Lottery Security Printing Hitting Jackpots

For people who bet on the lottery, a lottery ticket is an asset representing a potential jackpot. Most tickets look aesthetically attractive to the end consumer, but their printing journey involves as much security, innovation, complexity, and technical expertise as that of banknotes.

Blending science, technology and craftmanship

According to Patrick McHugh, EVP & Group Chief Executive of Scientific Games, a lottery ticket 'blends science and technology with manufacturing craftsmanship and is more challenging than printing money.

‘Scratch-offs (also known as instant lottery tickets) comprise up to 18 layers of ink, paper, foils and much more. They're charged with keeping data on games like Monopoly or Jumbo Bucks fully hidden from view from the time the data is printed on the ticket until the ticket reaches the consumer's hands,’ he said.

Scientific Games employs 25 artists to enhance the visual appeal of the tickets, and prints more than 50 billion tickets annually in five plants worldwide. Recently, it opened a new scratch card logistics facility in the UK to serve National Lottery retailers. The facility features the company's patented SciTrak technology, which includes predictive ordering and sorting systems that drive scratch card supply chain efficiencies and sales performance.