Blackhawk, Pollard Banknote Team On Instant Purchase Lottery Tickets

Global payments provider Blackhawk will now work with lottery expert Pollard Banknote in order to let customers buy lottery tickets instantly, a press release says.

The ability to buy tickets “in lane” will enable customers both who have been gambling for years and those who decide to do so on impulse to do it with ease, the release says.

The new partnership will use Pollard’s scanACTIV solution and Blackhawk’s direct point-of-sale tactics in order to let customers buy lottery tickets at a wide network of grocery and convenience stores around the United States, avoiding extra steps like waiting in another line or making a separate purchase altogether. Because of the need for special training for lottery purchases, along with the risk of fraud and special inventory procedures, stores have not usually been able to offer them in the same category as regular groceries.

The press release says the scanACTIV solution makes lottery tickets valueless until they’re activated at the checkout.

According to Blackhawk and Pollard, the process will go like this: the customer displays their lottery ticket near the point of sale, the cashier activates the ticket, and the customer plays using a mobile phone or computer. Finally, the customer can redeem a winning ticket just like they would a traditional paper ticket, according to the press release.

Jennifer Westbury, Pollard Banknote Executive Vice President of Sales & Customer Development, said the partnership would leverage Blackhawk’s “breadth of retail and payments expertise” to help expand lottery products.

“Pollard Banknote is a proven innovator in the lottery industry and is dedicated to being at the forefront of introducing new solutions for lotteries to expand their player reach and grow sales,” she said. Also, “scanACTIV is part of our evolving portfolio of cutting-edge solutions designed to enhance retail sales and facilitate in-lane lottery purchases. Our partnership with Blackhawk will further enable us to deliver a more convenient lottery experience, and more importantly, open untapped opportunities for lotteries to increase revenues in support of good causes in their local communities.”

In a recent PYMNTS interview, Blackhawk CEO and president Talbott Roche said the difficulty in the company’s operations thus far has been an indifference toward digital wallets and similar forms of payment. But she said the pandemic has expedited the transition to new contactless forms of currency.