction of up to 5% on gross gaming revenues if they successfully recruit foreign gamblers. The government has also enacted legislation to regulate the matter.
Initially, concessionaires had established dedicated foreigner-only gaming areas to facilitate the calculation of betting turnover from international customers. However, MGM Resorts CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle recently revealed that these zones had failed to appeal to the foreign customer base.
At a Legislative Assembly (AL) meeting on Monday night, Legislative Council member Ron Lam asked Lei about the issue of foreign gamblers.
In response, Lei confirmed that the government was encouraging concessionaires to establish RFID gaming on their casino floors.
“The government is also installing relevant equipment to facilitate the calculation of bets placed by foreign bettors,” he said. “The government will monitor and approve the system.”
Most Macau concessionaires are already in the process of installing smart table systems, although MGM is well ahead of the game after putting the technology into play as early as 2018.
IAG understands that five of Macau’s six concessionaires will utilize the RFID technology of Walker Digital Table Systems while one is looking to use that of Angel.
According to a recent report by investment bank Morgan Stanley, “MGM’s competitors will take some time to fully optimize their systems after installation, suggesting that MGM’s advantage will be maintained until at least the end of 2024.”
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