How lottery programmes can maximise their income through digital payments

In the UK, lotteries can only be run to raise money for good causes or for fun - they can’t be run for private or commercial gain. However lotteries are obviously still a discretionary expenditure so each must take steps to attract players and compete for a share of the consumer wallet. Putting in place an effective lottery payment solution not only makes things easier for lottery players, it also helps to make your lottery more attractive and more competitive.   

Payment processing for lotteries can be significantly enhanced with the introduction of a technology solution. From charity lotteries to workplace lotteries and the traditional competition lottery, there are three factors that all lotteries have in common: players must pay to enter; there is at least one prize; and prizes are won purely by chance. Lottery tickets are a set price and players can buy multiple tickets if they choose to. Many like to play regularly too.

Factors affecting lottery organisation's profits 

Regulations 
The payment situation for lotteries isn’t particularly straightforward. Lottery organisations are faced with ever-shifting regulations – for example, the UK Gambling Commission recently banned the use of credit cards as a strategy to try to prevent players from accumulating credit card debt. Lottery organisations are therefore actively seeking new ways to enable players to pay which can simultaneously protect them from financial problems further down the line.  

Changing behaviours
There has been a sustained drop in cash transactions since the global pandemic which means that Direct Debits have quickly become the preferred way for many people to make payments.  And as the popularity of online lottery games also continues to grow, integrating online Direct Debit payments provides an additional opportunity for lottery organisations who want to stay competitive. 

External risks 
One key challenge facing all lotteries is that the sector is considered to be high risk for issues such as money laundering. This has resulted in expensive charge-backs and high transaction fees which adds to the costs incurred. Payment processing software helps to mitigate this by improving operational and cost efficiencies for your organisation and providing an audit trail for compliance.  

Benefits of digitalising your payments

As well as helping you to meet your responsibilities in key areas such as player care, data protection and compliance, a well-chosen lottery payment solution brings added benefits too. 

🗸 Fast payments: For starters, digital payments are faster, more accurate, and require little (or no) manual intervention – all of which means less administration from your team to deal with. Providing online Direct Debit pages for players to complete means a faster way of gaining regular, recurring income – unlike recurring card payments, there’s no need to contact the player should the card expire or they move bank, as payments continue uninterrupted.

🗸 Stay competitive: Offering digital payment processing for lotteries is a great way to stay ahead in a competitive marketplace as well as keeping up with changing player expectations. And don’t forget, stress-free payment processing is crucial, otherwise your players may well opt to spend their cash elsewhere.  

🗸 Happy customers: Moving to a lottery payment solution that can be accessed online, quickly and smoothly and can provide an experience and service for recurring payments that players are used to is crucial. Today’s customers across multiple sectors expect a choice of payment options and there’s no reason to assume your players will be any different. It’s easy to accommodate this expectation with a lottery payment gateway designed specifically to support your organisation.  

How to find the best payment gateway for lotteries

As with every decision that involves integrating new technologies – it’s important to choose a partner that makes the transition and implementation as smooth as possible, as well as ensuring your players receive the best possible, frictionless online experience. That’s why it makes sense to opt for a provider that already has experience of payment processing for lotteries as that should help you to ensure there are no surprises on either side.  

The other key flag is to talk early on in the process about the costs involved. Don’t just consider elements such as transactional fees; there may be costs associated with implementation, numbers of users, or system upgrades for example, all of which can soon add up if not baked into your project budget. 

The top things to consider to ensure you get the best payment solution are: 

• Compatibility with your existing accounts system 
• Options for single and recurring payments  
• Choice of payment options for your players 
• Ease of use for your employees 
• Scalability – how will your lottery payment solution cope if numbers increase significantly? 
• Compliance with your existing procedures such as GDPR and Data Protection 
• Charging – are what are the transactional costs? Does that fit with your lottery business model?