Public Gaming March/April 2023

The number of cashless purchases at retail continues to increase, and the average lottery basket size is more than 50% higher than cash purchases. Cashless is also bringing new players to the games. And it is the reason Scientic Games has continued integrating cashless solutions across the company’s entire line of retail technology “We are ensuring that our products for brick-and-mortar retail are built to adapt to the current environment while looking to the future,” explained Martin. With more consumers joining the ‘cashless’ economy, in less than a decade the number of Americans who go cashless has increased by doubledigits according to the Pew Research Center. Today, 41% of Americans say none of their purchases in a typical week are paid with cash. And with consumers glued to their mobile phones – sometimes even while shopping in-store – it is no surprise that 79% of consumers make purchases directly from their mobile devices. Most recently, the Pennsylvania Lottery reached $1 billion in retail cashless sales since cashless launched in the state. “The Pennsylvania Lottery recognizes that the world is evolving into a cashless society,” said Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. “As part of our modernization e”orts, all our vending equipment and point-of-sale terminals are expected to o”er cashless options within 18 months. Cashless payment options provide great convenience and player engagement, but also drive responsible growth, which drives prots to support programs that benet older Pennsylvanians every day.” Cashless is King In 2016, when Scientic Games introduced PlayCentral, it was the lottery industry’s rst payment card industry (PCI) compliant player selfservice technology. At the time, the National Association of Convenience Stores reported that 40% of convenience store transactions were credit and debit card purchases. Today, it is more than 73%. PlayCentral self-service machines initially launched in Pennsylvania, winning the company Walmart Services Division’s 2019 Supplier of the Year Award. Today, there are more than 13,000 units at lottery retailers across the U.S. The technology recently debuted in Canada to serve Atlantic Lottery players and it is being piloted in Germany. Now the company has added SCiQ technology to these powerhouse self-service machines, bringing all the advantages of SCiQ to PlayCentral. O”ering both draw and instant scratch games in an online shopping cart purchase experience, the šagship machine features up to 40 instant games – and now, advanced software that helps connect data. Always aligned with its players, the Pennsylvania Lottery has deployed PlayCentral Powered by SCiQ at retailers throughout the state. Locations with the advanced machines saw 19% sales increase 90 days after installation vs. the previous 90 days. In Step with Consumers

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