Patent Application
20240169356
In various embodiments, the systems and methods of the present disclosure utilizes on-demand funding of a pre-paid account associated with a pre-paid debit card to access funds maintained in one or more gaming establishment accounts associated with a user.
Casinos are associated with multiple different channels of commerce including gaming activities (e.g., wagers on plays of games at electronic gaming machines and gaming tables) and non-gaming activities (e.g., making retail purchases at point-of-sale terminals throughout the casino).
In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a system including a processor, and a memory device that stores a plurality of instructions. When executed by the processor responsive to a receipt, from a component of a debit card issuer, of data associated with an authorized refund transaction initiated in association with a debit card at a point-of-sale terminal, the instructions cause the processor to automatically transfer an amount of funds associated with the authorized refund transaction to an account associated with the debit card, wherein the debit card is associated with a gaming establishment account and the gaming establishment account is independent of the account associated with the debit card, and communicate a notification to the point-of-sale terminal of a completion of the authorized refund transaction.
In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a system including a processor, and a memory device that stores a plurality of instructions. When executed by the processor responsive to a receipt, from a component of a debit card issuer, of data associated with a refund transaction initiated in association with a debit card at a point-of-sale terminal, the instructions cause the processor to determine: whether to accept the refund transaction in association with a gaming establishment account, and if the refund transaction complies with a debit card usage control associated with the gaming establishment account. When executed by the processor responsive to a determination to accept the refund transaction in association with the gaming establishment account and the refund transaction complying with the debit card usage control, the instructions cause the processor to automatically transfer an amount of funds associated with the refund transaction to an account associated with the debit card, the account associated with the debit card being distinct from the gaming establishment account, and communicate an authorization to the component of the debit card issuer to notify the point-of-sale terminal to complete the refund transaction. When executed by the processor responsive to the determination to accept the refund transaction in association with the gaming establishment account and the refund transaction being in violation of the debit card usage control, the instructions cause the processor to communicate a denial to the component of the debit card issuer to notify the point-of-sale terminal to deny the refund transaction. When executed by the processor responsive to a determination not to accept the refund transaction in association with the gaming establishment account, the instructions cause the processor to communicate the denial to the component of the debit card issuer to notify the point-of-sale terminal to deny the refund transaction.
In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a method of operating a system. Responsive to a receipt, from a component of a debit card issuer, of data associated with an authorized refund transaction initiated in association with a debit card at a point-of-sale terminal, the method includes automatically transferring, by a processor, an amount of funds associated with the authorized refund transaction to an account associated with the debit card, wherein the debit card is associated with a gaming establishment account and the gaming establishment account is independent of the account associated with the debit card, and communicating a notification to the point-of-sale terminal of a completion of the authorized refund transaction.
Additional features are described herein, and will be apparent from the following Detailed Description and the figures.
In various embodiments, the systems and methods of the present disclosure utilizes on-demand funding of a pre-paid account associated with a pre-paid debit card to access funds maintained in one or more gaming establishment accounts associated with a user.
In certain embodiments, the system of the present disclosure integrates or otherwise links a debit card associated with an account with one or more gaming establishment accounts maintained by a gaming establishment fund management system. The debit card is operable with a network payment processor to enable financial transactions at a retailer remote and independent from any gaming establishments. In these embodiments, responsive to an approval of a debit card initiated transaction, the system of the present disclosure funds a pre-paid debit card account associated with the debit card. Such an automatic on-demand funding enables the use of a debit card to initiate a transaction wherein the account associated with the debit card is funded, in real-time and exclusively in association with the debit card initiated transaction, using funds destined to or withdrawn from a gaming establishment account (that is separate and distinct from the account associated with the debit card).
In operation of certain embodiments, upon a component of a financial institution that issues a debit card receiving a request for a debit card initiated transaction occurring remote from a gaming establishment, the component of the financial institution (e.g., a server of a debit card issuer) interacts with a component of a gaming establishment fund management system (and/or a component of a retail point-of-sale system) to determine whether or not to authorize the requested debit card initiated transaction. If the requested debit card initiated transaction is authorized, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system (and/or the component of the retail point-of-sale system) operates with the component of the financial institution to then transfer (or designate for transfer) funds to the account associated with the debit card. Following such on-demand funding of the account associated with the debit card, the financial institution notifies the point-of-sale terminal of the approval of the transaction such that the point-of-sale terminal is authorized to complete the attempted transaction. In addition to automatically funding the account associated with the debit card to facilitate the attempted transaction, upon an occurrence of a settlement event (which may occur contemporaneously with the authorized transaction or subsequent to the authorized transaction), the funds are transferred from the account associated with the debit card to a destination account, such as an account associated with the retailer or the gaming establishment account. Accordingly, the pre-paid account associated with the pre-paid debit card operates as a temporary escrow account in which funds are automatically transferred to after an authorization of a debit card initiated transaction occurs. As such, the account associated with the debit card does not operate as an extended duration storage of any funds, but rather operates as a limited duration holding account until such funds are subsequently transferred to one or more destination accounts associated with the authorized transaction. Such a configuration enables funds maintained in a gaming establishment account to be accessed in association with a purchase transaction using a debit card issued by a financial institution wherein the funds are transferred, in real time, from a gaming establishment account to a pre-paid debit card account maintained by the financial institution without the need to wait for any fund transfer to be completed (or alternatively pay various surcharge fees to expedite any fund transfers).
It should be appreciated that unlike prior payment solutions in which if a user wants to access their funds held in a casino account at a retail establishment outside of the casino, the user needs to first manually transfer their funds to a bank account (after which the user can then pay at that retail establishment outside of the casino using a debit card or credit card associated with their bank account), or alternatively first manually transfer their funds to an electronic wallet (after which the user can use a pre-paid debit card associated with their electronic wallet to pay at that retail establishment outside of the casino), the present disclosure enables a user to maintain their funds in a casino account while still availing themselves of the use of a debit card (issued separate from the casino) for purchases made outside of the casino. In these embodiments, by employing just-in-time funding in which funds held in a gaming establishment account are automatically transferred, in real time and responsive to a transaction already being approved, to an account associated with a debit card, the system of the present disclosure enables the user to realize the benefits of maintaining funds in a gaming establishment account while still having access to such funds when needed. In other words, by integrating a pre-paid open-loop debit card with on-demand funding from one or more gaming establishment accounts, the present disclosure enables such a debit card to function as an interface to remotely access funds from such gaming establishment accounts via the temporary involvement of an account associated with that debit card. Such a configuration thus enables a user with funds in a gaming establishment account, such as a cashless wagering account, to access the network payment processors accessible with a debit card without needing to manually arrange a pre-set transfer of any amounts of funds from the gaming establishment account to another account associated with the debit card to gain such access. Such a configuration saves users time (e.g., no time needs to be spent transferring funds from a gaming establishment account to a banking account associated with a debit card or waiting a dedicated amount of time for such a transfer to be completed) and offers operational efficiencies (e.g., reducing the number of touchpoints funds must flow through before they may be used) compared to prior payment solutions involving funds in a casino account.
In certain embodiments, following the issuance of a pre-paid debit card by a debit card issuer (e.g., a financial institution) to a user whom the gaming establishment fund management system maintains one or more gaming establishment accounts for and upon an attempted retail transaction (e.g., an attempted purchase and/or refund at a retailer) employing the debit card as the gateway to access the gaming establishment account, a component of the debit card issuer system operates with a component of the gaming establishment fund management system and/or a component of the retail point-of-sale system to determine whether or not to complete the attempted retail transaction. If the determination is not to complete the attempted retail transaction, such as because the attempted retail transaction is not in compliance with one or more debit card usage controls or limits on transactions employing the debit card and/or because the attempted retail transaction is flagged by a component of one of the involved systems as a potential money laundering transaction, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the component of the retail point-of-sale system operate to deny the attempted retail transaction. On the other hand, if the determination is to complete the attempted retail transaction, the component of the debit card issuer system operates with the component of the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the component of the retail point-of-sale system to complete the transaction by causing an amount of funds associated with the authorized transaction to be transferred, just in time to complete the transaction, to an account associated with the debit card. Such an account is employed exclusively to fund purchases (and/or process refunds) and does not otherwise receive any funds in association with any user initiated fund transfers (i.e., the account operates as a settlement account and not as an account that holds any funds independent of the requested transactions). In addition to funding the account associated with the debit card responsive to an authorization to complete the retail transaction, upon an occurrence of a settlement event, the component of the debit card issuer system operates with the component of the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the component of the retail point-of-sale system to cause a transfer of funds between the account associated with the debit card and an account maintained by the gaming establishment fund management system (or an account associated with the retailer).
It should be appreciated that in these embodiments, any attempted retail transaction to use funds held in a gaming establishment account and employing the debit card originates from the use of the debit card itself (or from a component of the debit card issuer system) and not from the gaming establishment fund management system. In other words, the transactions funded by one or more gaming establishment accounts maintained by one or more gaming establishment fund management systems are initiated via the debit card issuer system responsive to the use of the debit card. It should be further appreciated that in these embodiments, the account associated with the pre-paid debit card operates as a short-term escrow account until such funds are subsequently transferred to a destination account in association with a settlement event (i.e., the account associated with the debit card represents a limited duration destination for funds as such funds move to/from a gaming establishment account, such as a cashless wagering account). Such a configuration provides that unlike prior payment solutions in which funds residing in a cashless wagering account (which are fully redeemable for cash) are transferred to a closed-loop pre-paid account of a retail establishment resulting in such funds no longer being redeemable for cash, the employment of the just-in-time funding to an account associated with a debit card enables cashless wagering account funds to be accessible at the retail establishment when needed (and after the authorization of a transaction committing such funds) while still residing in the cashless wagering account (and thus still being fully redeemable for cash up until the authorization of the transaction committing such funds).
In certain embodiments in which the attempted retail transaction is an attempted purchase of goods and/or services at a point-of-sale terminal of a retail point-of-sale system using the debit card, a component of the debit card issuer system operates with a component of the gaming establishment fund management system to determine if the gaming establishment account maintained for the user has adequate funds to cover the cost of the goods and/or services. If the gaming establishment fund management system determines that the gaming establishment account lacks an adequate amount of funds to cover the attempted purchase, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system denies the purchase and a notification is communicated to the point-of-sale terminal (i.e., the component of the retail point-of-sale system) that the debit card cannot be used to complete the attempted retail transaction. On the other hand, if the gaming establishment fund management system determines that the gaming establishment account has an adequate amount of funds to cover the attempted purchase, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system causes a transfer of an amount of funds to complete the purchase transaction from the gaming establishment account to the account associated with the debit card. With the account associated with the debit card temporarily holding an amount of funds to complete the transaction (i.e., temporarily until a settlement event occurs and the funds are transferred to a financial institution maintained account associated with the retail point-of-sale system), a notification is communicated to the point-of-sale terminal to complete the attempted purchase transaction.
In certain embodiments in which the attempted retail transaction is an attempted refund transaction (e.g., an attempted return of goods and/or services at a point-of-sale terminal of a retail point-of-sale system purchased using the debit card), a component of the debit card issuer system operates with a component of the retail point-of-sale system to determine whether or not to authorize the refund transaction. In these embodiments, upon an approval of the refund transaction, the component of the debit card issuer system operates with the component of the retail point-of-sale system and the component of the gaming establishment fund management system to, prior to the balance of the gaming establishment account being modified to reflect the amount of funds associated with the refund transaction, modify, on-demand and responsive to an authorization of the refund transaction, a balance of the account associated with the debit card to reflect the amount of funds associated with the refund transaction. With the account associated with the debit card temporarily being associated with an amount of funds to complete the refund transaction (i.e., temporarily until a settlement event occurs and the funds are transferred to a financial institution maintained account associated with the gaming establishment fund management system), a notification is communicated to the point-of-sale terminal to complete the attempted refund transaction.
It should be appreciated that unlike prior systems that required one or more inputs to transfer funds in a gaming establishment account to a banking account associated with a debit card and further required a certain amount of time, such as up to three days, for the transfer to be completed and the transferred funds to become available for use via the debit card, the present disclosure bypasses these relatively timely external transfers and enables the debit card issuer system to interact, in real time, with the gaming establishment fund management system such that the funds available in a gaming establishment account are available for use employing an account associated with a debit card as a limited duration gateway to such funds. As such, the system of the present disclosure offers the benefits of debit card transactions without the fund transfer friction previously encountered in requiring the user to manually cause a movement of funds from a gaming establishment account to a banking account associated with the debit card prior to committing such funds to any specific transactions. Such a configuration provides the user greater control over their funds, such as providing the user with the ability to complete a transaction with funds held, up until authorization of a transaction, in a gaming establishment account and accessed using a pre-paid debit card associated with an account that operates as a holding account that does not otherwise hold any funds for any extended periods of time.
Accordingly, in view of the different channels of commerce available both in association with and independent of one or more gaming establishments, the system enables an open loop pre-paid debit card issued by a financial institution to be employed as an interface to access funds held in a gaming establishment account and to facilitate the transfer of funds to different accounts associated with different channels of commerce associated with or independent of one or more gaming establishments. Such transfers thus reduce the fund movement friction encountered in using funds held in a gaming establishment account to complete transactions outside of the gaming establishment network while still realizing the benefits of network payment processors offered by the use of debit cards. Such a configuration of employing an open loop pre-paid debit card and an associated account as an interface to access funds maintained in one or more gaming establishment accounts further facilitates, amongst other benefits, a more cashless environment (e.g., cash does not need to be withdrawn from a gaming establishment account and then brought to a retailer, either internal to or external from the gaming establishment, to purchase goods and/or services) which increases safety (e.g., minimizing users having to carry large sums of cash associated with large sums of money and minimizing such cash being a vehicle to spread potentially harmful contagions).
In various embodiments, the present disclosure is directed to a gaming establishment fund management system including various sub-systems that are each associated with or otherwise maintain one or more electronic or virtual accounts. In these embodiments, the various accounts maintained for a user individually or collectively form a resort or enterprise account (i.e., a gaming establishment fund management account) for the user. That is, the collection of cashless wagering accounts (e.g. cashless gaming establishment wagering wallets, cashless sports wagering wallets and/or cashless mobile wagering wallets) and gaming establishment retail accounts (e.g., gaming establishment retail wallets) associated with or otherwise maintained for a user, such as a retail patron, individually or collectively form a resort or enterprise account (i.e., an integrated resort or gaming establishment fund management wallet) that the user may access to transfer funds and/or view balance information amongst the various accounts associated with or otherwise maintained for the user.
In various embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system includes or is otherwise associated with one or more cashless wagering systems. Each cashless wagering system is associated with or otherwise maintain one or more cashless wagering accounts. In different embodiments, funds held in zero, one or more of these cashless wagering accounts are accessible by (or otherwise configured to be accessible by upon one or more inputs from a user and/or gaming establishment personnel) a debit card to cause a transfer of such funds to/from an account associated with the debit card employed exclusively to facilitate transactions associated with such cashless wagering accounts.
In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system includes a first cashless wagering system that maintains a first cashless wagering account. In these embodiments, a user, such as a player of an electronic gaming machine (“EGM”), utilizes a mobile device application running on a mobile device and/or a physical instrument (e.g., a smart card or a user issued magnetic striped card which the user utilizes via inserting the card into a card reader associated with the EGM) to facilitate the electronic transfer of any funds between this first cashless wagering account and a gaming device, such as a component of a gaming table and/or an EGM (including, but not limited to, a slot machine, a video poker machine, a video lottery terminal, a terminal associated with an electronic table game, a terminal associated with a live table game, a video keno machine, a video bingo, and/or a sports betting terminal (that offers wagering games and/or sports betting opportunities)). For example, as seen in
In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system additionally or alternatively includes or is otherwise associated with a second cashless wagering system that maintains a second cashless wagering account. In these embodiments, funds associated with the second cashless wagering account are utilized to place one or more sporting event wagers and/or wagers placed remote from an EGM and a gaming table. In such embodiments, a user utilizes a mobile device application running on a mobile device and/or a physical instrument (e.g., a smart card or a user issued magnetic striped card which the user utilizes via inserting the card into a kiosk) to facilitate the electronic transfer of any funds between this second cashless wagering account and a credit balance accessible to wager on sporting events and/or games of chance (or games of skill) remote from an EGM and a gaming table. For example, as seen in
In various embodiments, in addition to or an alternative of maintaining one or more cashless wagering accounts via one or more cashless wagering systems, the gaming establishment fund management system includes or is otherwise associated with one or more gaming establishment retail wallet systems that each maintain one or more gaming establishment retail accounts. In different embodiments, funds held in zero, one or more of these gaming establishment retail accounts are accessible by (or otherwise configured to be accessible by upon one or more inputs from a user and/or gaming establishment personnel) a debit card to cause a transfer of such funds to/from an account associated with the debit card employed exclusively to facilitate transactions associated with such gaming establishment retail accounts.
In certain embodiments, such a gaming establishment retail account (e.g., a gaming establishment retail wallet) of a gaming establishment retail wallet system integrates with various retail point-of-sale systems throughout the gaming establishment (or located remote from the gaming establishment, but otherwise associated with the gaming establishment) to enable users to purchase goods and/or services via the user's gaming establishment retail account. For example, as seen in
In certain embodiments, a gaming establishment retail account is a retail account associated with a user having a balance or a pre-paid access account which, per current regulations from the U.S. Treasury Department Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), cannot be convertible to cash and can only be used for the purchase of goods and/or services. In these embodiments, such a gaming establishment retail account integrates with various retail point-of-sale systems of various retail establishments throughout or otherwise associated with a gaming establishment to enable users to purchase goods and/or services via the user's gaming establishment retail account. Accordingly, in certain embodiments, based on one or more jurisdictional regulations, an amount of funds deposited in a gaming establishment retail account may be used with various retail point-of-sale systems throughout the gaming establishment (or remote from, but otherwise associated with the gaming establishment) to enable users to purchase goods and/or services, but such funds deposited in the gaming establishment retail account cannot be converted to cash or check. In certain other embodiments, based on one or more different jurisdictional regulations, an amount of funds deposited in a gaming establishment retail account, such as an account associated with an identified user, may be used with various retail point-of-sale systems throughout the gaming establishment (or remote from, but otherwise associated with the gaming establishment) to enable users to purchase goods and/or services wherein such funds deposited in the gaming establishment retail account may be converted to or otherwise redeemable for cash or check.
In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system includes or is otherwise in communication with one or more external funding sources which maintain one or more external accounts for the user. For example, as seen in
In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system includes a debit card issuer system. In certain other embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system is additionally or alternatively in communication with an external debit card issuer system. In these embodiments, the debit card issuer system issues one or more debit cards for a user. Such a debit card and an account associated with the debit card operate to, amongst other benefits, enable a user just-in-time access to funds held in one or more gaming establishment accounts of the gaming establishment fund management system at one or more channels of commerce associated with the gaming establishment and/or independent of the gaming establishment. For example, as seen in
In certain instances, the balance of one or more gaming establishment accounts are drawn down via transactions initiated by the debit card and accessible at a point-of-sale-terminal external from any gaming establishment channel of commerce (e.g., a non-gaming establishment retailer 130 in communication, via the banking network 122, with at least the enterprise wallet debit card issuer system 128). In certain instances, the balance of one or more gaming establishment accounts are drawn down via transactions initiated by the debit card and accessible at a gaming device, such as an EGM 106 and/or a gaming table 108a. In certain instances, the balance of one or more gaming establishment accounts are drawn down via transactions initiated by the debit card and accessible at a point-of-sale terminal 116 within a gaming establishment channel of commerce.
In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system is in communication with one or more gaming establishment patron management systems (e.g., player tracking system 132) that monitor activities at various points of contact associated with the gaming establishment and provides rewards, such as redeemable player tracking points, in association with such activities. It should be appreciated that while, in certain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system is in communication with one or more gaming establishment patron management systems, in different embodiments, any system or sub-system of the present disclosure can be in communication with one or more gaming establishment patron management systems. In different embodiments, the system utilizes a mobile device running a mobile device application, a kiosk, an interface of a gaming device (e.g., an interface of an EGM or gaming table component), a service window displayed by a gaming device (e.g., a remote host controlled service window displayed by an EGM), a component of a gaming establishment patron management system, such as a player tracking unit, and/or a gaming establishment interface to interface with the gaming establishment patron management system.
In certain embodiments (not shown), the gaming establishment fund management system is in communication with one or more credit systems which each issue the user one or more lines of credit. These lines of credit are accessible to facilitate a transfer of funds from the line of credit issued by the credit system to (either directly or indirectly through a cashless wagering account) a credit balance of a gaming device, such as an EGM and/or a gaming table and/or to (either directly or indirectly through a gaming establishment retail account) a point-of-sale terminal (or an account associated with the point-of-sale terminal). It should be appreciated that the gaming establishment fund management system may be in communication with one or more credit systems, and in different embodiments, any system or sub-system of the present disclosure can be in communication with one or more credit systems. It should be further appreciated that in different embodiments, the system utilizes a mobile device running a mobile device application, a kiosk, a gaming device (e.g., an interface of an EGM or gaming table component), a service window displayed by a gaming device (e.g., a remote host controlled service window displayed by an EGM), a component of a gaming establishment patron management system, such as a player tracking unit, and/or a gaming establishment interface to interface with the gaming establishment credit system.
In certain embodiments (not shown), the gaming establishment fund management system is also in communication with one or more credit reporting/credit risk systems which monitor and report on various accounts associated with the user. For example, the gaming establishment fund management system that maintains the enterprise wallet is in communication with one or more credit reporting and risk systems. These credit reporting and risk systems monitor and report on a credit rating and status of one or more accounts maintained for the user at various funding sources, such as various financial institutions. It should be appreciated that while, in certain embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system being in communication with one or more credit reporting networks and one or more credit reporting/credit risk systems, in different embodiments, any system or sub-system of the present disclosure can be in communication with one or more credit reporting/credit risk systems.
In certain embodiments, the system utilizes one mobile device application to interact with the different components of the gaming establishment fund management system to, amongst other actions, access funds maintained in the different gaming establishment accounts associated with the user. For example, utilizing the same mobile application, a mobile device interacts with both the first cashless wagering system of the gaming establishment fund management system and the gaming establishment retail wallet system of the gaming establishment fund management system. In certain embodiments, the system utilizes multiple mobile device applications to interact with the different components of the gaming establishment fund management system to, amongst other actions, access funds maintained in the different gaming establishment accounts associated with the user. In certain of these embodiments, the mobile device applications include a location based digital wallet enabled application, such as a Passbook-enabled or Wallet-enabled application, which is accessible when the user enters a gaming establishment. In certain of such embodiments, the mobile device applications are downloaded to the mobile device from an application store. In certain of such embodiments, the mobile device applications are downloaded to the mobile device from one or more websites affiliated with the gaming establishment (which are accessible directly by the user and/or by a link opened when the user scans a QR code).
It should be appreciated that in different embodiments, in addition to or alternatively from utilizing a mobile device running a mobile device application to, amongst other actions, access funds associated with different gaming establishment accounts, the system utilizes a kiosk, a gaming device (e.g., an interface of an EGM or gaming table component), a service window displayed by a gaming establishment device (e.g., a remote host controlled service window displayed by an EGM), a display device/input device associated with a seat-level gaming table component, a display device/input device associated with a table-level gaming table component, a display device/input device associated with a mobile gaming table component, a component of a gaming establishment patron management system, such as a player tracking unit, a retail point-of-sale terminal, and/or a gaming establishment interface, such as a casino desk, to, amongst other actions, access the funds associated with such gaming establishment accounts. It should be further appreciated that while illustrated in
In certain embodiments, the system enables a transfer of funds between different accounts maintained by different components associated with different gaming activities and/or non-gaming activities. In these embodiments, the system employs a service for interfacing with the various components to facilitate balance inquiry and transferring funds amongst the different accounts maintained by these various components. In certain embodiments, such a service collects data from various components and utilizes such collected data to provide a singular view of the balances (or a plurality of singular views of different groupings of balances). In certain embodiments, such a service additionally or alternatively provides facilities to enforce rules associated with the different accounts maintained by the various components. In different such embodiments, these rules include, but are not limited to, jurisdictional controls, self-imposed limits, state governmental controls and federal governmental controls, wherein the system provides the logic to determine how, and how much, to transfer from each account of the various interconnected components to satisfy a request for funds while staying within the confines of such rules. In certain embodiments, such a service additionally or alternatively tracks and coalesces transaction history across the accounts of the interconnected components of the system. In these embodiments, all transactions within the system have a “master” transaction record that ties all of the various fund transfers to a single initiating funds transfer regardless of how many accounts were withdrawn to the satisfy the original request.
In various embodiments, prior to enabling a user to purchase goods and/or services using a debit card with funds initially residing in a gaming establishment fund management account, a user must first open such an account (if needed) and procure a debit card. In one such embodiment, the debit card takes the form of a physical instrument (e.g., a smart card that stores information or a magnetic striped debit card that stores information). In another such embodiment, the debit card additionally or alternatively takes the form of a virtual instrument (e.g., a mobile device application and/or a component of a mobile device operating system that stores information and is operable with a point-of-sale terminal). In these embodiments, utilizing an interface, such as a mobile device application being executed by a mobile device, and/or a website accessed from a browser, the user attempts to open a gaming establishment account and/or obtain a debit card through one or more interactive forms. For example, as part of opening a cashless wagering account, a user (whom has already logged into one or more gaming establishment fund management system accounts via a mobile device application) makes one or more inputs via an interface to provide certain user identifying information, such as, but not limited to, additional address details, a social security number and/or a mother's maiden name, and/or certain anticipated spending information, such as how the user intends to spend the funds withdrawn from such an account if opened. In certain embodiments, the system enables a user to enroll or otherwise sign up for such accounts via other avenues, such as via picking up an application at various locations, via a mobile application running on a mobile device, via a point-of-sale terminal, via an EGM, via a kiosk and/or via adding a gaming establishment fund management account to an existing patron account, such as a player tracking account.
In certain embodiments, as part of an opening a gaming establishment fund management account configured to transact against using a debit card or in association with a previously opened gaming establishment fund management account configured to transact against using a debit card, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system determines zero, one or more security measures to invoke in association with one or more transactions initiated using the debit card. In these embodiments, to prevent unauthorized access to the funds associated with the user's gaming establishment account, the system applies such determined security measures in association with transactions that attempt to use funds from the user's gaming establishment account (and/or funds from zero, one or more other accounts maintained in association with the user) using a debit card issued to the user.
In certain embodiments, as part of an opening a gaming establishment fund management account configured to transact against using a debit card or in association with a previously opened gaming establishment fund management account configured to transact against using a debit card, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system determines one or more controls or restrictions, such as use limits, to associate with the gaming establishment fund management account and/or the account associated with the debit card wherein if such conditions are satisfied, the gaming establishment fund management system denies the transaction or invokes one or more security measures. In these embodiments, to balance the need to prevent unauthorized access to the funds associated with the user's gaming establishment fund management account against the need to provide a frictionless experience for users, the gaming establishment fund management system dynamically employs one or more controls such that certain transactions trigger the need to potentially employ enhanced security measures and certain transactions do not trigger the need to potentially employ enhanced security measures.
In certain embodiments, the system enables a gaming establishment operator to determine and activate zero, one or more debit card usage controls to associate with a gaming establishment fund management account and/or the account associated with the debit card as well as zero, one or more security measures to employ. In these embodiments, if any gaming establishment operator determined debit card usage controls are violated, the system attempts to prevent unauthorized access to the funds associated with a user's gaming establishment fund management account. In certain embodiments, the determination to associate one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures is based on one or more inputs from a gaming establishment operator wherein gaming establishment personnel indicate that they would like one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures associated with certain of (or each of) the purchases made using funds from a user's gaming establishment fund management account.
In certain embodiments, the system enables a retail point-of-sale system to determine and activate one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures to associate with transactions undertaken by the retail point-of-sale system. In certain of these embodiments, the determination to associate one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures is based on one or more inputs from retail personnel whom indicate that they would like one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures associated with certain of (or each of) the purchases made in association with the retail point-of-sale system. In certain other of these embodiments, the determination to associate one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures is based on one or more settings associated with the retail point-of-sale system that dictate one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures associated with certain of (or each of) the purchases made in association with the retail point-of-sale system. In certain embodiments, one or more determinations are made at the retail point-of-sale terminal level wherein different terminals are associated with different debit card usage controls and/or security measures. In certain embodiments, one or more determinations are made at the retail point-of-sale system level wherein each terminal is associated with the same debit card usage controls and/or security measures (which, as described below, may vary based on one or more attributes of the attempted transaction).
In certain embodiments, the system enables the user to determine and activate zero, one or more debit card usage controls to associate with the gaming establishment fund management account and/or the account associated with the debit card as well as zero, one or more security measures to employ. In these embodiments, if any user determined debit card usage controls are violated, the system attempts to prevent unauthorized access to the funds associated with the user's gaming establishment fund management account. In certain embodiments, the determination to associate one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures is based on one or more inputs from the user wherein the user indicates that they would like one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures associated with certain of (or each of) the purchases made using funds from their gaming establishment fund management account.
In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are associated with an identity of whom may initiate a transaction, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account and/or temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card. For example, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system determines that a user enrolled in player tracking system who qualifies as a bronze status member may spend up to $500 on purchases made using a debit card to access funds in a cashless wagering account, while another user who qualifies as a platinum status member may spend up to $20,000 on purchases made using a debit card to access funds in a cashless wagering account. In certain such embodiments, one or more activities of the identified user may factor into the employment (or lack thereof) or debit card usage controls. For example, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system adjusts a limit amount based on one or more of, has the user gambled or started a gaming session recently (e.g., last day, last hour), has the user won at a gaming establishment (and if so, the amount of those winnings), and/or is the user checked into the hotel of the gaming establishment.
In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are associated with a quantity and/or an amount of transactions, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account and/or temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card over a given period of time (e.g., hourly, daily, weekly, monthly). For example, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system places a $2000 per day limit on purchases made using a debit card to access funds in a cashless wagering account. In these embodiments, such debit card usage controls pertain to the frequency of accessing funds in a gaming establishment account using the debit card and/or the amounts accessed.
In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are additionally or alternatively associated with the amount of a transaction, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account and/or temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card. In these embodiments, certain retail purchases having a value above a threshold value that trigger the use of one or more debit card usage controls while other retail purchases that have a value below the threshold value do not trigger such debit card usage controls.
In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are associated with an identity of the retailer associated with a transaction, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account and/or temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card. In these embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system imposes, using a Merchant Category Code (MCC) or a white list or blacklist of retailers, debit card usage controls on a type of industry or retailer thus eliminating an entire class of retailers from participating in the commerce.
In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are additionally or alternatively associated with the type of good and/or service associated with the transaction, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account and/or temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card. In these embodiments, certain types of retail purchases trigger the use of one or more debit card usage controls while other types of retail purchases do not trigger such debit card usage controls. For example, a first category of purchases, such as food and beverage purchases, can be made using funds from a gaming establishment fund management account without triggering any debit card usage controls while a second category of purchases, such as clothing retail outlets and entertainment related charges, triggers one or more debit card usage controls that must be satisfied before the completion of such purchases with funds from a gaming establishment fund management account.
In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are additionally or alternatively associated with a location of the retail purchase attempted to be made, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account and/or temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card. In these embodiments, different locations where the funds from the gaming establishment fund management account may be used are associated with different debit card usage controls required to use such funds. For example, a transaction, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account attempted in association with a first location within a gaming establishment do not trigger the use of one or more debit card usage controls while a transaction, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account attempted in association with a second location external from the gaming establishment trigger one or more debit card usage controls. In this example, different gaming establishment affiliated partner locations may trigger different debit card usage controls than different non-gaming establishment affiliated partner locations.
In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are additionally or alternatively associated with a channel of commerce in which the transaction, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account and/or temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card is attempted to be made. In these embodiments, different channels of commerce (in certain instances determined via the merchant identifier of the retail establishment) where the funds from the gaming establishment fund management account may be accessed, using the debit card, are associated with different debit card usage controls required to use such funds. In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are additionally or alternatively associated with a time of when the transaction, using the debit card, is attempted to be made. In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are additionally or alternatively associated with an amount of funds currently maintained in a gaming establishment fund management account associated with a user and/or an amount of funds temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card. In certain embodiments, the debit card usage controls are additionally or alternatively associated with a current rate of consumption of the funds in one or more gaming establishment accounts maintained for the user. In one such embodiment, the rate of consumption is based on an amount of transactions made using funds from a gaming establishment fund management account over a set period of time, such as the current day. In another such embodiment, the rate of consumption is based on an amount of transactions made using funds from a gaming establishment fund management account over a rolling period of time, such as the past 24 hours.
It should be appreciated that in different embodiments, the system employs a combination of these debit card usage controls to determine whether or not a transaction, using a debit card, involving funds maintained in a gaming establishment account and/or temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card is permitted and/or any security measures need to be activated. For example, debit card usage controls are based on whether a total amount of retail purchases made at a designated location on certain type of goods and/or services using funds from a gaming establishment fund management account accessed with a debit card are over a designated period of time. In this example, if the total amount of retail purchases made at the designated location on the identified type of goods and/or services using funds from the gaming establishment fund management account over the designated period of time meet or exceed a threshold, then the system denies the authorization of subsequent transactions and/or employs one or more enhanced security features.
In certain such embodiments, since the ability to make retail purchases with funds deposited into a gaming establishment account and/or temporarily transferred to the account associated with the debit card creates potential money laundering risks (e.g., a user could solely fund their gaming establishment account using illicit cash at an EGM, then transfer those funds back to their gaming establishment account and later use such funds to buy luxury goods or services from a retailer and/or a user could transfer illicit funds electronically into their gaming establishment account and then use such funds to make a purchase at a luxury retailer), the system of the present disclosure detects these scenarios, and potentially blocks them and/or reports them by providing the appropriate information that must be filed with financial crimes regulators in a given jurisdiction.
In one such embodiment, the gaming establishment fund management system prevents a user from making a purchase using a debit card to access funds in a gaming establishment account if the funds transferred or deposited into the gaming establishment account and/or the account associated with the debit card have not been transferred to an EGM and/or a gambling touchpoint on a gaming establishment floor. In another such embodiment, the gaming establishment fund management system tracks funds that were deposited into an EGM (via cash or an instrument unaffiliated with a user, such as a ticket voucher) but were not wagered. In this embodiment, upon receipt of this information (that is, some transfer of funds into the user's gaming establishment account), the system restricts or prevents the user to make a purchase using a debit card to access funds in the gaming establishment account until those funds have been wagered with.
In certain additional or alternative embodiments, one or more components of the gaming establishment fund management system reports on user attempts to make purchases using funds that have not been wagered. In one such embodiment, the system generates reports of all attempted retail purchases using a debit card with funds that have not been wagered over a defined lookback period. Such an embodiment enables gaming establishment personnel the ability to have the appropriate information to file one or more suspicious activity reports with financial crimes regulatory agencies, such as the US Treasury's FinCEN. In another such embodiment, upon detection of a suspicious financial transaction event, the system automatically fills in the appropriate regulatory agency report (e.g., Suspicious Activity Report (SAR), Currency Transaction Report (CTR)) for submission by the gaming establishment to the regulatory body. In another such embodiment, the system electronically submits the generated reports to the appropriate regulatory body.
In certain embodiments, the system employs the same debit card usage controls and/or security measures for each user whom attempts to purchase goods and/or services with funds using the debit card. In certain embodiments, the system employs different debit card usage controls and/or security measures for different users whom attempt to purchase goods and/or services with funds using the debit card. In certain of these embodiments, the system utilizes historical data regarding the user and past retail transactions in determining one or more aspects of one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures to associate with that user. In certain of these embodiments, the system utilizes one or more attributes of the user, such as a player tracking account status of the user, in determining one or more aspects of one or more debit card usage controls and/or security measures to associate with that user.
It should be appreciated that in certain embodiments, one or more of the debit card usage controls may be overridden and/or adjusted by qualifying gaming establishment personnel. In these embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system associates different levels of overriding and/or adjusting of debit card usage controls with different qualifying gaming establishment personnel. In these embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system enables different levels of overriding and/or adjusting of debit card usage controls for different users based on one or more attributes, such as status or historical spend, of such users.
Following the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system determining to authorize the user to make retail purchases using a debit card to access funds in a gaming establishment account (and subject to zero, one or more applicable controls and/or enhanced security measures) and following any required acknowledgement by the user of any required terms and conditions associated with using funds residing in a gaming establishment fund management account to purchase goods and/or services, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system notifies the user, if applicable, regarding the ways the user may pay for retail purchases utilizing a debit card to access funds in a gaming establishment account. For example, the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the debit card issuer system notifies the user, via a message displayed at any suitable device, via an email, via an SMS or text message, and/or via a notification displayed by a mobile device application.
In certain embodiments, to employ a debit card to facilitate the use of funds from a gaming establishment account to an account associated with the debit card and then to an account associated with a retailer to purchase goods and/or services from the retailer, the user presents the debit card to potentially access the funds in the gaming establishment account for the purchase transaction. In different embodiments, the presented debit card takes the form of one or more of a smart debit card that stores gaming establishment account information, a magnetic striped debit card that stores gaming establishment account information, a smart debit card that does not store any gaming establishment account information but is associated with a debit card number that is associated with gaming establishment account information in one or more maintained databases, a magnetic striped debit card that does not store any gaming establishment account information but is associated with a debit card number that is associated with gaming establishment account information in one or more maintained databases, a mobile device application that stores gaming establishment account information, and/or a mobile device application that does not store any gaming establishment account information but is associated with a debit card number that is associated with gaming establishment account information in one or more maintained databases.
In certain such embodiments wherein the debit card is presented in virtual or electronic form using a mobile device application, such as an electronic wallet that stores debit card data, the mobile device application prompts the user to cause the mobile device to engage the point-of-sale terminal, such as prompting the user to tap the mobile device to a designated portion of the point-of-sale terminal (or otherwise moving the mobile device to within a designated distance of a designated location of the point-of-sale terminal). Such engagement initiates a pairing or linkage between the mobile device and the point-of-sale terminal, wherein the pairing or linkage between the mobile device and the point-of-sale terminal occurs via one or more applications being run or executed on the mobile device. In this example, after such engagement, the mobile device application communicates, via a wireless communication protocol (including, but not limited to: Bluetooth™, Bluetooth™ Low Energy (“BLE”), one or more cellular communication standards (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, LTE), one or more Wi-Fi compatible standards, and one or more short range communication protocols (e.g., a near field communication (“NFC”) protocol), data associated with the debit card to the point-of-sale terminal to facilitate the potential purchase of goods and/or services.
It should be appreciated that in certain embodiments, the user needs to take one or more steps to approve a transaction to access funds in a gaming establishment account using a debit card. In one such embodiment, the user acknowledges the approval of accessing funds in a gaming establishment account using a debit card, when needed, by entering a personal identification number (“PIN”) via a mobile device application, providing a signature and/or presenting a biometric identifier to a mobile device. In another embodiment, the user acknowledges the approval of accessing funds in a gaming establishment account using a debit card, when needed, by entering a PIN, providing a signature and/or presenting a biometric identifier to the retail point-of-sale terminal or a peripheral device associated with the retail point-of-sale terminal.
In various embodiments, upon the presentation of the debit card at an applicable point-of-sale terminal of a retail point-of-sale system, the components of the systems individually or collectively determine whether or not to complete the attempted retail purchase using funds maintained in a gaming establishment account. In these embodiments, upon receiving data or information regarding the debit card, the retail point-of-sale system communicates with the debit card issuer system to request a transfer of an amount of funds to cover the cost of the intended purchase. The debit card issuer system in turn operates with the gaming establishment fund management system to determine if the gaming establishment account has adequate funds for the intended purchase. That is, upon the requested transfer of funds to complete the debit card facilitated retail purchase using funds in a gaming establishment account, the gaming establishment fund management system logs the user into the gaming establishment account associated with the user (if necessary) and determines whether to authorize the transfer of the determined amount of funds. In these embodiments, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system (e.g., one or more servers of the gaming establishment fund management system) determines whether the gaming establishment account includes an amount of funds at least equal to the requested amount of funds to complete the transaction.
If the gaming establishment fund management system indicates that the gaming establishment account lacks adequate funds for the purchase, the gaming establishment fund management system denies this sale transaction of the goods and/or services using the gaming establishment account. One or more denial messages of the sale transaction of the goods and/or services using the gaming establishment account are communicated to the debit card issuer system which communicates such denial messages to the retail point-of-sale system.
On the other hand, if the gaming establishment fund management system confirms the presence of adequate funds in the gaming establishment account (and, in certain instances, further confirms the inapplicability of any debit card usage controls), the gaming establishment fund management system authorizes the sale of the goods and/or services. The gaming establishment fund management system then proceeds to transfer the amount to cover the purchased goods and/or services from the gaming establishment account to the account associated with the debit card. Such a transfer of funds to the account associated with the debit card automatically occurs following the gaming establishment fund management system authorizing the purchase of the goods and/or services with funds residing in the gaming establishment account. This just-in-time funding utilizes the account associated with the debit card as an escrow account which temporarily holds funds from the gaming establishment account. In these embodiments, the funds transferred, on demand and for a limited duration, to the account associated with the debit card are subsequently transferred, as part of a settlement process, from the account associated with the debit card to a retailer bank account associated with the retailer.
In addition to accounting for the purchase price of the goods and/or services by transferring funds from the gaming establishment account to be temporarily held in the account associated with the debit card, the gaming establishment fund management system communicates one or more authorization messages of the transaction to the debit card issuer system which communicates such authorization messages to the retail point-of-sale system to complete the sale of the goods and/or services. Such a completed purchase of the goods and/or services is associated with a transaction identification which one or more components of the system store for reporting purposes.
Accordingly, in various embodiments, the system of the present disclosure enables a debit card and the account associated with the debit card to be used to access funds in a gaming establishment account to potentially purchase goods and/or services from a retailer, such as a retailer operating independent of any gaming establishment. For example, as seen in
In certain embodiments, in addition to determining whether or not to complete an attempted purchase transaction initiated by a debit card based on a gaming establishment account having an adequate amount of funds to cover the cost of the purchase transaction, the determination of whether to complete the attempted purchase transaction is based on whether the requested purchase complies with any debit card usage controls associated with the purchase transaction. In these embodiments, if a determination occurs that the requested purchase transaction complies with any applicable debit card usage controls, the gaming establishment fund management system proceeds with the determination of whether or not to authorize the purchase transaction based on the amount of funds currently associated with the gaming establishment account as described above. On the other hand, if a determination occurs that the requested purchase transaction violates any applicable debit card usage controls, the gaming establishment fund management system (and/or other system that applies one or more applicable debit card usage controls) denies the purchase transaction. For example, if a debit card usage control associated with an identity of whom may initiate a purchase transaction is currently in place and the system determines that the debit card was presented by an unauthorized party, the debit card usage control prevents the purchase transaction from being completed regardless of whether or not the amount of funds currently associated with the gaming establishment account is adequate to cover the amount of the purchase requested. In another example, if a debit card usage control associated with the amount of the purchase attempted to be made is currently in place and the system determines that the amount of the attempted purchase exceeds a threshold value, the debit card usage control prevents the purchase transaction from being completed regardless of whether or not the amount of funds currently associated with the gaming establishment account is adequate to cover the amount of the purchase. In these embodiments, the gaming establishment fund management system, the debit card issuer system and/or the retail point-of-sale system (or any other system applying the debit card usage controls), denies the attempted purchase transaction and communicates one or more denial messages.
It should be appreciated that in addition to enabling a debit card and an account associated with the debit card to be used to access funds in a gaming establishment account to potentially purchase goods and/or services from a retailer, such as a retailer operating independent of any gaming establishment, the present disclosure enables a debit card and an account associated with the debit card to be used to refund funds to a gaming establishment account as part of a refund transaction associated with a retailer, such as a retailer operating independent of any gaming establishment.
In various embodiments, upon receiving data or information regarding the debit card and an attempted refund transaction, the retail point-of-sale system communicates with the debit card issuer system to request a transfer of an amount of funds associated with the intended refund. The debit card issuer system in turn operates with the gaming establishment fund management system (and/or the retail point-of-sale system) to determine whether to approve or deny the refund transaction. If the gaming establishment fund management system (and/or the debit card issuer system and/or the retail point-of-sale system) denies the refund transaction, such as because the refund transaction violates one or more debit card usage controls and/or a lock condition is currently in place, one or more denial messages of the refund transaction are communicated to the retail point-of-sale system. On the other hand, if the gaming establishment fund management system (and/or the debit card issuer system and/or the retail point-of-sale system) authorizes the refund transaction, the account associated with the debit card is modified to reflect a credit for the amount of the refund given and one or more authorization messages of the authorized refund transaction are communicated to the retail point-of-sale system to complete the refund transaction. In these embodiments, the amount to the refund given is subsequently transferred, as part of a settlement process, from the account associated with the debit card to a backing account associated with the gaming establishment account and the completed refund transaction is associated with a transaction identification which one or more components of the system store for reporting purposes.
Accordingly, in various embodiments, the system of the present disclosure enables a debit card and an account associated with the debit card to be used to provide funds to a gaming establishment account in association with a refund transaction from a retailer, such as a retailer operating independent of any gaming establishment. For example, as seen in
It should be appreciated that while the use of a debit card and an account associated with the debit card to transfer funds to/from a gaming establishment account includes a modification of the account associated with the debit card prior to modifying the balance of the gaming establishment account based on such debit card initiated transactions, the settlement of such funds with the retailer occurs upon a settlement event. Such a settlement event occurs automatically at a preset interval or point in time, automatically in real time, and/or responsive to one or more inputs received to initiate the settlement event. In these embodiments, upon an occurrence of the settlement event, a financial institution associated with the gaming establishment fund management system and/or a financial institution associated with the retailer operate with a financial institution associated with the account of the debit card to cause a transfer of an amount of funds between the account associated with the debit card and the gaming establishment account maintained by the gaming establishment fund management system and/or the financial institution account associated with the retailer. That is, as seen in
As evidenced by the various embodiments described, the system of the present disclosure integrates or otherwise links a debit card associated with an account with one or more gaming establishment accounts maintained by a gaming establishment fund management system to facilitate one or more transactions initiated using the debit card. In these embodiments, responsive to an approval of a debit card initiated transaction occurring at a retailer remote and independent from any gaming establishments, the system funds a pre-paid account associated with the debit card. Such automatic on-demand funding enables the use of a debit card to initiate a transaction wherein the account associated with the debit card is funded, in real-time, using funds destined to or withdrawn from a gaming establishment account (that is separate and distinct from the account associated with the debit card). Accordingly, the account associated with the debit card operates as a temporary escrow account in which funds are transferred to after an authorization of a debit card initiated transaction occurs (i.e., the account associated with the debit card does not operate as an extended duration storage of any funds, but rather as a limited duration holding or settlement account until such funds are subsequently transferred to one or more destination accounts associated with the authorized transaction). Such a configuration enables funds maintained in a gaming establishment account to be accessed using a debit card issued by a financial institution wherein the funds are transferred, in real time, from the gaming establishment account to a pre-paid debit card account maintained by the financial institution without the need to wait for any fund transfer to be completed (or alternatively pay various surcharge fees to expedite any fund transfers).
In certain embodiments, by employing just-in-time funding in which funds held in a gaming establishment account are transferred, responsive to a transaction already being approved, to an account associated with a debit card, the system of the present disclosure enables the user to realize the benefits of maintaining funds in a gaming establishment account while still having access to such funds when needed to transact against external to the gaming establishment using a debit card. In other words, by integrating a pre-paid open-loop debit card with on-demand funding from one or more gaming establishment accounts, the present disclosure enables such a debit card to function as an interface to remotely access funds from such gaming establishment accounts via the temporary involvement of an account associated with that debit card. Such a configuration thus enables a user with funds in a gaming establishment account, such as a cashless wagering account, to access the network payment processors accessible with a debit card without needing to arrange a pre-set transfer any amounts of funds from the gaming establishment account to another account associated with the debit card to gain such access. Such a configuration saves users time (e.g., no time needs to be spent transferring funds from a gaming establishment account to a banking account associated with a debit card or waiting a dedicated amount of time for such a transfer to be completed) and offers operational efficiencies (e.g., reducing the number of touchpoints funds must flow through before they may be used) compared to prior payment solutions involving funds in a casino account.
In certain embodiments, in addition to utilizing a debit card associated with an account as an interface to access funds maintained in a gaming establishment account, the system of the present disclosure enables a single debit card associated with a single account to be associated with multiple gaming establishments which maintain multiple gaming establishment accounts for a user. In these embodiments, in association with an attempted retail transaction employing such a multi-operator debit card, a component of the debit card issuer system (and/or a component of a forwarding service which operates with the component of the debit card issuer system) determines a location of the funds to be used in the attempted retail transaction (i.e., which gaming establishment account accessible using the debit card is currently associated with part or all of the funds required to complete the attempted retail transaction). In such embodiments, if the component of the debit card issuer system (and/or the component of the forwarding service) successfully locates the funds across one or more gaming establishment accounts, the component of the debit card issuer system (and/or the component of the forwarding service) operate with one or more components of one or more gaming establishment fund management systems and the component of the retail point-of-sale system to execute one or more transfers to the account associated with the debit card to complete the attempted retail transaction using the debit card enabled to access funds from multiple gaming establishment accounts maintained by multiple gaming establishments.
In certain embodiments, a forwarding service (which, in different embodiments, is a component of the debit card issuer system or a separate and distinct service from the debit card issuer system) operates with the debit card issuer system and one or more gaming establishment fund management systems to coordinate a transaction across one or more gaming establishment fund management systems which are respectively backed by one or more financial institutions accounts (for fund settlement purposes). That is, in instances where the debit card qualifies as a multi-operator debit card, the forwarding service identifies a single gaming establishment account maintained at a single gaming establishment to access funds in association with to complete a retail transaction or the forwarding service identifies a plurality of gaming establishment accounts maintained at a plurality of gaming establishments to access funds in association with to collectively complete a retail transaction at a retailer using a debit card and an account associated with the debit card to temporary hold such funds until a settlement event occurs. Accordingly, in various embodiments, the system of the present disclosure utilizes a forwarding service to enable a debit card and an account associated with the debit card to be used to access funds from one or more gaming establishment accounts maintained by one or more gaming establishment fund management systems to potentially conduct a transaction with a retailer, such as a retailer operating independent of any gaming establishment.
In certain embodiments, after the transfer of funds to the account associated with the debit card but prior to the occurrence of the settlement event, the system enables a void or cancellation event to occur. In these embodiments, upon such a void or cancellation event, the funds are returned to their origin account (i.e., transferred from the account associated with the debit card to the source account) and the transaction is otherwise voided.
In various embodiments, prior to using funds in a gaming establishment account, such as using funds in a gaming establishment account to purchase goods and/or services using a debit card and an account associated with the debit card, the system enables the gaming establishment account to be funded from one or more sources. In certain embodiments, the system enables the gaming establishment account to be directly funded from one or more of such sources. In certain embodiments, the system enables the gaming establishment account to be indirectly funded from one or more of such sources, such as by an amount of funds from such sources first being transferred to another gaming establishment account and then such an amount of funds being transferred from the other gaming establishment account to the gaming establishment account.
In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment account is associated with one or more external accounts, such as one or more credit card accounts, one or more debit card accounts (which differ from the temporary fund holding account associated with the debit card described above) and/or one or more third-party maintained accounts (e.g., one or more PayPal® accounts or Venmo® accounts). In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment account is associated with a gaming establishment or a group of gaming establishments, wherein the user establishes a gaming establishment account by a deposit of funds (such as at a kiosk) to be subsequently utilized in association with the mobile device application. In other embodiments, the gaming establishment account is funded via a mobile device electronic fund transfer, such using Apple Pay™ or Android Pay™. It should be appreciated that in different embodiments, the system utilizes a mobile device running a mobile device application, a kiosk, an EGM, a gaming table component, a service window displayed by a gaming device (e.g., a remote host controlled service window displayed by an EGM) and/or a gaming establishment interface to facilitate the transfer of funds from a third-party account. In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in a gaming establishment account via activating a line of credit associated with the user.
In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in a gaming establishment account, via a gaming device, such as an EGM and/or via a non-gaming device, such as a kiosk. In certain embodiments, the system enables a user that has an amount of cash to utilize a gaming device and/or a non-gaming device to convert the cash to an amount deposited into a gaming establishment account (which may be subsequently transferred utilizing a mobile device application). In other embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in a gaming establishment account via a gaming device and/or a non-gaming device that accepts printed ticket vouchers. In these embodiments, the system enables a user that has one or more printed ticket vouchers to utilize a gaming device and/or a non-gaming device to convert the printed ticket voucher to an amount deposited into a gaming establishment account (which may be subsequently transferred utilizing a mobile device application).
In certain embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in a gaming establishment account via a gaming establishment interface, such as a gaming establishment cage or desk. In certain embodiments, the system enables a user that has an amount of cash to utilize a gaming establishment interface, such as a gaming establishment cage or desk to convert the cash to an amount deposited into a gaming establishment account (which may be subsequently transferred utilizing a mobile device application). In other embodiments, the system enables funds to be deposited in a gaming establishment account via a gaming establishment interface that accepts printed ticket vouchers. In these embodiments, the system enables a user that has one or more printed ticket vouchers to utilize a gaming establishment interface to convert the printed ticket voucher to an amount deposited into a gaming establishment account (which may be subsequently transferred utilizing a mobile device application).
In certain embodiments, the gaming establishment account is associated with funds associated with one or more virtual ticket vouchers. In certain embodiments, the system enables a user associated with an amount of virtual ticket vouchers to utilize a gaming device (e.g., an EGM, or a component of an EGM), a non-gaming device (e.g., a kiosk), a mobile device running a mobile device application, and/or a gaming establishment interface to convert the virtual ticket vouchers to an amount deposited into a gaming establishment account.
It should be appreciated that the electronic fund data transfers of the present disclosure may occur in addition to or as an alternative from cash-based fund transfers and/or ticket voucher-based fund transfers. In one such embodiment, an amount of funds transacted at a retail point-of-sale terminal is funded via any of an electronic fund transfer, a cash-based fund transfer or a ticket voucher-based fund transfer. In another embodiment, an amount of funds In another embodiment, an amount of funds transacted at a retail point-of-sale terminal is funded via an electronic fund transfer or a cash-based fund transfer (but is not funded via any ticket voucher-based fund transfer). In another embodiment, an amount of funds transacted at a retail point-of-sale terminal is funded via an electronic fund transfer or a ticket voucher-based fund transfer (but is not funded via any cash-based fund transfer). In another embodiment, an amount of funds transacted at a retail point-of-sale terminal is funded via an electronic fund transfer (but is not funded via a cash-based fund transfer nor a ticket voucher-based fund transfer).
It should be further appreciated that any functionality or process of the present disclosure may be implemented via one or more servers (associated with or independent of any component of any system disclosed herein), one or more non-gaming establishment devices (e.g., a point-of-sale terminal of a retailer located external to and independent of a gaming establishment), a mobile device application, one or more gaming establishment devices (e.g., a gaming device such as an EGM or a non-gaming device such as a point-of-sale terminal of a retailer located within or otherwise associated with a gaming establishment), and/or one or more components of a gaming establishment system (such as a component of a gaming establishment management system supported by or otherwise located inside a gaming establishment device and/or a non-gaming establishment device). Accordingly: (i) while certain functions, features or processes are described herein as being performed by a non-gaming establishment device, such functions, features or processes may alternatively be performed by one or more servers, or one or more mobile device applications, one or more gaming establishment devices, and/or one or more gaming establishment components, and (ii) while certain functions, features or processes are described herein as being performed by one or more servers (e.g., a server of a debit card issuer system, a server of a gaming establishment fund management system and/or a server of a retail point-of-sale system), such functions, features or processes may alternatively be performed by one or more gaming establishment devices, one or more components of a gaming establishment system, one or more non-gaming establishment devices, one or more mobile device applications, or one or more gaming establishment components.
In certain embodiments, the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with or in conjunction with zero, one or more components of a gaming establishment fund management system (e.g., a cashless wagering system or a gaming establishment retail system); zero, one or more components of a debit card issuer system; zero, one or more components of a gaming establishment patron management system; zero, one or more components of a retail point-of-sale system; and/or zero, one or more gaming establishment devices. In these embodiments, such components of the gaming establishment fund management system, the debit card issuer system, the gaming establishment patron management system, the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device each include a controller including at least one processor.
The at least one processor is any suitable processing device or set of processing devices, such as a microprocessor, a microcontroller-based platform, a suitable integrated circuit, or one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), configured to execute software enabling various configuration and reconfiguration tasks, such as: (1) communicating with a remote source (such as a server that stores authentication information or fund information) via a communication interface of the controller; (2) converting signals read by an interface to a format corresponding to that used by software or memory of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device; (3) accessing memory to configure or reconfigure parameters in the memory according to indicia read from the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device; (4) communicating with interfaces and the peripheral devices (such as input/output devices); and/or (5) controlling the peripheral devices. In certain embodiments, one or more components of the controller (such as the at least one processor) reside within a housing of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device, while in other embodiments, at least one component of the controller resides outside of the housing of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device.
The controller also includes at least one memory device, which includes: (1) volatile memory (e.g., RAM which can include non-volatile RAM, magnetic RAM, ferroelectric RAM, and any other suitable forms); (2) non-volatile memory (e.g., disk memory, FLASH memory, EPROMs, EEPROMs, memristor-based non-volatile solid-state memory, etc.); (3) unalterable memory (e.g., EPROMs); (4) read-only memory; and/or (5) a secondary memory storage device, such as a non-volatile memory device, configured to store software related information (the software related information and the memory may be used to store various files not currently being used and invoked in a configuration or reconfiguration). Any other suitable magnetic, optical, and/or semiconductor memory may operate in conjunction with the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device disclosed herein. In certain embodiments, the at least one memory device resides within the housing of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device, while in other embodiments at least one component of the at least one memory device resides outside of the housing of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. In these embodiments, any combination of one or more computer readable media may be utilized. The computer readable media may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an appropriate optical fiber with a repeater, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
The at least one memory device is configured to store, for example: (1) configuration software, such as all the parameters and settings on the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device; (2) associations between configuration indicia read from the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device with one or more parameters and settings; (3) communication protocols configured to enable the at least one processor to communicate with the peripheral devices; and/or (4) communication transport protocols (such as TCP/IP, USB, Firewire, IEEE1394, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11x (IEEE 802.11 standards), hiperlan/2, HomeRF, etc.) configured to enable the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device to communicate with local and non-local devices using such protocols. In one implementation, the controller communicates with other devices using a serial communication protocol. A few non-limiting examples of serial communication protocols that other devices, such as peripherals (e.g., a bill validator or a ticket printer), may use to communicate with the controller include USB, RS-232, and Netplex (a proprietary protocol developed by IGT).
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or context including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” “component,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB.NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).
Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatuses (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable instruction execution apparatus, create a mechanism for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that when executed can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions when stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which when executed, cause a computer to implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable instruction execution apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatuses or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
In certain embodiments, the at least one memory device is configured to store program code and instructions executable by the at least one processor of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device to control the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. In various embodiments, part or all of the program code and/or the operating data described above is stored in at least one detachable or removable memory device including, but not limited to, a cartridge, a disk, a CD ROM, a DVD, a USB memory device, or any other suitable non-transitory computer readable medium. In certain such embodiments, an operator (such as a gaming establishment operator) and/or a retail patron uses such a removable memory device in a component of the gaming establishment fund management system to implement at least part of the present disclosure. In other embodiments, part or all of the program code and/or the operating data is downloaded to the at least one memory device of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device through any suitable data network described above (such as an Internet or intranet).
The at least one memory device also stores a plurality of device drivers. Examples of different types of device drivers include device drivers for the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device and device drivers for the peripheral components. Typically, the device drivers utilize various communication protocols that enable communication with a particular physical device. The device driver abstracts the hardware implementation of that device. For example, a device driver may be written for each type of card reader that could potentially be connected to the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. Non-limiting examples of communication protocols used to implement the device drivers include Netplex, USB, Serial, Ethernet, Firewire, I/O debouncer, direct memory map, serial, PCI, parallel, RF, Bluetooth™ near-field communications (e.g., using near-field magnetics), 802.11 (WiFi), etc. In one embodiment, when one type of a particular device is exchanged for another type of the particular device, the at least one processor of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device loads the new device driver from the at least one memory device to enable communication with the new device. For instance, one type of card reader in the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device can be replaced with a second different type of card reader when device drivers for both card readers are stored in the at least one memory device.
In certain embodiments, the software units stored in the at least one memory device can be upgraded as needed. For instance, when the at least one memory device is a hard drive, new parameters, new settings for existing parameters, new settings for new parameters, new device drivers, and new communication protocols can be uploaded to the at least one memory device from the controller or from some other external device. As another example, when the at least one memory device includes a CD/DVD drive including a CD/DVD configured to store options, parameters, and settings, the software stored in the at least one memory device can be upgraded by replacing a first CD/DVD with a second CD/DVD. In yet another example, when the at least one memory device uses flash memory or EPROM units configured to store options, parameters, and settings, the software stored in the flash and/or EPROM memory units can be upgraded by replacing one or more memory units with new memory units that include the upgraded software. In another embodiment, one or more of the memory devices, such as the hard drive, may be employed in a software download process from a remote software server.
In some embodiments, the at least one memory device also stores authentication and/or validation components configured to authenticate/validate specified components of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device and/or information, such as hardware components, software components, firmware components, peripheral device components, user input device components, information received from one or more user input devices, information stored in the at least one memory device, etc.
In certain embodiments, the peripheral devices include several device interfaces, such as, but not limited to: (1) at least one output device including at least one display device; (2) at least one input device (which may include contact and/or non-contact interfaces); (3) at least one transponder; (4) at least one wireless communication component; (5) at least one wired/wireless power distribution component; (6) at least one sensor; (7) at least one data preservation component; (8) at least one motion/gesture analysis and interpretation component; (9) at least one motion detection component; (10) at least one portable power source; (11) at least one geolocation module; (12) at least one user identification module; (13) at least one user/device tracking module; and (14) at least one information filtering module.
The at least one output device includes at least one display device configured to display any suitable information. In certain embodiments, the display devices are connected to or mounted on a housing of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. In various embodiments, the display devices serve as digital glass configured to aspects of the gaming establishment in which the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device is located. In various embodiments, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device includes zero, one or more of the following display devices: (a) a central display device; (b) a player tracking display configured to display various information regarding a user's player tracking status; (c) a secondary or upper display device in addition to the central display device and the player tracking display; (d) a credit display configured to display a current quantity of credits, amount of cash, account balance, or the equivalent; and (e) a bet display. In various embodiments, the display devices include, without limitation: a monitor, a television display, a plasma display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a display based on light emitting diodes (LEDs), a display based on a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), a display based on polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs), a display based on a plurality of surface-conduction electron-emitters (SEDs), a display including a projected and/or reflected image, or any other suitable electronic device or display mechanism. In certain embodiments, as described above, the display device includes a touch-screen with an associated touch-screen controller. The display devices may be of any suitable sizes, shapes, and configurations.
In various embodiments, the at least one output device includes a payout device. In these embodiments, after the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device receives an actuation, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device causes the payout device to provide a payment to the user. In one embodiment, the payout device is one or more of: (a) a ticket printer and dispenser configured to print and dispense a ticket or credit slip associated with a monetary value, wherein the ticket or credit slip may be redeemed for its monetary value via a cashier, a kiosk, or other suitable redemption system; (b) a bill dispenser configured to dispense paper currency; (c) a coin dispenser configured to dispense coins or tokens (such as into a coin payout tray); and (d) any suitable combination thereof. In certain embodiments, rather than dispensing bills, coins, or a physical ticket having a monetary value to the user following receipt of an actuation of the cashout device, the payout device is configured to cause a payment to be provided to the user in the form of an electronic funds transfer, such as via a direct deposit into a bank account, a casino account, or a prepaid account of the user; via a transfer of funds onto an electronically recordable identification card or smart card of the user; or via sending a virtual ticket having a monetary value to an electronic device of the user.
In certain embodiments, the at least one output device is a sound generating device controlled by one or more sound cards. In one such embodiment, the sound generating device includes one or more speakers or other sound generating hardware and/or software configured to generate sounds, such as by playing music. In another such embodiment, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device provides dynamic sounds coupled with attractive multimedia images displayed on one or more of the display devices to provide an audio-visual representation or to otherwise display full-motion video with sound to attract users to the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. In certain embodiments, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device displays a sequence of audio and/or visual attraction messages during idle periods to attract potential users to the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. The videos may be customized to provide any appropriate information.
The at least one input device may include any suitable device that enables an input signal to be produced and received by the at least one processor of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. In one embodiment, the at least one input device includes a payment device configured to communicate with the at least one processor of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device to fund the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. In certain embodiments, the payment device includes zero, one or more of: (a) a bill acceptor into which paper money is inserted; (b) a ticket acceptor into which a ticket or a voucher is inserted; (c) a reader or a validator for credit cards, debit cards, or credit slips into which a credit card, debit card, or credit slip is inserted; (d) a player identification card reader into which a player identification card is inserted; or (e) any suitable combination thereof. In one embodiment, the at least one input device includes a payment device configured to enable the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device to be funded via an electronic funds transfer, such as a transfer of funds from a bank account. In another embodiment, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device includes a payment device configured to communicate with a mobile device of a user, such as a mobile phone, a radio frequency identification tag, or any other suitable wired or wireless device, to retrieve relevant information associated with that user to fund the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. When the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device is funded, the at least one processor determines the amount of funds entered and displays the corresponding amount.
In various embodiments, the at least one input device includes a plurality of buttons that are programmable by the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device operator to, when actuated, cause the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device to perform particular functions. For instance, such buttons may be hard keys, programmable soft keys, or icons icon displayed on a display device of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device that are actuatable via a touch screen of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device or via use of a suitable input device of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. In certain embodiments, the at least one input device includes a touch-screen coupled to a touch-screen controller or other touch-sensitive display overlay to enable interaction with any images displayed on a display device (as described below). One such input device is a conventional touch-screen button panel. The touch-screen and the touch-screen controller are connected to a video controller. In these embodiments, signals are input to the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device by touching the touch screen at the appropriate locations.
The at least one wireless communication component includes one or more communication interfaces having different architectures and utilizing a variety of protocols, such as (but not limited to) 802.11 (WiFi); 802.15 (including Bluetooth™); 802.16 (WiMax); 802.22; cellular standards such as CDMA, CDMA2000, and WCDMA; Radio Frequency (e.g., RFID); infrared; and Near Field Magnetic communication protocols. The at least one wireless communication component transmits electrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals that carry digital data streams or analog signals representing various types of information.
The at least one wired/wireless power distribution component includes components or devices that are configured to provide power to other devices. For example, in one embodiment, the at least one power distribution component includes a magnetic induction system that is configured to provide wireless power to one or more user input devices near the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. In one embodiment, a user input device docking region is provided, and includes a power distribution component that is configured to recharge a user input device without requiring metal-to-metal contact. In one embodiment, the at least one power distribution component is configured to distribute power to one or more internal components of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device, such as one or more rechargeable power sources (e.g., rechargeable batteries) located at the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device.
In certain embodiments, the at least one sensor includes at least one of: optical sensors, pressure sensors, RF sensors, infrared sensors, image sensors, thermal sensors, and biometric sensors. The at least one sensor may be used for a variety of functions, such as: detecting movements and/or gestures of various objects within a predetermined proximity to the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device; detecting the presence and/or identity of various persons (e.g., users, casino employees, etc.), devices (e.g., user input devices), and/or systems within a predetermined proximity to the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device.
The at least one data preservation component is configured to detect or sense one or more events and/or conditions that, for example, may result in damage to the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device and/or that may result in loss of information associated with the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. Additionally, the data preservation system may be operable to initiate one or more appropriate action(s) in response to the detection of such events/conditions.
The at least one motion/gesture analysis and interpretation component is configured to analyze and/or interpret information relating to detected user movements and/or gestures to determine appropriate user input information relating to the detected user movements and/or gestures. For example, in one embodiment, the at least one motion/gesture analysis and interpretation component is configured to perform one or more of the following functions: analyze the detected gross motion or gestures of a user; interpret the user's motion or gestures (e.g., in the context of a casino game being played) to identify instructions or input from the user; utilize the interpreted instructions/input to advance the game state; etc. In other embodiments, at least a portion of these additional functions may be implemented at a remote system or device.
The at least one portable power source enables the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device to operate in a mobile environment.
The at least one geolocation module is configured to acquire geolocation information from one or more remote sources and use the acquired geolocation information to determine information relating to a relative and/or absolute position of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. For example, in one implementation, the at least one geolocation module is configured to receive GPS signal information for use in determining the position or location of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. In another implementation, the at least one geolocation module is configured to receive multiple wireless signals from multiple remote devices (e.g., component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the gaming establishment patron management system, the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment devices, servers, wireless access points, etc.) and use the signal information to compute position/location information relating to the position or location of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device.
The at least one user identification module is configured to determine the identity of the current user or current owner of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device. For example, in one embodiment, the current user is required to perform a login process at the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device in order to access one or more features. Alternatively, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device is configured to automatically determine the identity of the current user based on one or more external signals, such as an RFID tag or badge worn by the current user and that provides a wireless signal to the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device that is used to determine the identity of the current user. In at least one embodiment, various security features are incorporated into the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device to prevent unauthorized users from accessing confidential or sensitive information.
The at least one information filtering module is configured to perform filtering (e.g., based on specified criteria) of selected information to be displayed at one or more displays of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device.
In various embodiments, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device includes a plurality of communication ports configured to enable the at least one processor of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device to communicate with and to operate with external peripherals, such as: accelerometers, arcade sticks, bar code readers, bill validators, biometric input devices, bonus devices, button panels, card readers, coin dispensers, coin hoppers, display screens or other displays or video sources, expansion buses, information panels, keypads, lights, mass storage devices, microphones, motion sensors, motors, printers, reels, SCSI ports, solenoids, speakers, thumbsticks, ticket readers, touch screens, trackballs, touchpads, wheels, and wireless communication devices.
As generally described above, in certain embodiments, the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device has a support structure, housing, or cabinet that provides support for a plurality of the input devices and the output devices of the component of the gaming establishment fund management system, the component of the debit card issuer system, the component of the retail point-of-sale system and/or the gaming establishment device.
It should be appreciated that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. For example, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In another example, the terms “including” and “comprising” and variations thereof, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Additionally, a listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive nor does a listing of items imply that any or all of the items are collectively exhaustive of anything or in a particular order, unless expressly specified otherwise. Moreover, as used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It should be further appreciated that headings of sections provided in this document and the title are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way. Furthermore, unless expressly specified otherwise, devices that are in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other and may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.
Various changes and modifications to the present embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, a description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required, or that each of the disclosed components must communicate with every other component. On the contrary a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the present disclosure. As such, these changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended technical scope. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.
