Abstract: In one embodiment, a cash machine, such as a casino kiosk or a bank ATM, charges a varying surcharge to patrons requesting cash withdrawals, where the size of the surcharge depends on previous requests for cash-withdrawal transactions. In general, whether or not a previous patron agreed to complete a previously requested cash withdrawal having a specified surcharge may affect the size of the surcharge offered to the next patron requesting a cash withdrawal. For example, if the previous patron completed the previous transaction, then the cash machine might increase the surcharge offered to the next patron and, if the previous patron failed to complete the previous transaction, then the cash machine might decrease the surcharge offered to the next patron. The invention can be applied to types of transactions other than cash withdrawals from cash machines, where customer touchpoints adjust current prices based on the history of previous transactions.

Abstract: In certain embodiments, an ATM system validates a user having a multi-digit PIN code. During different access events, either at the same ATM machine or at different ATM machines, the ATM machine presents to the user different sequences of one or more representations of the user's PIN code that identify different subsets of digits and/or different orders of digits to be provided by the user for validation. This makes it more difficult for third parties to steal a user's PIN code because no single access event involves all of the digits in the user's PIN code and/or the proper order of the digits in the user's PIN code, and different access events involve different sequences of the PIN code. In a distributed ATM system having a centralized banking subsystem, the correct PIN code is never provided to an ATM machine for any one access event, thereby further improving system security.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method for managing a cash machine having at least one deployed cash cassette having a picking assembly includes (a) determining that the deployed cash cassette should be replaced and (b) generating a cassette-replacement message in order to have a new cash cassette shipped to the cash machine to enable the deployed cash cassette to be replaced with the new cash cassette. In one implementation, the deployed cash cassette includes a cash store that stores currency bills, a picking assembly that retrieves currency bills from the cash store for dispensing from the cash machine and a cassette controller that controls operations of the cash cassette, wherein the cassette controller determines that the cash cassette should be replaced.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method for managing a cash machine having at least one deployed cash cassette having a picking assembly includes (a) determining that the deployed cash cassette should be replaced and (b) generating a cassette-replacement message in order to have a new cash cassette shipped to the cash machine to enable the deployed cash cassette to be replaced with the new cash cassette. In one implementation, the deployed cash cassette includes a cash store that stores currency bills, a picking assembly that retrieves currency bills from the cash store for dispensing from the cash machine and a cassette controller that controls operations of the cash cassette, wherein the cassette controller determines that the cash cassette should be replaced.

Abstract: A computer-implemented interactive system and methods allowing for the tracking, management, and reporting of casino smart chips are provided. In an illustrative implementation a casino smart chip environment comprises a casino smart chip management engine, and instruction set comprising at least one instruction to instruct the casino smart chip engine to process data representative of the activation, tracking, monitoring, and/or reporting of one or more casino smart chips. In the illustrative implementation, the one or more casino smart chips can comprise one or more operative components comprising any of a communications component (e.g., radio frequency identification (RFID) component), a display component, a monetary value store, and a unique identifier store. Operatively, the exemplary casino smart chip engine can track, store, and report data representative of the authentication, commissioning, draw down, decommissioning, and use of the smart casino chip in casino and non-casino activities.

Abstract: The present disclosure describes exemplary systems and methods for using gaming scrips in a gaming environment. The gaming scrips have pre-printed face values and machine-readable unique identifiers located thereon, and are loaded into any of various currency-handling devices. The gaming scrips may be activated either before being loaded into a currency-handling device or at the time of dispensing therefrom. Once validated in the gaming environment, the gaming scrips may be collected, sorted, reactivated, and reused in the gaming environment.