Mar 01, 2016
This year, Sacoa will celebrate 24
years of supplying revenue management
systems for the amusement and
leisure industries. The company’s products
are widely used in over 1,400
locations and more than 60 countries
around the world.
Sacoa’s deep rooted beginnings in
entertainment go back to 1957 with
the Mochkovsky family’s operation of
jukeboxes and games at street locations
in Argentina. The company business
grew to include arcades, family entertainment
centers (FECs), and even
amusement parks.
In 1992, the company’s PlayCard
System was developed in-house to optimize
Sacoa’s own operations but quickly
expanded to serve the needs of
operators across the globe.
Sacoa has developed a full line up
of cashless payment products and services
that include a line of card readers
to serve a multitude of purposes and
price ranges, the most recent being its
new Color-Shot HDT/RF all-in-one display
reader, which combines Dual
Head Magnetic Stripe + RFID/NFC
“Tap to Credit” Technology; the Play-
Card Redemption Wizard Program for
e-Ticket tracking and inventory control;
the Party and Event Booking Module
for use both online and at the location;
and the Bowling Management System.
The PlayCard System also works in
cooperation with POS providers
through integration with CenterEdge
Software, Micros, NCR Aloha, Ordyx,
AMF Qubica, Brunswick, and many
others.
In addition, Sacoa offers the EZ System,
the first self-contained and fully
automated cashless payment system for
unattended or smaller locations
launched in 2006 and a three-part
Access Entry Control System of turnstile,
manual attended device, and the
newest portable hand-held controller.
Sacoa has concentrated heavily on
expanding service and representation
in the U.S. by opening a main office in
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., lead by Sebastian
Mochkovsky. Sacoa regularly exhibits
at trade shows around the world.
Play Meter checked in with Sacoa
officials for an update and to find out
more about the company’s newest
products.
Does Sacoa follow a particular
business philosophy?
Our business philosophy is simple
and can be summarized in two main
focuses:
1) Maintaining the highest standard
to always develop based on the latest
trends. Once the technology is reliable
and proven, we then apply it to our
product so we remain at the forefront
of innovation and our competition.
2) Listening to our customers and
respecting their needs for a product tailored
to meet their own individual
requirements.
What are the newest products
from Sacoa?
Sacoa has been working continuously
on many new developments. One of
our latest releases is the mPOS, a
mobile version of the Sacoa POS,
which can run in any Android tablet,
with NFC capability, and allowing F&B
(food and beverage) or retail merchandise
sales as well as PlayCards. The
mPOS accepts cash, credit cards, or
PlayCard credit as payment and can
connect to a printer through Bluetooth
for receipt printing.
Another newly released feature for
multi-location customers is the ability
of “card roaming directly at the game”
using our Color-Shot HDT or HDT/RF
card readers. This allows players to
purchase or charge their cards in one
store, play at that location, then go to
another authorized location, and spend
the remaining credits by merely swiping
their card at any game there.
What are the advantages of your
card system?
Our Sacoa PlayCard System has
been designed by operators for operators,
which results in an experience of
years of in-house and on-location product
testing. We are not just a manufacturer
of a cashless payment system; we
are also a partner with all our customers
worldwide.
We greatly value input from anyone
and everyone because we believe that
a good idea can better serve every
operator more than just a single company.
So, we always try to incorporate
suggestions and updates into our software
or hardware solutions whenever
possible.
Another advantage is the reliability
of our system’s proprietary wireless
network that does not depend on standard
unsecure 802.11 wi-fi. This gives
our system the unique levels of security
through communication encryption
from card readers to and from the
server, which is a much more robust
solution in today’s technologically
advanced world.
But we believe our most important
advantage is our own people, whether
it is the team in Argentina, the U.S., or
anywhere else in the world through
our network of partners. We aim to
offer our clients the best service, support,
products, and experience from
each and every person representing
Sacoa globally.
There has been a considerable
increase in FEC development in the
last few years. What do you think
has fueled this growth?
We think a main contributor to this
growth is global economic improve-
ment. Existing FEC chains are now
able to expand and operators are trying
to better position themselves in
their own markets by opening new
game rooms to attract a larger customer
share.
We are also seeing a restructuring
and redefinition of bowling centers,
which are now incorporating more
entertainment like important game
areas to help present a fuller guest
experience for the whole family. This
trend is also visible in hotels and movie
theater complexes, which also understand
that redemption game rooms—
small or medium ones, from 10 to 30
games—are an essential complement to
their primary business.
Are most new FECs starting with
a debit card system? What are new
FECs looking for in a card system?
Most new FECs immediately start
off with a debit card system because of
time-proven advantages of the control
given by a cashless system and e-Tickets.
It’s almost a recipe for disaster if a
new location opens on cash or token.
The ROI is much quicker than people
expect because there are so many
ways an operator can increase revenue
with our system while also rewarding
guests. It’s truly a win-win situation.
These simple techniques or strategies
that increase revenue are impossible
when operating a location on cash.
When new FECs have an open
mind to achieving success and are not
burdened by outdated thinking of
“how we’ve done it in the past,” they
also allow themselves to experience
faster success. A new location usually
cannot afford slow growth or minor
success.
New locations NEED to thrive to
survive, so they actually welcome better
technology options and the best
ways to gain maximum control over all
aspects of their business through a
cashless payment system.
They are desperately looking for
ways to save valuable manpower and
time, as well as generate strategies and
promotions to provide a better entertainment
experience to their guests.
This is the main reason new locations
tend to open today with debit card systems
and existing locations used to be
more reluctant to change.
Are you seeing more conversions
from a token/ticket system to a
debit card system? How does Sacoa
help clients with such a transition?
Yes, definitely. We’ve actually
observed a continual growth in locations
converting since the introduction
of our PlayCard. However, even more
recently, we think it is largely because
of the reduction in operational costs,
especially with e-Tickets since there is
no longer a need for control and extra
personnel to keep these games up and
constantly running.
It may sound a little strange to
some, but today’s kids honestly “get it”
and have no problem with anything
that’s new technology while “old
school” parents are the ones who resist.
When everything you want to spend,
play, or have won is on one card and
stored in our secure and reliable system,
everything becomes much easier
for the guest, the operator, and his
employees.
Today, with countless technological
advances in everyday life, the “e” part
in e-Ticket is very well understood and
widely accepted across the globe, also
translating into “ease” for a large
majority of guests. Going paperless is
such an environmental plus nowadays
and it’s supported and applauded by
the public. These big pluses are what
usually minimize any small negative
caused by not having the old-fashioned
paper ticket in hand.
To help ensure a smooth transition,
we at Sacoa share our own operating
experience as well as what we have
learned from our clients with installs
around the world. Our goal is always to
give the operator a soft, increasingly
simple startup, while also developing
constant marketing dynamics, continuous
promotions, and loyalty strategies.
What is the biggest misconception
about card systems and how do
you counter those misconceptions?
One of the biggest misconceptions is
affordability or ROI. Some people still
think a debit card system is expensive
and unaffordable, but prices have
greatly reduced over the last 15 years
thanks to technological advances and
lowered production costs.
In fact, a usual ROI can be as little
as 10 months or less. While it is still
difficult to justify the expense for a
handful of games in a very small game
room without redemption, we have
developed the “EZ system” for unattended
game rooms with 10 to 50
machines.
Other misconceptions include complexity
and difficulty of operation, but
we provide extensive and complete
training for the operator to be able to
handle, create, and modify anything in
the system to easily achieve the maximum
result. Our system is not only
user-friendly and simple to operate, but
also offers on-line tutorials and support
outside the initial training.
Are there any differences in what
FECs in the U.S. want in a debit
card system versus what FECs in
Europe, Asia, or South America
want?
FECs in the U.S. tend to look for
integrations with standard accounting
systems, which Sacoa does extensively
while these are handled under other
regulations elsewhere in the world.
American operators are also more likely
to want added simplicities or shortcuts,
which our system offers.
In addition, there are differences in
currency where parts of the world currently
rely heavily on larger denomination
coin (unlike in the U.S.) and operators
in those countries are understandably
reluctant at first to step into the
21st Century. Once they finally are
willing to look to the future with an
open mind, they very quickly realize all
the many benefits and advantages to
operating cashless/paperless for both
the location and their guests.
What are the milestones in the
development of your debit card system
from 24 years ago to today?
• The launch of our VIP feature, to
reward guests for repeated visits and
spending more, developing it into the
best loyalty program in the industry.
• Adding fully automated self-service
kiosks that allow customers to purchase,
recharge, and analyze PlayCards
on their own.
• The launch of our multi-attendant
and multi-session redemption software
used through barcode scanners to provide
speedy customer service, as well
as a multi-warehouse Redemption
Inventory Management System for
labeling, inventory control, reporting,
and auditing combined with automated
ordering/receiving through major vendors.
• The implementation of a proprietary
RF wireless game network operated
through Access Points distributed
throughout the store, eliminating the
hassle of running wiring to or from the
games or turnstiles and allowing to
change the game layout as easily as
moving furniture around.
• The introduction of e-Tickets that
are credited directly to the PlayCard,
eliminating ticket jams and down time
at the games, reducing guest fraud and
theft over ticket dispensing disputes,
speeding up the process at redemption
booths, and limiting the number of personnel
needed to operate.
• The evolution of Party Booking
and CRM modules into applications
closely tied with online sales and our
integration to Facebook.
• The incorporation of RFID Tap-to-
Credit Technology with our ColorShot
HDT readers introducing the option of
contactless reading for RFID cards,
wristbands, tokens, or key fobs.
With so much growth over the
last 24 years, what does Sacoa still
want to achieve in the amusement
industry?
While we cannot discuss some of
the new ideas we are currently exploring
at this time, we expect that 2016
will bring many exciting developments
to our industry and product line. As a
company, Sacoa realizes there is always
room for improvement, so we look forward
to continuing to bring new innovation
and advancements, which will
benefit both our operators and their
guests. For more information on Sacoa,
visit (www.sacoacard.com). ?
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