Ask anyone who plays the lottery and they'll probably tell you it's been the same for as long as they can remember. You visit a local convenience store, gas station or grocery store, get a paper ticket and wait to see if your numbers hold a bit of luck on the next draw.
Between all that, there's the inconvenience of long lines when the jackpot is at a record high, remembering to check your numbers, the possibility of losing your paper ticket and returning to said convenience store to cash in.
The leaders at Linq3, an Atlanta-based tech and software company with a specific interest in lottery and gaming, believe they have a solution that will not only solve all these problems with today's state lottery, but completely revolutionize the industry.
Following a pivot from the company's "Play at the Pump" concept, where patrons at gas stations could play the lottery on the digital screen at their gas pump, Linq3 is working with the Georgia Lottery to bring gift cards to the market, according to Chairman and CEO Tom Spiegel.
"I think there’s going to be so many creative ways to make this more fun and to make the younger generation more interested in playing lottery," he said. "Because I can’t conceive of the younger generation wanting to go in and purchase lottery the way it’s been for the last 20 years."
The instructions are simple enough. A recipient just texts a scratch-off code on the back of their card, confirms they are located within the state and will instantly receive digitized lottery numbers on their phone. Instead of having to remember to check if they have winning numbers, players will receive a text notifying them whether they've won or lost following the draw. If the winnings are under $600, there's no need to return to the store; the lottery will deposit the prize in a user's PayPal account instantly.
Unlike a paper ticket, the gift cards can be used at any time. If a player wants to wait until the jackpot is a little higher, they can hold onto the card and text their code when they're ready.
No longer will lottery players have to wait to get tickets at customer service stations or a kiosk in the grocery store, Spiegel said. All gift cards will be available at checkout counters throughout the store and can be scanned like any other product.
Gift cards to play the state lottery's Mega Millions and Powerball are now available in Kroger, with other retailers following shortly, Spiegel said. In addition to working with Georgia Lottery, Linq3 has also brought the same concept to Ohio's lottery and shortly Kentucky's.
"One of the reasons we’ve been able to interest the retailers in doing this with us is because of the good causes that come out of the profits for the lotteries," he said. "I think if this was just gambling, we wouldn’t get the reception we’re getting from the retail industry."
Spiegel, who started as an investor in Linq3, said he never imagined he would be leading the company with a whole new initiative in mind. When Spiegel asked the company's board of directors to hire new leadership to lead the gift card strategy, they came back and asked him to head the company.
"I really had no intention to take over the leadership role, what I really wanted was management change at the company," he said.
Spiegel and another shareholder approached BlackHawk, one of the two largest gift card companies in the country, to make lottery playing more convenient, attractive to younger players and enter the $127 billion gift card industry.
Not only will the new gift cards make matters more convenient for players, Spiegel said, but for retailers as well. With gift cards, retailers will now be able to track how much a customer is spending on the lottery, demographics of the typical player and how to market to them.
"Retailers know very little about their customers," he said. "Wherever you buy your lottery tickets, no one knows if you buy $2 or $2,000 a year. No one knows how to market to you. At a big box retailer, if you’re a member of a loyalty program...They can start marketing to you...I think we’re going to change the way people are marketed to in this industry, which is going to be more targeted to where consumers' specific interests are."
When asked if easier access to playing the lottery would cause issues for those with gambling addictions, CMO Mark Smith said the company had considered the matter prior to launching and was in no way advocating for irresponsible playing. Because the gift cards will be sold at higher-end retailers, Spiegel said the company expects to reach a demographic that can afford to play the lottery.
"It would worry me if we were to cause people to spend money they didn’t have to spend on lottery," he said. "I think with who we’re selling to, there’s a much greater chance we’re hitting the demographics who can afford it. Here in Georgia in particular, you can only use cash or a debit card, you cannot use a credit card. People cannot use their credit to buy our cards."
But gift cards are just the beginning, Spiegel said. The company is already working on another lottery product, all while making the activity more fun, social and interesting for players.
"Can you imagine if the next phase of this product is, you walk into your office and you are able to gift 20 people 1/20 of this lottery purchase?" he said. "And now 20 people...each one of them owns 1/20 of the ticket?"
