Inside Asian Gaming

MEI A s long as cash remains king for people wagering on casino games, then high quality bill validators and soft count technology will play a vital role in boosting the efficiency and profitability of casino operators says global technology company MEI. MEI, based in in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in the United States, claims the world’s largest installed base of unattended payment systems, handling over two billion transactions per week in more than 100 countries. It has added to that installed base by rapidly building its market share of cash handling equipment for the casino sector. In the Asian casino industry it has done this in only a few years almost from a standing start. “We were a newcomer in Asian casino markets, starting four years ago,” says Edmond Tang, MEI’s Sales Manager— Gaming/Retail, Asia Pacific Region. Expansion “At that time we had a market share of maybe less than5%.Wegradually introduced our products into the Macau casinos and we’re pleased to say that because of the strength of the products they have been widely accepted by professionals in the industry and we have built up our market share—over four to five years—to 50% plus in Macau. That’s a huge achievement. Our customers in Macau include The Venetian and MGM Macau.” The cornerstone of that achievement is the reputation for accuracy and reliability won by MEI’s CASHFLOW® SC bill validator and by the company’s EASITRAX® Soft Count. EASITRAX allows casino floor staff to check quickly and reliably what’s in the drop boxes and crucially helps casinomanagements stay in compliance with the stringent financial reporting rules imposed on the modern industry by regulators. “Our core business is security and acceptance,” says Tom Nugent, MEI’s President - Gaming. “The CASHFLOW SC bill validator’s success illustrates MEI’s leadership in those areas and its importance to the industry. EASITRAX Soft Count extends the application of our knowledge—enabling casinos to make their cash management process more efficient.” MEI’s sales success in Asia is strongly linked to the fact it grasped a fundamental dynamic of purchasing behaviour existing throughout the casino industry. This is that casino executives tend to be naturally cautious about switching from one technology supplier to another unless the benefits can be proven up front. Market proven To satisfy this need, MEI introduced the concept of Value Added Trials—also known as ‘VAT’. “Our ‘VAT’ system allows customers to trial our products in parallel with those of our competitors for a couple of months before they purchase them,” explains JeanMarie Decker, Marketing Manager. “We invite operators to run a trial of MEI’s note validator product in a bank of six to 12 slot machines alongside a bank of slot machines using the casino’s existing bill validator system.” The results quickly tell in terms of building MEI’s sales in Asia, says Edmond Tang. “Two years ago we introduced the EASITRAX system at Genting’s Resorts World Manila. At the beginning we had very little market share—about 15%. But after they started to use our product, we increased our market share so that now Noted Success MEI’s rapid growth in Asia’s competitive casino bill validator market is no accident Head turner—the one millionth unit of CASHFLOW SC with model Holly Madison Edmond Tang Tom Nugent INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | June 2011 78