Massachusetts Lottery players have now claimed more than $1.1 million worth of prizes remotely using a new ticket-checking and prize-cashing feature on the Lottery's smartphone app, the agency announced Wednesday.
More than 44,000 lottery players signed up to use a ticket-scanning feature the agency introduced to its app last year to let players remotely check whether their tickets are winners. All registrants are now able to use the app to claim prizes between $601 and $5,000 and have the winnings deposited directly into a bank account.
Since the first remote claim was fulfilled in May and the ability to remotely claim prizes was expanded to more players, more than 930 prizes have been paid through the app, the lottery said.
"The introduction of mobile cashing is a terrific advancement for the Lottery as we adapt to new technological trends that have reshaped this industry," said Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who oversees the lottery. "It not only accommodates our customers, but has the added benefit of positive environmental impacts by eliminating unnecessary driving and production of paper checks."
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If half of all eligible prizes are claimed remotely, the lottery said it could eliminate more than 78,000 prize claim trips to lottery locations for a total reduction of 2.78 million miles traveled, based on 2019 prize claim data. That would save more than 110,000 gallons of gasoline and could avoid 983.1 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year, Executive Director Michael Sweeney has said.
Only prizes that could previously only be claimed at lottery headquarters in Dorchester or one of the agency's regional claims centers are eligible to be claimed remotely. Convenience stores that rely on foot traffic from Lottery players will continue to process claims for prizes of $600 or less and are not expected to lose lottery traffic to mobile scanning or cashing, officials said.
