Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming September 2015 62 determine what different sets they need. It then goes to our design department. Just like banknotes, we will work on different designs with different security features depending on the denomination of the chips. So for the $100,000 chip there might be seven security features. Some would be visible, some invisible. For the lowest denomination, there would be fewer and cheaper security features. So we build the different sets in exactly the same way as they do for the banknote industry. Having fully customized designs also offers an extra level of security, doesn’t it? The more customized they are, the more unique they are and the more intricate they are, the more secure they are. Because say you use existing molds, if that mold is counterfeited, it means all the other properties that are using the same design are at risk. That’s why we’ve been offering customized designs for a few years now. We acquired our own molding company in Beaune [France], next to the plant, so we are making the tools ourselves in order to offer the full level of customization. How far along is the industry with adoption of RFID? Five years ago RFID chips were maybe 25% of our volume. Now they’re 60%. The trend really is in favor of RFID. There are very few openings that do not consider having RFID. I would say 90% of new openings are going for RFID. And we are now offering full connectivity, the full API [application program interface], and integrationwith casinomanagement systems. So customers can use the technology to improve efficiencies. RFID Tech Talk reduces errors and improves security, but importantly, it can improve efficiencies. GPI helped pioneer the adoption of RFID in the gaming space and recently introduced its exclusive SMART RFID technology for casino currency. What exactly is that? SMART RFID is basically the latest generation of RFID that was pushed out primarily by NXP, one of the biggest companies in the RFID or the smart card industry. They pushed out new standards in order to bridge the gap between the Magellan technology that is good but more expensive, intricate, complex, and also it hasn’t been fully adopted by the industries because it was too proprietary. NXP tried to bridge that gap by providing a new product that would offer something that was at least as good as Magellan but at a more acceptable price for all those industries. So the key thing is it relies on a standard that has already become more clearly well adopted in the market. To give you an idea, Magellan produced around 8 million chips over something like 15 years, whereas NXP released that new product last year and they’ve already produced 20 million in a year. So that’s clearly well adopted. SMART is the result of a three-year development for GPI. We developed our own reader in order to accommodate clearly the gaming requirements of SMART RFID. It’s our own reader. We fully control the technology, the supply chain, the costing of course. And we have achieved something that’s a very good technology, very good product for the gaming industry. Magellan was very intricate, so when you had to develop a new antenna for a customer, especially a compact antenna, it was a very big effort, whereas with this technology we have the ability to customize an antenna in two or three weeks and it’s more budget friendly. Because the technology is much easier to manage. Does SMART RFID offer any other advantages? The reader is smaller, is lighter, and consumes nearly one-sixth as much power as the Magellan reader. So we look at that aspect as well, the green aspect. That might be more critical in some markets than others, but that’s something we do take into consideration. The new V-Series chips are made with a completely new injection material formula which the company claims makes them much more durable. GPI expanded its playing card and table layout production capabilities through its acquisition of Gemaco Inc. last year.