Abstract: A money handling apparatus having a housing and integrated safe for managing the receipt and storage of money for a plurality of money-activated gaming machines. In accordance with the invention, the gaming machines need not have money intake or discharge slots. Intake, discharge and handling of money is managed by the integrated safe, including note intake and money changing, bookings of stakes and winnings as well as the pay-out of winnings, cash monitoring and registration of the cash box contents. A communications channel links the integrated safe to each of the gaming machines. Thus, information regarding credit balances, winnings and losses can be conveyed between the machine and the integrated safe. A display on each machine displays that machine's current credit balance. Credit balances may be transferred between machines or refunded at the conclusion of game play.