“We expect higher exhibitor participation and market consolidation amongst operators at FADJA”

What are your expectations and objectives for FADJA?
I expect continued growth and more exposure in the gaming market to be strong aspects of FADJA. MEI will continue to work in conjunction with our distributor, JD Ossa Company, to promote MEI products and increase operator awareness of how MEI product’s increased acceptance rates, unrivalled security, best jam performance and the lowest cost of ownership in the industry can have an impact on their bottom line.

Will the firm launch new products? Which are their main characteristics?
MEI recently introduced SC Advance, the next generation of the Cashflow SC, which applies new technology and market knowledge to make a great product even better. SC Advance further raises the bar for performance features that directly impact operator profitability: acceptance, jam rate, security and cost of operation.

Increased value created by SC Advance is highlighted by the following enhancements:

•An improved recognition system, which provides proactive security by utilizing transmissive sensors to see all the way through notes in multiple wavelengths.

• Faster bill-to-bill speed, which upgrades the player experience and speeds up transactions to expand throughput.

•Expanded memory, which limits part numbers and submissions by allowing more notes to be recognized in a specific release of firmware.

•Comprehensive barcode recognition, which processes barcode coupons in all four directions and improves acceptance on multi-width currencies.

•Upgrade to USB 2.0, which speeds up communications with the host machine and even potentially expands functionality.

Because the enhancements are localized to the acceptor head, SC Advance can work hand-in-hand with legacy Cashflow SC units already in the field. This capability is facilitated by intelligent support tools, which are able to sense the product version and provide the appropriate software.

SC Advance not only is compatible with previous versions, but also with product extensions that have expanded the reach of bill acceptors from the slot machine to the entire cash management process. Easitrax Soft Count, as an example, has changed rapidly the expectations for what a bill acceptor can offer. The integrated software/hardware solution uses information collected in the bill validator and makes it accessible in a database that can be networked to multiple locations and be accessed to analyze slot performance.

Which trends do you expect to see this year at the show?
This year at FADJA, MEI expects a higher exhibitor participation rate and market consolidation amongst operators. In addition, we expect a return to a stable regulatory framework, which has hampered Colombia growth in the last few years.

What is your opinion about the Colombian market? From the regulatory and legislative point of view, what is the situation in this country?
The ETESA situation has hurt investment possibilities causing the market to lack appeal. Colombia has always been an important market in quantitative numbers, however the market should move away from a low-price approach into a higher quality, ultimately improving player experience.

Do you think that the current situation of gambling in Venezuela will affect Colombia in some way?
The gaming markets in Venezuela and Colombia are different. The current situation of gambling in Venezuela will not directly affect Colombia, although it may increase the level of used machines brought into Colombia, as well as new operators. New operators are welcome into the Colombian market; however more used slots are not favorable. In our opinion used slots would further degrade the gaming market, essentially depress prices, and increase competition with high quality OEM product sales, which is what the market needs.