Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, announced that National Lottery players who play in shops will be able to opt to have their prizes paid directly into their bank accounts for the first time.

In a partnership with payments provider, Bottomline, Allwyn has created a quick, easy online claim process that will see retail prizes of between £500.01 and £50,000 paid more quickly than ever before.

The new solution is the latest development in the revised claims process that Allwyn had to introduce when it took over as National Lottery operator in 2024. This was following the Post Office’s decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000 (called ‘mid-tier prizes’).

Last year, Allwyn continued to make upgrades to the process and has now directly paid out over 45,000 mid-tier prizes to in-store players – amounting to over £50 million in prize money.

This new enhancement isn’t just good news for players, but it will also significantly reduce administration and postage costs – as Allwyn will no longer need to prepare and post thousands of cheques. This cost efficiency will see more money going to National Lottery-funded Good Causes.

With the new payment solution, retail players can go to claims.national-lottery.co.uk, enter their email address and then fill in an easy-to-complete claim form – this asks for the player’s details, some details about the winning ticket, and prompts the player to upload an image of the ticket. If a winner has any questions during the process or needs some additional support, they can call Allwyn’s Customer Care Team who will be happy to help.

At this point, the default option will be for the prize to be paid directly into the player’s bank account, although they can still choose to be paid by cheque if that is their preference – which has been standard payment method for these up until now (including when the Post Office was still paying these prizes).

Once the claim form has been submitted and processed, the player will receive an email with a unique, secure link for them to submit their bank account number and sort code. The system will then automatically check that the name on the account matches the name entered on the prize claim form. As soon as this information has been successfully submitted by the player, the payment will be processed and will be paid directly into the player’s bank account within 24 hours*.

Allwyn’s Operations Director, Jenny Blogg, said: “We’re delighted to introduce this completely new payment solution, which will see, for the first time, people who play The National Lottery in shops be able to have their prizes paid directly into their bank accounts.

“Not only will this see these prizes paid faster than ever before, but it also drastically cuts down on administration and postage costs. This cost efficiency will see more money going to the Good Causes that The National Lottery supports and see prize money in players’ pockets in record time – so it really is a win-win.”