Iowa Lottery interested in e-tickets
Despite a successful year, state officials have proposed the option to purchase electronic tickets.
US.- The Iowa Lottery registered US$371 million in sales in 2017, but state officials don’t want to settle and are looking for new ways to achieve more revenue. The officials proposed the option of purchasing electronic tickets while using mobile phone apps.
Lottery Vice President Mary Neubauer told the Iowa Lottery Board that players are interested in more convenience and cashless choices. The proposal would allow the purchase of electronic tickets through mobile phone apps if they don’t pay with credit cards.
“I want to be clear that the Iowa Lottery is currently in a very strong position. We have introduced new products in recent years like our InstaPlay games and have enhanced and invigorated our long-term product lines to keep our game selection fresh. But no one would say that a selection of solely paper products will withstand the test of time,” Neubauer said.
While the Iowa Lottery Board didn’t take any official action on the proposal on this week’s meeting, it is being drafted into a bill for consideration in the 2019 Legislature session, Des Moines Register informed.
The legislation would include a definition of e-ticket and would allow an electronic visual facsimile of a ticket that could be available on electronic devices such as a smartphone, it would establish that the Lottery could sell tickets through consumer electronic devices and it would update the definition of payment types to include mobile applications or other forms of cash-based payments as long as credit is not included, among other things.
