Inside Asian Gaming

August 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 15 Feature like paper (in triplicate) with a unique identifying number. The customer would then take the coupon to the cashier’s cage. The cashier would confirm the customer’s identification, verify the amount, verify the redemption on a computer terminal and then give the customer their cash. A security camera would record the transaction. The coupon would then be sent to revenue audit where the transaction would be reconciled. The total amount of cash issued for points would appear on the next day’s daily operating report and the monthly income statement as an expense, charged to either the slot department or players club. Point redemptions for free play are, for the most part, electronic. A customer can simply insert their players’ club card into a slot machine, enter their personal identification number, and convert points to free play. Some casinos, because of system limitations, make customers stop by the rewards center to verify their accounts before issuing free play. The former is far more convenient for both the customer and casino operator and requires far less labor. There of course is an audit trail and the total amount of points redeemed may be accounted for in a contra revenue account or by some other revenue audit process. Since it is no longer a cash expense, points redeemed for free play do not have to appear on the daily operating report or the income statement. The cost of point redemptions can now easily fade from view. Now compare a promotion that offers cash with one that offers free play. For example, casino marketing decides to offer new members $10 if a customer brings in a coupon from a local newspaper. In a cash redemption setting, this promotion would require some kind of documentation before implementation. This may be in the form of a proposal form that requires the signature of the general manager. Once approved, ads would be created, coupons would be printed and an internal control process to issue, redeem and account for the $10 rewards would be designed. Memos would then be distributed to the cage manager, accounting department and others along with samples of the ads. Newmembers would be required to present identification at the rewards center; enrolled into the system, issued a coupon, which would then be presented to the cashier’s cage for redemption. Once again, those redeemed coupons would be audited and recorded in an account titled New Member promotion. With electronic free play, the process is different. To create a promotion that rewards customers with free play, one must have access to an electronic marketing module in the casino management system and a “permission” to create a promotion. Normally those permissions are issued by the IT director to either a promotions manager or marketing director. Since there is no cash involved, the whole promotions approval process described above is easily