KDSN RADIO News
Some Iowa Fareway stores now selling Powerball, Mega Millions tickets at checkouts
The Iowa Lottery announced the rollout today of quick-pick Powerball and Mega Millions tickets you can buy at the cash register checkout in some Fareway grocery stores.
Lottery spokesperson Mary Neubauer says they’ve been working on this for years. “And folks might look at it and think, okay, it’s lottery sales at the checkout. How hard can it be? It actually was a ton of work to get different technological systems to talk to each other and allow this to happen,” she says. Tickets have been only sold through special lottery terminals that are usually in the customer service area.
Neubauer says it wasn’t feasible to add a lottery terminal to every checkout lane. “Through this new innovation, essentially Fareway’s point of sale system is communicating with the Iowa Lottery statewide gaming system in a secure way,” Neubauer says. “And I think that that’s really important for everyone to know these easy play tickets, meet the same exact security standards that are in place for any lottery ticket.” The tickets purchased at the checkout registers will look a little different than those bought at the current terminals.
Neubauer says they look at this as the express lane option for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets. “There are just a couple of options there. If you want the full selection of lottery tickets and to be able to cash your tickets or pick your own numbers in the lotto game that you’re playing, you’ll still need to go to the lottery terminal in the store, but this new option just allows greater convenience in lottery ticket purchases at the store,” she says.
Neubauer says the change will help stores that have trouble finding enough staff. “I think that is a critical issue that in some locations, I think businesses are struggling with having staffers, and so this just makes it that much easier,” she says. “You know, a staffer doesn’t have to leave their cash register to go over to the Lottery Terminal to get a ticket. This just makes the process seamless.”
Neubauer expects the purchase at the checkout ticket option to eventually expand. “I think other stores will want to add this over time as we continue to work on the technology,” Neubauer says.
Neubauer says the quick-pick Powerball and Mega Millions ticket options should be available in all Fareway stores by the end of the month.
