How Banktech launched a trusted cashless gaming wallet on a hard deadline.
Industry
Gaming
Company size
200 - 500 Employees
About
The Banktech Group is an Australia-based technology and payment solutions provider, best known for operating the CashConnect ATM network. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Sydney, the company specialises in digital payments, cash automation, and gaming technology for the hospitality and gaming industries.
"The workflow between the two teams was very positive."
<0.1%
App crash rate, against an industry standard closer to 1%
47%
Of venue visitors adopted the wallet within six months, ahead of the 40% target
The Situation
Banktech identified a genuine opportunity in Australia’s gaming industry: venues wanted to move toward cashless payments, but doing so responsibly meant building real regulatory safeguards (spend limits, session timers, self-exclusion) directly into the product from the ground up, not as an afterthought.
Banktech set out to build two connected products: a patron-facing mobile wallet paired with a physical card, and a venue and admin platform handling settlement, identity verification, and regulatory compliance reporting — with a clear goal of launching responsibly and on time for a major venue operator’s pilot.
The Key Result Metric:
Launch a digital gaming wallet with genuine, built-in responsible gambling safeguards, strong transaction reliability, and patron adoption strong enough to support a confident national rollout.
Why they called us
Banktech brought deep finance and payments expertise to this project. To complement that, they wanted a partner experienced in building consumer-facing mobile products with real regulatory complexity — someone who could embed directly with the team and bring genuine product judgement to how the wallet would behave in a live venue.
Banktech wanted a team that would be physically present in venues during the pilot, learning directly from how patrons actually used the product and iterating quickly and responsibly.
How we worked
An embedded dev pod, not a remote vendor
Halcrow provided a dedicated cross-functional team embedded directly inside Banktech's operations:
2 mobile developers covering iOS and Android natively
2 backend engineers handling the API layer and integrations
1 QA specialist focused on security testing and regulatory compliance
1 product lead translating requirements into real user stories alongside Banktech's own team
Daily standups, weekly venue visits during the pilot, and direct access to Banktech’s payment infrastructure meant the team could build and respond with speed and confidence.
Build structure: a phased rollout, tested against real behaviour
Phase 1: MVP Build (February–June 2023)
Over a four-month sprint, the team built native iOS and Android apps, a web platform, the card-to-balance linkage, identity verification, payment integration, and the regulatory reporting foundation — with strong financial security and responsible gambling controls built in from day one, not retrofitted later.
Phase 2: Pilot Launch (July–October 2023)
Three pilot venues went live, generating valuable real-world insight quickly. An early discovery around onboarding led to a smarter, more intuitive flow, and onboarding drop-off improved from 40% to 12% as a result. Patron feedback shaped a simpler, more confident cash-out flow too.
Roll Out in Small, Reversible Steps
Launching with three venues first, learning, and then scaling meant every lesson could be applied with confidence before the wider rollout — building a stronger, more resilient product at every stage.
Phase 3: Scale Rollout (November 2023–August 2024)
The product matured quickly, scaling smoothly from roughly 10,000 to 50,000 patrons without any drop in performance, with automated compliance reporting across regulators and real-time monitoring giving Banktech’s operations team complete visibility.
WHAT CHANGED
The product worked under real conditions
Product Performance
The wallet achieved a 94% average transaction success rate against a 90% target, and patron adoption reached 47% within six months — well ahead of the 40% goal. The app’s crash rate sat below 0.1%, reflecting an exceptionally stable build.
Regulatory Compliance
Banktech recorded zero compliance incidents in the first year, with audits finding no major issues — a strong result reflecting the safeguards built into the product from day one. Regulatory reporting is now fully automated.
Then:
“We have a real opportunity in cashless gaming, and we want to build it responsibly and on time.”Now:
“Omniwallet is live in venues, patrons are adopting it, and we’re in conversations with three more venue operators. The product works.”
WHY THIS WORKED
Real Proximity Builds Real Confidence
Being physically present during the pilot meant the team could see exactly how patrons used the product and respond quickly, building a more trusted experience with every iteration.
Shared Goals Drive Shared Success
Tying part of the engagement to patron adoption kept everyone focused on the outcome that mattered most to Banktech’s business.
what you're buying
If you’re building a new digital product with real regulatory considerations and a tight deadline, this is what a genuinely embedded, responsible build partnership looks like.
Ready to launch your own product? Contact Sam Halcrow on 0431197004 or sam@halcrow.com.au.