Lottoland granted “first of its kind” messenger licence

Lottoland will offer customers the chance to buy official lottery tickets from around the globe after the operator revealed it’s been granted a “first of its kind” lottery messenger licence.

The service, which has yet to launch, will enable customers to purchase official lottery tickets from international draws, despite the customer not being present in the respective countries or states as is otherwise required.

In short, the messenger service will see Lottoland purchase lottery tickets on behalf of its customers and becomes the first operator to be licensed to do so, following recent approval by the Government of Gibraltar Licensing Authority.

Lottoland’s chief strategy officer, Elicia Bravo, said the ability to act as a lottery ticket reseller would enable the firm to operate in markets where state-run organisations refuse to give up monopolies or where betting on lottery outcomes is unrecognised.

“The ability to also offer a licensed lottery messenger service will allow us to bring choice to customers in many more markets around the world,” Bravo added.

“Furthermore, it also underlines our strategy of becoming an online lottery operator with the full range of products – including lottery betting, lottery messenger, instant lotteries as well as B2B and B2G services.

“There are already several other companies out there offering messenger services. However, none of these operators have been granted fully licensed rights to do so.

“The fact that we’ve been granted the first fully recognisable and legally binding licence in this area highlights our commitment to lead through innovation as well as our determination to do things the right way.”

Lottoland has grown exponentially since its launch three-and-a-half years ago – in 2016 the firm recorded revenues of circa €300m, while it was ranked 28^th in last year’s EGR Power 50.