National Lottery announces major rule change so players have instant access to cash winnings

National Lottery winners can now receive prizes between £500 and £50,000 directly into their bank accounts, leaving behind the traditional cheque payment system.

The new payment solution – introduced by lottery operator Allwyn – applies exclusively to tickets purchased at retail outlets across the UK.

This modernisation of the prize payment process aims to deliver winnings more speedily to successful players.

Now, winners claiming prizes between £500.01 and £50,000 will benefit from faster payment processing through direct bank transfers.

This change comes as part of Allwyn’s broader initiative to modernise the claiming process since taking control of the National Lottery in 2024 and follows the Post Office’s withdrawal from handling lottery retail prize payments within this monetary range.

Jenny Blogg, operations director for Allwyn, welcomed the new initiative, saying: “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.”

She added: “Not only will this see these prizes paid faster than ever before, but it also drastically cuts down on administration and postage costs.”

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While the new system aims to ensure that winners receive their prizes more quickly, it is also expected to significantly reduce administrative burdens and postal expenses for the National Lottery.

Any payments will be expected to be completed within 24 hours.

However, winners can also opt to have a cheque sent to their address.

Under the new system, winners must go to claims.national-lottery.co.uk, provide their email address and fill in a claim form.

Then, players must give their personal details and upload a picture of their winning ticket.

If the form is filled out on a weekend, the payments might take up to two to three days to process.

So far, in thirty years, the National Lottery has awarded £95billion to lucky winners, while its Community Fund gives out more than £600million to communities across Britain each year.