Missouri Lottery Approves Ticket Sales at the Pump

Customers will soon be able to purchase lottery tickets at gas pumps and ATMs throughout the state.

June 04, 2013

JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Lottery announced last week that it will soon make available the electronic purchase of its Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets at gas pumps and ATMs around the state, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The effort is intended to stimulate ticket sales and comes as Missouri’s state budget has grown increasingly reliant on the Lottery to fund public education.

As such, the Lottery Commission said it will launch play-at-the-pump sales at an initial 15 gas stations across the state on about 150 individual pumps later this fall. Motorists will be offered the option to purchase a ticket when they insert their debit card to pay for fuel. Payouts less than $600 will automatically credit the winner’s debit card.

The Lottery will also rollout sales capabilities to 100 ATMs located at gas stations in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas. The programs could be expanded, depending on consumer response.

“We have already gotten a lot of interest,” said Judy Gehrke, chief financial officer for the Missouri Lottery, adding that convenience stores won’t be required to offer play-at-the-pump.

E-ticket sales through gas pumps and ATMs have been tried in Minnesota. Ed Van Petten, executive director of Minnesota State Lottery, said the program is running smoothly since it began in November.

“The technology seems to be working very well,” he said. “It’s not a ton of sales, but everything’s working appropriately.”

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement