Can I Buy Lottery Tickets Using a Credit Card?

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Many people enjoy playing the lottery, and it's often easy as can be to buy tickets at your local convenience store in one of the 45 states and three other U.S. jurisdictions (Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) that have lottery games. If you've ever been in a store, hankering for a snack and a scratch-off ticket, it might have occurred to you that you could just whip out your credit card to pay when you get to the front of the line. But can you? And more importantly, is it a good idea to pay for a lottery ticket with a credit card?

Some states and merchants may allow it

Depending on where you're trying to buy lottery tickets with a credit card, the state you're in may or may not allow it. Some states have specific laws against using a credit card for these purchases. And while others may allow it from a technical standpoint, the merchant you're purchasing from may not, as it can set its own rules for accepted forms of payment.

Your credit card company will likely ding you

Many credit card companies don't expressly forbid the purchase of lottery tickets using their cards. But since scratch-off tickets and the like can easily be converted to cash, a credit card company will count them as a cash advance, or cash-equivalent transaction. A cash advance is a way to get cash from your credit card issuer; it's usually a smaller amount than your actual credit limit for the card (usually 20% to 50% of that limit), and it can be withdrawn from an ATM if you have a cash advance PIN (you'll have to get that from the company).

Cash advances will cost you though, as they both come with a fee (often 3% to 5% of the amount you withdrew), and also have no grace period before you start earning interest on them. And to make matters worse, that APR will most often be even higher than the one you accrue by just using your credit card to make purchases. Finally, cash advances don't even earn you credit card rewards like card purchases do.

Ultimately, it's a bad idea

Even putting aside the expense of cash advances and the likely possibility that your credit card company will treat a lottery ticket purchase as you taking one out, the fact remains that you're going into debt to gamble. The chances of winning the lottery are infinitesimal, and while it's okay to play games of chance, it's just not a good financial move to pay for them with your credit card.

Credit cards are an incredibly useful tool for financing large purchases, earning rewards on your everyday spending, and building your credit. So the next time you're in the mood to buy a little dream in the form of a lottery ticket, pay cash and don't go into debt for it.