LITTLE ROCK (KFSM) – An Arkansas representative filed a bill on Feb. 6 aimed at allowing debit cards to be used for purchasing Arkansas Scholarship Lottery tickets.
Rep. Chris Richey, D-West Helena, filed HB 1280, on Friday, according to legislative records. The bill is also called “An act to allow debit cards to be used as a form of payment for lottery tickets.”
Under Arkansas law, lottery tickets may only be purchased with cash, officials say. If passed, the bill would allow customers to use a debit card to purchase tickets from businesses.
The bill also defines a debit card as “a card used to obtain goods or services by an electronic transaction that debits the cardholder’s account, rather than extending credit.”
Checks, credit cards, charge cards and any other form of payment would still be prohibited under this bill.
Businesses would not be allowed to charge a fee to customers wanting to use their debit cards to buy tickets, the bill states. Instead, if a retailer chose to accept debit card payments for lottery tickets, that store would be responsible for any expenses, according to the bill.
The bill will now go before the Committee on House Rules, legislative records state.
