Buy Powerball Tickets Online? Buy Powerball With Debit, Credit Card Or Cash Only? It Depends


Powerball ticket purchases are moving at such a swift pace that predictions of the Powerball reaching $1 billion by Saturday are already being reported, as noted by the Inquisitr. Those facts mean that people who usually don’t buy Powerball tickets are turning to the web to get their questions answered about buying Powerball tickets on the web and in stores. For example: Can you buy Powerball tickets online? Can you buy Powerball tickets with your credit or debit cards? Does Powerball buying mean cash-only purchases? Read on to find out all the ins and outs of buying Powerball tickets with cash, credit cards, debit cards — as well as buying Powerball tickets online.

Imagine you’re in line at your favorite gas station, GetGo, for example, and decide to add a Powerball ticket to your purchases before sticking your new Chase debit or credit card into the reader. Lo and behold, you’re told that you can’t buy Powerball tickets with a debit or credit card therein. Days later, you decide to get cash back from your purchases at CVS in order to buy Powerball tickets — after learning that your local CVS store doesn’t sell Powerball tickets, not for cash, debit, or credit cards. Therefore, you take that cash over to your nearby Circle K in order to buy Powerball tickets. That’s where you learn you can buy Powerball tickets using cash, debit, or credit cards at Circle K.

What gives? Why do some stores allow consumers to only buy Powerball tickets with cash only, and others allow customers to buy Powerball tickets with cash, credit cards, and debit cards? Some stores, like QuikTrip, stopped allowing customers to buy Powerball tickets with debit or credit cards because of bank fees, as reported by Fox 4. That’s why cash is king for some retailers selling Powerball tickets, with the bank fees not making buying Powerball tickets a profitable enough venture when customers try to use their debit and credit cards.

“QuikTrip says it will no longer accept debit or credit cards as payment for lottery tickets.”

According to a page on the Pennsylvania Lottery website, certain stores do allow players to buy lottery tickets with debit and credit cards, because there is no law banning the purchase of lottery tickets with credit or debit cards.

“Ultimately, it is up to each retailer to determine what forms of payment they will accept for Lottery purchases and all other purchases from the store. There is no law barring the use of debit or credit cards to pay for Lottery tickets. Regardless of the form of payment used, the Lottery encourages all players to play responsibly.”

Other states, like the North Carolina lottery, claim that credit cards can’t be used to buy lottery tickets.

“Can I use a credit card to purchase lottery tickets? No. Acceptable forms of payment include cash, check, debit card, and gift card at the retailer’s discretion.”

A search for mentions of debit cards on the Powerball official site turns up nil — at least no pages from Powerball.com that have been indexed by Google. A search for “credit” on Powerball only results in other usages of the word credit, or an old story about a woman using her Powerball winnings to pay off credit card bills, not whether or not a list of retailers sell Powerball tickets through debit or credit card payments.

Alas, since searching for a list of retailers that allow customers to buy Powerball tickets with credit or debit cards doesn’t readily turn up a list, only info like the below one from the Kansas lottery also stating that it’s up to each store to sell lottery tickets like the Powerball to customers using debit or credit card, a visit or call to local stores is needed.

“Can I use a debit or credit card to purchase lottery tickets in Kansas?

“The Kansas Lottery has no prohibition against using a credit card or debit card for lottery purchases. Whether to allow purchases of lottery products with a debit or credit card is left to the discretion of each store or corporation.”

As far as buying Powerball lottery tickets online, if you live in Illinois, you can plop those Powerball numbers right in the official lottery website and buy Powerball tickets galore online. However, the website explains that only those who are 18 and older and a resident of Illinois can play Illinois Lottery games online.

“Which Games Can I Play On The Internet? At this time, you can play Powerball, Mega Millions and Lotto. You can subscribe online to Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto, Lucky Day Lotto, Pick 3 and Pick 4.”

Illinois was the first progressive state to allow the purchase of Powerball tickets online and the first state with the lottery app that lets folks buy tickets via the web. Illinois was also known for running into trouble paying out some players. To that end, Illinois explains online lottery buying limits.

“How Much Money Can People Spend On The Internet? Responsible gaming limits have been established for online play. The daily maximum purchase limit is $150, the weekly maximum purchase limit is $1,050, and the monthly maximum purchase limit is $3,500.”

As for other states that allow players to buy Powerball tickets online, a visit to each state’s official lottery website would have to be done, such as Minnesota’s changing “buy tickets online” link. Other sites offering to buy Powerball tickets online for customers should be viewed with a wary eye.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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