We live in a digital society dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution with seamless, cashless payments. The once-fantastical subject matter depicted in science fiction has become a day-to-day reality, although we are still waiting for our flying cars and personal teleporters...
While the gaming industry may still be toying with biometrics and artificial intelligence, it's one industry where cash remains a stubborn and steadfast form of payment. However, with the advent of online gaming, the traditional payment infrastructures of Direct Debit and card payments are the most favoured for online gaming, allowing players easy access to get lottery tickets online.
A lot of The Health Lottery’s top jackpots have been won by Direct Debit players
Joe from Cheshire landed his six figure jackpot when his numbers were played for him automatically (and he didn't believe us when we called him to tell him about his Big Win. Mind you, it was the morning after he attended a family wedding, so he was both a little tired and emotional and in the same hotel as pranking relatives). Sue from Chesterfield won £100,000 playing The Big Win by Direct Debit. More recently, Pauline from Chorley and Mark from Surrey both won £25,000. Paul from the West Midlands is not alone in having won £10,000 playing this way. And then there's Frank from Blyth, who won jackpots TWICE playing by Direct Debit!
Why use Direct Debit to get lottery tickets online?
The beauty of playing online, and setting up a Direct Debit, is that it allows us to get on with the more essential aspects of life. For those of us that love to play so many of the various online games, the convenience of playing and paying online makes this enjoyable pastime even more accessible.
With the Direct Debit payment option, you need never miss a draw, mislay or damage your ticket, or forget to claim your winnings again as you will be automatically notified.
When did the concept of Direct Debit come into existence?
We can trace the principle to ancient Egyptian times. Interestingly, everyday spending money for ancient Egyptians came in the form of harvested grain. They built their secure and convenient storage facilities called granaries, essentially grain banks, for the depositing and storing of valuable harvests. This is incredibly similar to our banking system 2,500 years on!
The grain banks allowed for cashless exchanges in the market places, exchanging much-needed goods and produce, payment being in the form of a receipt presented for the withdrawal of grain from particular granaries. With all records kept and managed at a central banking system in Alexandria, the King would be the one responsible to create mandates for the withdrawal of grain to meet tax, church, and other legal payments.
In the UK, the birth of modern Direct Debit has interesting links with another type of food, ice cream! Back in the 1960s, a chap named Alastair Hanton first came up with the concept of making business easier for merchants and their customers, specifically in managing the supply and payment of Wall's ice cream!
His idea of a flexible payment system was initially named ADT (Automatic Debit Transfer). He later shortened this and substituted the word automatic with the word “direct”, this being a popular word bandied about during the 60s, to suggest a modern, speedy, and revolutionary payment system. Direct debit gave the bank’s creditors the power to automatically take payments from their client’s bank account.
"I began with the name automatic debit transfer (ADT) and then during the discussion we shortened that… direct debit was, well, more direct…"
— Alastair Hanton
Initially, the system was not that popular and breaking through barriers raised by both the banks and their clients was a huge task. However, gradually banks and consumers began to see the benefits of this system, and stuffy die-hard bankers started to experiment when other competitors were making similar advances, for example, the giro system, applying pressure on them to sit up and take action.
Lottery direct debits provide a guarantee and protection
Once a Direct Debit Mandate is completed by the customer, the merchant does the rest and payments are taken from the customer bank direct to the merchant bank. The Mandate that is completed by the customer is backed up by something called a “Direct Debit guarantee” which gives robust protection to the customer.
To get lottery tickets or lotto scratch cards online, you simply need to go onto The Health Lottery website and open your own personal online account and set up a lotto Direct Debit. This process is straightforward and secure.
You can play The Big Win and All or Nothing by Direct Debit, but QuickWin and Instant Win games can only be played in the moment... and since QuickWin has a fresh £25,000 draw every three minutes that's no bad thing. It would cost £480 to play every QuickWin draw in a day... although, to be fair, you could win £12 million for that...
VIP players save 20%
If you want to play The Big Win by Direct Debit, there's no better way than signing up to play as a VIP. You can choose to play every Big Win draw, or just the Wednesday and Saturday £100,000 Superdraws. You'll save over 20% playing this way, and can play one, two or three lines in the draws you select (per subscription).
If you want more details you can find them here, but it really is just hassle-free, automatic play on The Big Win, for less. And if you were wondering, your contribution to vital, local health-related good causes is unaffected - they still get their full share!
