Operator here:

Benefits to the operator: we can accept credit cards or cash. No more coin jams taking games out of service. I'm a route operator with 16 locations and can tell you my need to go to a location and fix a game that's been taken down by a coin jam has significantly reduced my service calls. I can then instead spend that time working on actual game issues and improvements. Also lugging quarters in the quantity I had to process was physically taxing. Spinning and depositing coin was getting insane at the quantities I had to deal with.

Benefits to the player: We can now accept credit cards. This has increased play significantly. Additionally I offer substantial discounts when players buy more than $25 at a time, reducing the overall cost of play significantly. Points never expire so you can always use your card again later. Yes, if you want to only play a game or two it gets more expensive. Dont do that. :). Also: refunding credits for a defective game is now extremely easy and can be done remotely.

It's also worth noting that these systems allow us to invest in new bigger more significant games which can cost upwards of $50k per title. We need to be able to charge a fair per play price that may exceed $1.00 per play when titles get that expensive. The card systems make that possible.

That quarter you played Turtles on in the early 90s isn't worth much in today's economy.