In November last year, I unexpectedly rediscovered an unused national lottery app on my mobile phone with a balance of £2.50.
Heady with excitement, I bought a Lotto ticket and won £106. But when I tried to withdraw the money, I couldn’t, as my bank card attached to the account was no longer in use, and you can only change your card if your balance is zero.
So I am now in the bizarre situation where the only way to achieve a zero balance is to buy lottery tickets, but if I win … well, you can imagine.
I emailed more than a fortnight ago, but have heard nothing.
NG, Newcastle
I suppose it could be you … My interest was piqued by your letter because I thought the issue might be related to the recent behind-the-scenes changes in which Camelot has been replaced by Allwyn as operator of the national lottery.
However, this was not the case. It told me that for players’ safety and security, it seeks to prevent funds being deposited into a national lottery account from one debit card and withdrawn on another. This is a longstanding practice – in place long before Allwyn arrived in February – to prevent any problems should an account be fraudulently accessed.
If any other readers have small fortunes trapped in their accounts, call 0333 234 4433, not me.
SumUp update
A number of people involved with charities and community groups got in touch to share their frustrating stories about SumUp Solo card readers highlighted by a reader last month.
LP made the good point that the payments technology is now available as a smartphone app: “I tried it for the first time at the weekend and it’s much better than the standalone card reader.”
This is a no-cost solution for individuals, but not suited to situations where payments are taken by lots of different people.
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