Can You Use A Credit Card To Buy Lottery Tickets? Here’s The Downfall!

We all want to be lucky sometimes. Fortunate enough to win instant money to solve all our financial problems. Surely, it sounds like a cool breeze on those hot summer days. Like what’s wrong with it if you can get some extra cash on your hands. Absolutely, nothing. But, the problem arises when you go on to do that at a grocery store or a gas station.

When you’re paying for the items with your credit card, the temptation hits you hard to put the lottery ticket on the same card. But, wait a minute!

  • Have you thought of it showing on your Equifax credit report?
  • Did you think whether or not the lottery transaction is good for your credit history or not?

Honestly, purchasing lottery tickets on your card can be more harmful than good. You might end up losing some in the greed of more. So, let’s read the reasons why it’s a bad idea to put your lottery tickets on your card!

Can You Use A Credit Card To Buy Lottery Tickets?

Can You Use A Credit Card To Buy Lottery Tickets? Here's The Downfall!
Image Credits: Freepik

As per the research of Statista, almost 54% of Canadians spent 4.36 billion CAD in 2021. While on the other hand, the figure reaches almost $9 billion in the United States of America. Honestly, the numbers are huge! In fact, this is quite a lot compared to both statistics and only proves that many people believe in buying lottery tickets.

Read: How to build a successful facebook marketing campaign

Now, imagine the population that would’ve paid for the ticket with their credit card. So, was it a wise thing to do? Absolutely not! Because you never know that:

  • A lottery ticket might be considered a cash advance
  • It might show up negatively on your credit report
  • Your card might have additional charging fees for every ticket you purchased

Of course, you can only find out the truth unless you try this for yourself, right? But why take the risk when you can avoid it successfully? And most importantly, we are here to disclose what can go wrong if you decide to buy a ticket with your card. First, let’s read what options do you got:

What Type Of Card Can You Use For Lottery Purchasing?

Can You Use A Credit Card To Buy Lottery Tickets? Here's The Downfall!
Image Credits: Freepik

There are many ways to try your luck with the perks of Visa credit cards by buying lottery tickets or testing your chance in the gaming world. However, sometimes doing so can take away the existing fortune you have. So, it’s about time you read about your card options before you make a bet:

1.   Credit Card

As you already know, a credit card works by taking the payment from the company, which means it’s already a loan on your end. Here are some possible scenarios:

  • You bought a lottery worth $10 with your card. Then, suddenly, you see an additional $4 deduction message. What’s that? The credit fee!
  • You tried to buy the $5 lottery ticket with your credit card, but the payment won’t pass through. Why is that so? Your state has banned credit cards used for purchase!
  • You want to get that $20 ticket to be a little daring with your fate. You swiped your credit card but got notified the payment had been blocked. Wondering why? The merchant doesn’t accept the card, or most likely, your credit card company doesn’t allow such purchases.

So, despite all the scenarios, can you still use your credit card if your region, state, and even the credit card company allows the purchase?

Technically, yes, you can (based on Wallethub), but to be on the safer side, and on our advice, You Should Not! Because most people overlook the extra deductions due to:

  • A lack of knowledge
  • They don’t pay enough attention to such trivial deduction

Next thing you know, most merchants benefit from the situation by charging additional interest as they consider the lottery a cash advance. And, in a worst-case scenario, it won’t help your credit much with any bonus or rewards.

2.   Debit Card

A debit card works by taking money directly from your bank account. It’s like real-time purchasing, as you would with your cash. So, does it make it okay to use your account credit to buy your lottery tickets? Honestly, it depends on so many different factors.

  • As discussed on RedFlagDeals Forum, many people tried to use their Visa debit card to buy lottery tickets. Some succeeded, while others noticed the additional deducted money for a ticket. For instance, some reported they were charged $6.5 for a $3 ticket.
  • Some shared their views that the type of card used shouldn’t be a discussion but the location where the person used the card at. Because some Canadian states like the USA prohibit using the cards for ticket buying.
  • Other commenters shared that to even think of using a debit or credit card for the lottery is straight-up idiotic as it can really put your financial health in trouble.

So, whether it’s a good idea or not depends on your debit card company, lottery merchant, and region where you’re trying your luck at. Still, we have explained enough to validate our statement why it’s not a good idea to even use your debit card for it because the additional fees remain constant.

3.   Gift Card

It is a type of card equivalent to making purchases as you would with typical money. You can use it at a restaurant, grocery store, gas station, or for other purposes. Now the question arises: can you use the gift card to purchase the lottery ticket? Let’s find answers in the light of a discussion at Quora:

  • Amy Denny, a retail worker, shared her views that even if you can use the gift card, you shouldn’t because the reward greed can cost you more than the actual lottery price
  • Sean Dunn, a sales associate, clearly states that in most regions like Canada and the United States of America, using credit, debit, or gift cards for lottery purchasing is prohibited
  • Rachel Redman, a customer service manager, shared that if you must use any card to purchase lottery online, it has to be a debit card as it might be good for high-end lottery gaming

Keith King shared that if you must use a debit card or a gift card, you can try your luck at a machine and not directly at the cashier counter. But, overall, most people believe that cash is a hundred percent a better option for lottery purchasing.

So, now that you have found your answer, you shouldn’t use your credit, debit, or gift card to buy a lottery in person or online. Let’s read some ways how it can be harmful to your financial life:

Why Avoid Using Credit Cards For Purchasing Lottery?

Can You Use A Credit Card To Buy Lottery Tickets? Here's The Downfall!
Image Credits: Freepik

We’ve been going on for a minute now that you must prefer using cash for your lottery purchasing. We cleared the point by discussing people’s views who tried their luck on the cards. Surely, you might already have an understanding of why you shouldn’t. But, here’re some of the common things that can hurt your financial life:

1.   Credit Debt Will Be Your New Friend

If you are a noob credit card user, you must be familiar with the term credit debt. And, if you thought of changing your life by getting a lottery ticket that too on your credit card, you’re only pushing yourself further down the drain. As we all know, as tempting as it may sound, buying a lottery ticket on your credit card can never work in your favor unless you end up winning the first prize, of course.

  • If you buy the lottery with cash, you’re most likely to stop purchasing once you end up spending all the money. However, the case can be entirely different when you use a credit card.
  • Credit card payments take money from the bank or company as a loan. So, when you buy a lottery ticket with a credit card, you’re not paying in real-time. And, thus it can urge you to keep going as you don’t really know how much you’re spending.

Hence, another reason why it’s a bad idea to use your credit card for lottery purchasing as it can put you into debt quite quickly.

2.   Say Hello To Unauthorized Charges

As we explained earlier, credit companies take the lottery as a cash advance, so when you use your credit card for the payment, you might see some additional charges as ‘cash advance’ or ‘interest fee.’ In addition, the final charged fee can be different for different banks and companies. For example, some might cost you zero, and others might charge $7 for a $3 ticket.

Credit companies or retailers that allow you to buy a ticket online or in a brick mortar store with your credit card will definitely charge some type of additional fee. Credit experts thus advise avoiding this as it will increase your interest rate, which will cause you a loss. So, if the lottery isn’t an option, will it work for a money order?

Can you buy a money order with a credit card?

Well, yes, you can purchase a money order with your credit card. However, the scenario is quite similar to that of a lottery ticket. Your company might treat the money order as a cash advance, thus adding fuel to the fire of your interest rate. For instance, you might have to pay $10 or $25 for a $100 or $500 money order. You might think of the interest as not much, but as the price goes up, so does the interest rate.

3.   You Might End Up In Legal Trouble

A lottery ticket is a type of gaming where paper tickets or online cards are sold to the customers to provide them with a chance of earning instant money. It is a chance of luck in full form, but your region might not think this way. So, buying tickets on your card might not be an option, but enforcement as some states and regions treat the lottery as a part of gambling.

  • FCAC (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada) also issued a list of different Canadian states that bans credit card use for such purchases. However, they also enlisted banks and branches that accept the credit-lottery payments with their respective charges
  • Point Editorial also discloses a list of states in the US that have banned lottery credit. But, again, the reason is the betterment of the consumer and so as they explained in their article.

Still, even if your state allows lottery-credit card purchasing, your payment might not go through due to other legal reasons. So, before making any bet, read your card’s policy, terms, and conditions to be sure you stay as far away from any legal issue as possible.

4.   No Additional Rewards Or Bonus Points

Some consumers get tempted to use the card to earn rewards or bonus points. Some may even think of getting cash-back points. However, no said evidence or study backs up the claim that this will happen. Your credit card company will most likely take the lottery as a cash advance rather than a reward program.

So, should the lottery ticket be a cash-only game?

Yes, if cash-only payment can stop you from overspending and falling into credit debt, lottery purchasing must be prohibited with a credit, debit, or gift card. It’s also a good way to stop indulging the consumers in excessive gambling because who knows when you’ll be lucky.

Bottom Line

Isn’t buying a lottery ticket so thrilling? All you have to do is get the ticket and pray to the Gods you must get the prize. As easy and exciting as this may sound, doing so with your credit or debit card can turn the odds against you. You can get addicted to gambling and overspending real soon before you even realize that you have a whole lot of credit debt going on in your credit history.

So, think twice before putting yourself in any such situation!

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