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Can You Buy Lottery Tickets With a Credit or Debit Card Online?

Credit and debit cards are one of the easiest ways of making transactions online. It is fast, safe, and you can keep good control of how much you are spending. That is why people are often looking for an answer if they can buy lottery tickets with a credit card online. The short answer is a positive one, but it depends.

In order to not let you leave more confused than you came, please read my explanation on what cases allow you to buy lottery tickets with a credit or debit card online.

Can You Buy Lottery Tickets With a Credit Card on Lottery Sites?

Online lottery sites often have credit and debit cards as almost standard payment methods. That means that it is common sense that the cards will be available in countries where their use is not forbidden. The easiest way to do it is to check the recommended lottery sites, make sure your country is not among the restricted ones and register to check the payment methods.

To save you time, these are the payment methods available on the online lottery sites that we have checked and consider to be trustworthy:

Lottery Site Accepts Credit Card? Minimum Deposit
theLotter Yes $ 1
LottoAgent Yes $ 15
Jackpocket Yes $ 10
Jackpot.com Yes $ 10
WinTrillions Yes $ 10
LottoSmile Yes $ 1

At the moment, all the reliable online lottery sites above offer credit cards. However, you will need to verify if it does apply to your country, as there can be variations in the payment methods for each region. 

Can You Buy Lottery Tickets With a Credit Card in the US?

In the specific case of the United States, players can only buy lottery tickets online with Jackpocket or at the official government lottery site if it exists. As an exception, theLotter offers an exclusive portal to buy tickets in some states, like Texas. You can also check our article on if you can buy lottery tickets online from your location. There are 21 states that allow the purchase of lottery tickets with a credit card in the US:

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Delaware
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Nebraska
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Oregon
  • Rhode Island
  • South Dakota
  • Vermont
  • Washington

When that is not the case, make sure to opt for another payment method. If you are not playing online, it is only a matter of checking if your local retailer accepts credit and debit cards.

How to Buy Lottery Tickets Online With Credit Cards?

  1. Choose one of the recommended online lottery sites. In the case of US players, your options are Jackpocket and theLotter (only for a few states).
  2. Register an account immediately. It should not take more than two minutes of your time.
  3. Some lottery websites will require that you deposit first. However, most high-quality sites will let you play and buy lottery tickets with a credit card once you are done choosing your numbers:

Buy Lottery Tickets Online With Credit Cards

  1. Once you are done filling your cart, proceed to the payment, where you should be able to buy your lottery tickets with a credit card:

Buy Lottery Tickets With a Credit or Debit Card Online

  1. If everything goes well and your credit is accepted, you will find your tickets saved under your account on that lottery site!

Other Types of Card Payments

Credit cards are the most common type of card used to buy lottery tickets online. You already understand when it is legal to play the lottery online with it, but it is important to highlight that other types of cards might not fall under the same rules.

Can You Buy Lottery Tickets With a Debit Card?

The countries that restrict the use of credit cards online when it comes to playing the lottery, like some US states, do not apply that same restriction to debit cards. After all, they work like money transfers and the measure to prevent gambling addiction would not make sense there.

On the other hand, it always depends on the local retailer or online lottery site. Fortunately, all that you have to do on the online lottery sites that we have tested is to select your respective card, VISA or Mastercard, and enter the debit card details.

Can You Buy Lottery Tickets With a Gift Card?

You will not find gift cards to play international lotteries on websites, but there are retailers in your country that happily accept gift cards to sell lottery tickets for you. However, the number of bonuses, promotions, and discounts on the lottery sites make them a much more tempting option, even without the use of gift cards. That is, on top of their advantages like comfort, buying from your home, and privacy.

Should You Buy Lottery Tickets With a Credit Card? 3 Reasons Not To

There are a few reasons to consider alternatives to buying lottery tickets with a credit card. I have selected some of them, and it is up to each player to determine how each of those reasons impacts their life.

#1 Fees and Costs

Using credit cards to buy lottery tickets online or even at retailers in some countries or states can result in additional costs. There are different reasons why that can happen, and it depends on the legislation of each country:

  • Card taxes on goods or services purchased from abroad.
  • Quasi-cash payments result in higher interest fees.
  • Fees are charged by the lottery site to cover their expenses with that method.

#2 Control and Safety

When it comes to the online lottery sites that we recommend here at LotteryTexts, you will not have to worry about your safety when typing the credit card data online. However, it is easier to lose a clear idea of how much you have spent playing the lottery when using credit cards.

That impacts the financial control of players, and it is not recommended. Fortunately, e-wallets, debit cards, and bank transfers can easily replace credit cards in buying lottery tickets.

#3 No Rewards

One of the top reasons why people want to know if they can buy lottery tickets with a credit card is to accumulate points and rewards in their card program. In some countries, and that might apply in your case, that will not occur. Therefore, it could result in the additional costs in the reason #1 and not benefit you with your card rewards.

Alternatives to Buying Lottery Tickets With Credit Cards

  • E-wallets: Paypal, Skrill, Neteller, and EcoPayz are some examples of e-wallets that not only use transfers and cards as ways of adding balance to your account but also are fast and safe.
  • Bank transfer: Eliminate intermediaries and transfer directly to the lottery site to pay for your tickets.
  • Debit cards: Most of the reasons to avoid cards when buying online lottery tickets are restricted to credit cards. Check out if debit cards are available on the website that you want to play!

The Bottom Line

You can buy lottery tickets with a credit card on online lottery sites, where they are a guaranteed presence and one of the most popular payment methods. When it comes to local retailers, on the other hand, it will depend on your local legislation and the rules set by that retailer.

It is important to highlight that there can be a few disadvantages to the use of credit cards, like additional fees or taxes and the lack of control. Fortunately, there are great alternatives like e-wallets or simply using bank transfers instead. In the end, it is up to you to decide what to use to buy lottery tickets.

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FAQs

Can You Buy Lottery Tickets With Someone Else’s Credit Card?
You cannot use payment methods that are not registered in your name on online lottery sites, only at stores.
Can You Buy Lottery Tickets With a VISA Gift Card?
Gift cards are not accepted by online lottery sites. In terms of cards, you can only buy lottery tickets with a credit or debit card.
How Many Lottery Tickets Can You Buy With a Debit Card?
The limit of money spent per transaction can be defined by both your bank where the card is registered and the website that you have chosen. Check the terms of both.
Are There Risks Involved in Buying Lottery Tickets With Credit Cards?
Yes, if you feel that you might be unable to control your expenses, or if you do not choose a reliable website like the ones that we have tested.
Who Can Use Credit Cards to Buy Lottery Tickets?
Anyone who is at least 18 years old, unless your local legislation says otherwise, can buy lottery tickets with a credit card.

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