InComm Enters Lottery Industry With Linq3 Buy

Payments technology company InComm has acquired Linq3 Technologies with the purpose of entering the lottery industry, the company announced on Tuesday (March 12).

Linq3, founded in 2007 in Atlanta, develops, builds and markets traditional and digital lottery products. The company uses new technologies aimed toward customer satisfaction, and attempts to attract customers at retail point of sale (POS) systems.

“By incorporating Linq3’s pioneering lottery products and solutions with our expansive national retail and payments network, we collectively will be able to deliver new product solutions to create experiences that will engage the consumer – right at the retailer’s point of sale,” said Brooks Smith, InComm founder and CEO. “We are excited to add Linq3’s innovative capabilities and proprietary technology to our portfolio of products and services. This transaction brings us an experienced management team with a great deal of industry knowledge that can be leveraged to transform and grow lottery business across North America.”

InComm has started integrating with gaming vendors across the United States. The company plans to launch a suite of lottery products that include POS draw games, prize payouts and validations, as well as prepaid state lottery gift cards.

“Today, state lotteries face many challenges tied to retailer expansion, new player acquisition and product innovation in an increasingly digital world,” said Tom Spiegel, CEO of Linq3. “Through InComm’s acquisition of Linq3, state lotteries will now have the ability to reach more players through new and current retailers, retailers can realize more revenue by driving new consumer traffic to their locations, and lottery players will benefit from easy, simple and new ways to purchase and play lottery products.”

Linq3 was also involved in Ohio’s debut of its “first mobile-enabled lottery card.” The product combines the gift card with the lotto entry.

Consumers can go to Buehler’s, Giant Eagle or Kroger locations to buy the lottery card. Whenever the consumer wants to enter a drawing, “the player texts in the lottery card’s unique code to a specified number, provides their name and confirms their location to complete a one-time card enrollment,” according to a statement from the companies. A picture message with the quick pick numbers, draw date and other information then is sent back to the cardholder.

“Winners are notified via text and picture message, and most winnings are paid automatically via PayPal. After enrolling, players can use their lottery card to play again and again by presenting it at checkout,” the statement said.