The UK lottery operator Camelot has had an application to use its network of 28,000 ticket machines for e-payment facilities turned down.
Camelot had wanted to enable contactless payments, bill payments and mobile phone top-ups to be carried out on their machines, but the National Lotteries Commission has decided that it would be against EU competition law to allow Camelot to go ahead, and wouldn’t generate much extra revenue compared with the £billions it generates for good causes.
The decision has been questioned by both Camelot themselves, and some retailers, such as the National Federation of Subpostmasters who would probably appreciate the additional services they could offer to their clients for little cost to themselves. Camelot do have the chance to appeal the decision.
Interestingly, rival firms have been using the gambling nature of Camelot’s business to help their case against Camelot getting the decision they wanted:
Dominic Taylor, the chief executive of PayPoint, the cash and internet payment provider, said: “Today’s decision should protect vulnerable people from the increased temptation to gamble.”
photo credit: K J Payne