Multi-function cashless gaming ATM

• US 20050107155A1
• Filed: 10/01/2004
• Published: 05/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Everi Payments, Inc. (Everi Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cash Systems Incorporated (Everi Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Beer, Richard, Potts, Craig
• Granted Patent: US 8,556,707 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/25
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00157 Casino or betting games horse races A63F3/00082
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3246 involving coins and/or banknotes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3248 involving non-monetary media of fixed value, e.g. casino chips of fixed value
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/00 Complete banking systems; Coded card-freed arrangements adapted for dispensing or receiving monies or the like and posting such transactions to existing accounts, e.g. automatic teller machines data processing equipment for bank accounting G06Q40/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/20 Automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/203 Dispensing operations within ATMs dispensing in general G07D11/00

Abstract

A system and method are provided for performing a cashless gaming ticket redemption transaction for a customer in a casino environment. The system includes a gaming machine, such as a slot machine, that the customer plays. Rather than issuing cash to the customer, the gaming machine issues a redemption ticket with a unique identifier to the customer. The unique identifier and the amount of the customer'"'"'s winnings accrued on the gaming machine are stored and associated on a redemption ticket database. When the customer wishes to redeem the winnings, the redemption ticket is introduced to a multi-function ATM. To perform the ticket redemption transaction, the ATM is adapted to electronically accept the redemption ticket and read the unique identifier. The ATM then electronically communicates with the redemption database to retrieve the predetermined dollar value associated with the unique identifier. Finally, the ATM transfers to the customer an award equal to the predetermined dollar value in cash or credit.

Claims

1. A method of performing a ticket redemption transaction on a multi-function ATM, the ATM capable of performing ticket redemption transactions, cash withdrawal transactions, and credit/debit transactions, the method comprising:

receiving a redemption ticket from a customer, wherein the redemption ticket includes encoded data;

electronically processing the encoded data to retrieve a machine readable identifier stored on the redemption ticket;

validating the redemption ticket by electronically verifying the machine readable identifier against a redemption ticket database, wherein the redemption ticket database associates the machine readable identifier with a predetermined dollar value, and determining the predetermined dollar value associated with the machine readable identifier on the redemption ticket; and

transferring to the customer an award equal to the predetermined dollar value associated with the redemption ticket.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the customer receives the redemption ticket from a gaming machine.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of electronically transferring from the gaming machine to the redemption ticket database the predetermined dollar value, wherein the predetermined dollar value is equal to winnings accrued by the customer on the gaming machine.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of electronically transferring from the gaming machine to the redemption ticket database the predetermined dollar value, wherein the predetermined dollar value is equal to winnings accrued by the customer on the gaming machine less a commission fee.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the encoded data includes a bar code.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the encoded data includes one of magnetic strip, integrated circuit, digital image, finger imaging, and optical memory.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein transferring the award to the customer includes dispensing cash equal to the predetermined dollar value.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein transferring the award to the customer includes electronically crediting to a credit card account an amount equal to the predetermined dollar value.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein transferring the award to the customer includes electronically depositing into a checking/savings account an amount equal to the predetermined dollar value.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of accepting a selection for a ticket redemption type, wherein the ticket redemption type is cash, credit, or deposit.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein, if the ticket redemption type is cash, validating the redemption ticket includes determining whether the redemption ticket has been previously redeemed, and transferring the award to the customer includes dispensing cash equal to the predetermined dollar value.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein, if the ticket redemption type is credit, transferring the award to the customer includes:

electronically processing a credit card belonging to the customer to retrieve machine readable information stored on the credit card;

electronically issuing a credit request to a credit card authorization server, the credit request utilizing the machine readable information stored on the credit card and the predetermined dollar value; and

crediting a credit card account an amount equal to the predetermined dollar value, wherein the credit card account is associated with the credit card.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein, if the ticket redemption type is deposit, transferring the award to the customer includes:

electronically processing an ATM card belonging to the customer to retrieve machine readable information stored on the ATM card;

electronically issuing a deposit request, the deposit request utilizing the machine readable information stored on the ATM card and the predetermined dollar value; and

depositing in a banking account an amount equal to the predetermined dollar value, wherein the banking account is associated with the ATM card.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of updating the redemption ticket database to indicate that the redemption ticket has been redeemed.

15. A system for performing a cashless gaming ticket redemption transaction for a customer, the system comprising:

a gaming machine interacted with by a customer, the gaming machine issuing a redemption ticket to the customer, wherein the redemption ticket includes a unique identifier;

a redemption ticket database for electronically receiving the unique identifier and an associated predetermined dollar value, the predetermined dollar value being indicative of winnings accrued by the customer on the gaming machine; and

a multi-function ATM adapted to electronically accept the redemption ticket and read the unique identifier thereon, electronically communicate with the redemption ticket database to retrieve the predetermined dollar value associated with the unique identifier, and transfer to the customer an award equal to the predetermined dollar value.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the multi-function ATM further performs cash withdrawal transactions and credit/debit transactions in addition to the cashless gaming ticket redemption transaction.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the unique identifier is encoded on the redemption ticket;

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the multi-function ATM is further adapted to decode the unique identifier on the redemption ticket.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the unique identifier includes a barcode and the multi-function ATM includes a barcode reader.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the predetermined dollar value is equal to the winnings accrued by the customer on the gaming machine.

21. The system of claim 15 wherein the predetermined dollar value is equal to the winnings accrued by the customer on the gaming machine less a commission fee.

22. The system of claim 15 wherein the multi-function ATM is adapted to transfer the award to the customer by dispensing cash equal to the predetermined dollar value.

23. The system of claim 15 wherein the multi-function ATM is adapted to transfer to the customer the award by electronically crediting to a credit card account an amount equal to the predetermined dollar value.

24. The system of claim 15 wherein the multi-function ATM is adapted to transfer to the customer the award by electronically depositing into a checking/savings account an amount equal to the predetermined dollar value.

25. The system of claim 15 wherein the multi-function ATM is further adapted to accept a ticket redemption type selection from the customer, wherein the ticket redemption type is cash, credit, or deposit.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the multi-function ATM is further adapted to determine whether the redemption ticket has been previously redeemed and transfers the award to the customer by dispensing cash equal to the predetermined dollar value, if the selected ticket redemption type is cash.

27. The system of claim 25 wherein the multi-function ATM transfers the award to the customer, if the selected ticket redemption type is credit, by:

electronically processing a credit card belonging to the customer to retrieve machine readable information stored on the credit card;

electronically issuing a credit request to a credit card authorization server, the credit request utilizing the machine readable information stored on the credit card and the predetermined dollar value; and

crediting a credit card account an amount equal to the predetermined dollar value, wherein the credit card account is associated with the credit card.

28. The system of claim 25 wherein the multi-function ATM transfers the award to the customer, if the selected ticket redemption type is deposit, by:

electronically processing an ATM card belonging to the customer to retrieve machine readable information stored on the ATM card; and

electronically issuing a deposit request, the deposit request utilizing the machine readable information stored on the ATM card and the predetermined dollar value; and

depositing in a banking account an amount equal to the predetermined dollar value, wherein the banking account is associated with the ATM card.

29. The system of claim 15 wherein the multi-function ATM is further adapted to update the redemption ticket database to indicate that the redemption ticket has been redeemed.

30. A system for performing gaming points redemption transactions for a customer, the system comprising:

a customer tracking card associated with the customer, wherein the customer tracking card includes a unique identifier;

a customer tracking database for electronically storing gaming points accrued by the customer, wherein the customer tracking database electronically receives a number of points accrued by the customer and the unique identifier, and the customer tracking database associates the number of points with the unique identifier; and

a multi-function ATM adapted to electronically accept the customer tracking card and read the unique identifier thereon, electronically communicate with the customer tracking database to determine the number of points associated with the unique identifier, and transfer to the customer an award equal to a dollar value, wherein the dollar value is derived from the number of points associated with the unique identifier based on a point-to-dollar conversion ratio.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the multi-function ATM further performs cash withdrawal transactions and credit/debit transactions in addition to the gaming points redemption transactions.

32. The system of claim 30 wherein the unique identifier is encoded on the customer tracking card.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein the multi-function ATM is further adapted to decode the unique identifier on the customer tracking card.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein the unique identifier includes a magnetic strip and the multi-function ATM includes a magnetic strip reader.

35. The system of claim 30 wherein the multi-function ATM is adapted to transfer the award to the customer by dispensing cash equal to the dollar value.

36. The system of claim 30 wherein the multi-function ATM is adapted to transfer to the customer the award by electronically crediting to a credit card account an amount equal to the dollar value.

37. The system of claim 30 wherein the multi-function ATM is adapted to transfer to the customer the award by electronically depositing into a checking/savings account an amount equal to the dollar value.

38. The system of claim 30 wherein the multi-function ATM is further adapted to prompt the customer to indicate whether the customer desires to redeem all of the number of points or a fraction thereof.