(CLIVE, Iowa) — Powerball® and Mega Millions® tickets can now be purchased in checkout lanes at select Fareway® Stores in Iowa, marking the state debut of this new convenience in lottery purchases.
The new purchase process allows easy-pick tickets in Powerball and Mega Millions to be printed at the cash register. The tickets involved are produced on the same paper as store receipts, but printed separately.
“We are excited to partner with the Iowa Lottery to be the first retailer in the state to provide customers with the convenience of Easy Play,” Mike McCormick, Chief Retail Officer with Fareway Stores, Inc. said. “At Fareway, the customer experience is a top priority and adding Easy Play will elevate that experience for our lottery playing customers.”
The new Iowa Lottery purchase process, called Easy Play, will soon roll out to all Fareway locations in Iowa that sell lottery tickets. Customers at those stores will be able to buy easy-pick tickets (meaning the numbers in the play are randomly assigned) in Powerball and Mega Millions in any checkout lane staffed by a cashier. Prior to this month’s debut of Easy Play, Iowa Lottery tickets could only be purchased at a lottery terminal or self-service kiosk in a retail location.
“Think of Easy Play as an express lane while the lottery terminal provides a full-service approach,” said Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn. “We recognize consumer expectations for convenience and are thrilled to be delivering that factor through this new process.”
The Easy Play process allows customers at the cash register to buy easy-pick tickets with 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 plays for the next drawing in Powerball and Mega Millions. Easy Play tickets do not allow the Power Play®, Double Play® or Megaplier® features to be added and are not available at self-service checkouts. Customers who want to cash a lottery prize or buy tickets in the full selection of lottery games available at the store will still go to the lottery terminal for those transactions. Strawn said that development and implementation of the Easy Play technology has been a years-long endeavor for the Iowa Lottery. He emphasized that Easy Play tickets adhere to the same exacting security standards as those from a lottery terminal. And, any cash registers utilized for Easy Play transactions must be able to ensure that lottery purchases are made with cash or the equivalent, not credit. Easy Play tickets can be checked or cashed at any retail location in Iowa. Tickets printed from a store’s cash register look similar to those from a lottery terminal, but feature the Easy Play logo to help identify them. And as with tickets from a lottery terminal, excessive heat or light can damage Easy Play tickets.
