Lotteries across Asia are increasingly using digital technology to modernise traditional systems, supported by large existing user bases and widespread mobile access.
According to customer profile data from iGaming intelligence platform Blask, around 70% of users in Thailand and Singapore engage with lottery. The figure is about 50% in Nepal, 40% in India and Malaysia, 30% in Vietnam, 25% in the Philippines and 20% in Sri Lanka.
Around 2.9 billion people across Asia-Pacific use the internet, representing roughly two-thirds of the population, while 98% live within mobile network coverage. Over 90% of internet users primarily access the internet through mobile devices, giving lottery operators digital foundations for ticketing, payments, verification and prize claims. There is no single digital model emerging across Asia today so far.
In some markets, technology is strengthening existing retail networks. Vietnamese provincial lottery companies have introduced QR-enabled tickets alongside upgraded systems for ticket verification, prize payments and sales management. Software is also being used to monitor agents and manage sales and cash flows, bringing retail operations into digital systems.
Thailand has taken a similar approach. The Government Lottery Office provides online access to lottery information and results, plus digital services such as prize-claim queues, while physical tickets are a mainstay among players.
South Korea expands mobile lottery access with strict controls
South Korea has moved further by allowing customers to buy Lotto 6/45 tickets through the Donghaeng Lottery mobile website after lifting a 24-year restriction on mobile sales.
Customers must register using their real names, while mobile purchases are capped at KRW 5,000, around $4, per person for each draw. Combined PC and mobile sales were initially restricted to five per cent of the previous year’s lottery revenue. Digitalisation is also being used to reduce unclaimed prizes.
From August 2026, players can register physical Lotto tickets through a mobile payment service using a QR code. The system can identify winning tickets, notify users and automatically pay eligible prizes after the relevant claim period. Retailers are being added to digital maps, helping customers locate outlets.
Technology is increasingly supporting the full lottery journey
Verification, payments, prize claims, customer service and agent management have become connected within the same digital ecosystem. This makes retail networks easier for operators to monitor and improve the customer experience around traditional products. It can also reduce friction around prize claims and help customers locate ticket outlets.
For governments, digital systems create more visibility over transactions and support stricter oversight. In Nepal, Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Wagle highlighted this issue in August while launching a tax-incentive lottery.
“We have to move towards a billing culture. Taking bills, giving bills, and all transactions should be traceable in the digital world,” the minister said.
Regulation will determine the extent of digital lottery growth
The digital shift also creates regulatory challenges around age verification, payments, fraud, responsible gambling and access to unlicensed platforms.
Nepal recently blocked more than 200 betting apps and related websites, showing how difficult digital gambling can be to control when operators and customers interact across borders. Although the enforcement action targeted online betting, the wider issue is relevant to regulated gambling moving online.
Speaking at SiGMA South Asia 2025 in Sri Lanka, Adam Fonsica, Co-Founder and COO of Random State, said lotteries had retained their appeal but the way customers experience them is evolving.
Across Asia, digitalisation is gradually changing how tickets are sold, managed and paid, while regulators decide how quickly the systems can expand without weakening oversight.
Asia’s lottery shift shows that digitalisation does not have to replace retail systems. The best models adopt mobile tools to improve ticket verification, payments, prize claims and agent management. They also allow regulators to introduce digital access at each market’s pace.
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