PGIJANFEBMAGAZINE2021a

24 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 Paul Jason: What is IGT doing to support lotteries as the pandemic stretches on? Michelle Carney: From the start we’ve worked closely with customers to solve specific pandemic-related challenges, whether related to points of access, safety protocols, draw and instant sales, payments and more. There’s really been a wide range of targeted needs, depending on the jurisdiction globally. In some cases, we’ve helped customers with solutions to mitigate temporary store closures or suspended sales at social- environment retailers. In other cases, it was necessary to extend prize-claim periods to help lotteries better accommodate players, or adjust settlement rules to prevent retailers from being charged for unsold tickets during closures or lockdowns. Among dozens of examples, our goal has been to support customers through the challenges and help ensure that their business operations continue on all fronts. As time has gone on, operators are also revisiting their modernization plans and efforts. We’ve all seen how the pandemic accelerated consumer acceptance for digital solutions in everything from payments to QR codes to play slips, and everyone has new hygiene and safety concerns. The expectation is that some new preferences and behaviors will remain in effect when the pandemic recedes. Operators understand that it’s an opportunity to offer a more contactless player journey at retail and transform other aspects of the player experience with digital solutions, even for lotteries that cannot yet sell digital tickets. As an industry, we’ve been talking about this evolution for a while. IGT believes it’s even more important to consider now as part of long-term business planning, and we see our role in supporting this effort as being “Future Forward, Results Driven.” What do you mean by Future Forward? M. Carney: Prior to the pandemic, we were already working with customers to pursue some of these op- portunities – to sell in more locations and reach more potential players, and to meet changing retail and consumer demands. In the past 18 months we have brought to market products that improve the accessibility and convenience of lottery games. With self-service, this meant developing an award- winning new vending terminal, the GameTouch™ 20, to meet the requirements of the world’s largest retailer, with about 1,900 units now deployed across 15 jurisdictions. We have deployed more than 1,800 GameTouch™ Draw machines with a slimline profile to enable self-service sales of draw games in more retail and social environments. IGT also now has over 13,000 GameTouch™ 28 self-service vending units in the field, with new GUIs and attract PGRI INTERVIEWS PGRI Introduction: The long exit from the coronavirus pandemic presents not only challenges but a vital opportunity. Lotteries can use this period to emerge stronger by advancing plans to accelerate retail modernization and employ solutions that also address Covid-related health and safety concerns. Michelle Carney discusses how the company is positioning itself to support lottery customers in this effort to move forward. Michelle Carney Vice President Global Lottery Marketing, IGT