MGM CEO says Macau's foreigner-only gaming zones have failed, prompting shift to RFID

Macau casino operators, including MGM Resorts, are turning to RFID technology, with CEO Bill Hornbuckle suggesting it's in response to the failure of foreigner-only gambling zones to attract players.

MGM China Holdings has implemented a "chip-in-chip program" to meticulously track every chip used on its gaming floor, Hornbuckle said, during the J.P. Morgan Gaming, Lodging, Restaurant, and Leisure Management Access Forum season on March 14th.

Hornbuckle explained that this initiative has been in effect for several years, aiming to monitor all circulating chips. The foreigner-only gaming zone was introduced under the new gaming law early last year to grant casino operators a 5% levy exemption. Hornbuckle noted that some foreign gamblers preferred not to be isolated in private gaming rooms.

The concept of establishing gaming zones exclusively for players from outside Greater China was proposed by the Macau government in late 2022, aiming to determine revenue generated by foreign passport holders. This measure was part of a newly introduced administrative regulation that outlined rules for potential tax rate reductions on gross gaming revenues, with concessionaires eligible for a tax break of up to 5% for increasing foreign visitation.

“When the new regs came out and the marketplace was asking for international business outside of Greater China – Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China – the only way to track that effectively, because it was a different tax bracket, was to put [the international business] in independent private rooms,” he said, as per media reports.

"That means everyone from Thailand has to go over to a little room and gamble. The customers didn’t like it, but the one thing the ‘chip in chip’ enabled us to do, and we got a huge head start on this, was let people go anywhere they wanted in the casino because we could track their every move and their every play."

Ho Iat Seng, Chief Executive of Macau, disclosed that 12 foreigner-only zones had been established in Macau casinos as of April 2023.

When the new policy was announced in 2022, Cheong Weng Chon, spokesperson for the Executive Council, emphasized that foreign punters would have access to a different type of gambling chip.

According to a recent report by Goldman Sachs, at least three other concessionaires—Galaxy Entertainment Group, Melco Resorts, and SJM Resorts—are set to introduce RFID technology to track their chips by 2024, while Sands China and Wynn Macau are reviewing the concept.

Hornbuckle noted that Macau's gaming regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), expressed strong support for such technology.