Scientific Games introduced its new PlayCentral® 54 terminal to a standing-room only crowd in the company’s private SciQ™ exhibit at NASPL 2017. The compact PlayCentral 54 is the newest addition to an industry-leading line of cashless-ready retailer terminals that have received Payment Card Industry (PCI) certification for credit/debit card processing through Scientific Games’ AEGIS® system.
Building on the tremendous success of the PlayCentral, PlayCentral HD and PlayCentral EX terminals, PlayCentral 54 is the company’s latest touchscreen self-service terminal accepting cashless payments. At just 54” tall, the powerful new terminal accommodates the trend of increasingly open floor plans within retail outlets and big-box stores.
Compact Size for Prime Locations
“One size does not fit all,” explained Robbie Asendorf, Manager, Retail Products Marketing, Scientific Games. “Just as we’ve created multiple terminal styles to meet the needs of retail clerks, PlayCentral 54 adapts to the self-service environmental needs of retailers. Its compact size enables deployment in prime locations with steady foot traffic, without compromising sight lines in the store. It can be installed near windows without blocking the view.”
The PlayCentral 54 terminal offers an impressive assortment of lottery game types, including 16 instant games and all draw games—including high-frequency games like Keno and FastPlay™ instant-win games.
U.S. Industry’s First Cashless Payments
In May 2016, Scientific Games led the U.S. lottery industry into cashless payments, processing the first card-based payment through a lottery system with its WAVE retailer terminal and PlayCentral HD self-service terminal. The company’s solution was also the first to be PCI-certified in June 2016. In fact, all PlayCentral machines have gone through a stringent review process to receive the official PCI Data Security Standard certification, for processing credit/debit card payments through the AEGIS system.
Like PlayCentral HD, PlayCentral 54 accommodates debit and credit cards, as well as mobile payment options like Android Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Additionally, the company’s cashless payment solution features card processing terminals that are Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) compliant for financial security standards.
“Maintaining the highest levels of security and integrity for our games, technology and the player’s purchasing experience is imperative for Scientific Games,” said Asendorf. “End-to-end, from the terminal to the host system through the payment processor, these terminals have been tested and certified by PCI.”
A 2016 survey of payment preferences shows that 35% of consumers prefer to pay for purchases with a debit card and 40% prefer to use a credit card. Only 10% of Americans exclusively use cash.
“Whether or not a lottery is planning to accept cashless payments in the future, we already have it ready,” said Asendorf. “Our PlayCentral software allows players to ‘touch and buy’ or shop using a shopping cart. The cart provides a familiar shopping process for players, but is also necessary for cashless transactions. So transitioning to cashless payments won’t change the user experience at all.”
The Results Are In
In September 2017, the Pennsylvania Lottery launched a pilot for the PlayCentral 54 terminal offering debit card payments to players, and instantly experienced a high player acceptance rate and impressive week-over-week growth in sales.
“The initial results of the pilot are very encouraging,” said Asendorf. “The compact design of the PlayCentral 54 terminal makes it versatile for smaller convenience stores or newer retail concepts. We plan to expand the pilot and offer the terminal at more Pennsylvania Lottery retailers.”
Scientific Games invests in consumer research and insights to inform its innovation. Asendorf said that the entire line of PlayCentral terminals will continue to adapt with consumer preferences. Much like the operating system on a smartphone, the software powering the self-service machine is easily updated to grow, refine offerings and add features.
“We developed the unique ‘shopping cart’ functionality of PlayCentral terminals through focus groups,” he explained. “Younger adult consumers frequently shop online, and they were asking for an Amazon-like online shopping experience where they could place items in a cart and continue shopping before finalizing their purchases. We expect more shopper insights into the workflow and user interface to come from our research and be incorporated into future software updates.”
“Our proven experience with self-service and cashless lottery transactions can help lotteries raise more funds to benefit great causes in their state or province,” shared Asendorf while giving demonstrations at NASPL 2017.
