Mass and premium-mass business at the 39 casinos in Macau could reportedly benefit if the enclave ever decided to adopt the digital version of the yuan currency currently being promoted by the government of China.

According to a report from GGRAsia, this is the opinion of analysts from international brokerage Sanford C Bernstein Limited as mainland casino patrons in the enclave are currently obliged to utilize cross-border money transfer stations so as to swap their Chinese cash for the currency of choice in Macau, the Hong Kong dollar.

Constabulary comfort:

Tianjiao Yu and Vitaly Umansky reportedly used their research note to suggest that the adoption of the digital yuan currency on the gambling floors of Macau would likely moreover assist local law enforcement officials in cracking down on loan-sharking, underground banks and all other forms of unlicensed money changing, which have long plagued areas in and around the city’s many casinos.

Reportedly read the note from Yu and Umansky…

“Digital yuan would allow greater [Chinese] government scrutiny and control over money flows. It would also allow easier money transfer and eliminate the need to use intermediaries like junkets, underground banks or pawnshops. Mass and premium-mass play could surely benefit due to ease of money flow.”

Demarcation disadvantage:

However, the Sanford C Bernstein Limited pair reportedly stated that ‘there could be a negative impact on casinos’ should Chinese officials ever decided to place daily withdrawal limits on the digital currency. They purportedly pronounced that such a move could furthermore lead to a rise in the number of illicit money-changing operations, which Macau has been seriously attempting to eliminate ‘since 2015.’

Junket jinx:

The source detailed that the introduction of a digital currency to Macau’s casinos could additionally prove to be a bane for the city’s many junket operators, who have long handled money transfers for high-profile players through the granting of credit while simultaneously handling all debt collection activities.

Extended expectation:

Nevertheless, Yu and Umansky reportedly proclaimed that the anticipated ‘internationalization’ of China’s yuan currency ‘could go a long way to increasing the probability’ of it becoming the ‘standard currency in Macau’ although its digital introduction into casinos would be ‘a long process.’

The note from Yu and Umansky reportedly read…

“Eventually digital transactions will be the norm and cash as we know it will be an historical relic. But this will be an evolutionary development that will likely take many years.”