System and method for integrated player tracking and cash access

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for integrating player tracking and cash access in a casino or other gaming environment. One aspect of the invention allows for fund access and management wherein gaming machines, such as slot machines, receive playable credits directly from a patron's banking or credit card account. Another aspect of the present invention relates to integrating player tracking and cash access transactions by allowing the players to provide a player tracking card for each financial transaction conducted in the casino. In return, the casino issues gaming or bonus points to the players for allowing their transactions to be tracked. Yet another aspect of the present invention consolidates the players' financial account information into a single casino database. Players can subsequently credit or debit cash from the players' financial accounts using any associated customer identification cards or otherwise receive such credits in other forms that permit negotiations, including quasi-cash documents.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for conducting cashless gaming fund management on a gaming machine, the method comprising:
 electronically processing at least one personal identification card inserted by a customer in order to retrieve machine readable information thereon, wherein the card is associated with at least one financial account;   receiving a selection from the customer including a desired credit value to be transferred;   electronically issuing a request to confirm the availability of the desired credit value from one of the associated the financial accounts, the request utilizing one or more fields of machine readable information retrieved from the card; and   transferring, upon confirmation of the request, the desired credit value to a local financial account.