Aristocrat forms partnership with Wave Crest

LAS VEGAS -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Leading land-based and online gaming technology supplier Aristocrat Technologies Inc. has entered into a strategic partnership with Wave Crest Group to launch an open-loop casino card. The project is aimed at improving the user experience for casino patrons and to provide casino operators with new payment and loyalty solutions to enhance the overall gaming and leisure experience.

The partnership will bring Wave Crest’s cutting-edge casino card technology to Aristocrat’s Oasis 360 customers across North America.

The card works in conjunction with a casino patron’s loyalty club card account and, due to technology integrations between Wave Crest and Aristocrat, combines a seamless payment experience with loyalty systems. The open-loop casino card will be issued by partner banks providing FDIC insurance over casino patron balances and will be powered by the Wave Crest enterprise payments platform.

The purpose of the card is to provide casino patrons with a convenient and secure way to electronically fund their loyalty club account from a single external source and to access their gaming winnings and other available funds through their casino card, enabling spend wherever open-loop prepaid cards are accepted. It also provides casino operators with a superior solution and integrated experience for their patrons while significantly reducing cost and risk associated with cash handling.

The casino card allows casino patrons to manage their gaming and leisure spending with a convenient and secure solution. As a General Purpose Reloadable prepaid card, it offers features that enable individual users to load and unload funds through their bank account, credit/debit cards and loyalty club personal banker account. The casino card can also be used to make retail and online purchases and to withdraw cash from ATMs. Users can also transfer funds between their casino card account and loyalty club personal banker account in real time. In addition, the casino card comes with an intuitive online account management system and a mobile application for Android and iOS based phones.

Aristocrat Vice President of Product Strategy Daniel De Waal said, “At Aristocrat we are transforming the game, and now with this new agreement with Wave Crest, we are transforming the way casino patrons pay for their gaming experience. That relentless quest of new and innovative technologies separates Aristocrat from our competitors and adds value to our casino operator customers. Further, the casino card helps to enhance the patron experience by delivering a total gaming experience unlike any other, and it can help to reduce the amount of cash the operator needs to keep on hand.”

Wave Crest Vice President of Business Development Jeremy Gies added, “The casino card provides players with an open-loop GPR card account for a seamless gaming and entertainment experience. Its advanced technology allows for easy transfer of funds between the card account and the casino cashier, and it can be used interchangeably to fund casino loyalty accounts or as a network-branded payment card. Above all, it provides players with one card account for all entertainment spend that provides convenience, security, privacy, and flexibility.”

Aristocrat’s sophisticated and technologically advanced Oasis 360 casino management system was cited as the most widely used system in North America in the 2013 Goldman Sachs Slot Manager Survey.