The National Lottery is paying winners via bank transfer if they win a ‘mid-tier’ prize (Image: Getty)
Allwyn has said that players who win prizes of between £500 and £50,000 can have the cash paid directly into their bank account rather than by cheque.
Allwyn, who runs the , said payments would be made within 24 hours, but the cash payment for mid-tier prizes only applies to tickets bought in shops.
Jenny Blogg, operations director for Allwyn, which runs the National Lottery, said: “We’re delighted to introduce this completely new payment solution, which will see, for the first time, people who play The National Lottery in shops be able to have their prizes paid directly into their bank accounts.
“Not only will this see these prizes paid faster than ever before, but it also drastically cuts down on administration and postage costs.”
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The Post Office is no longer paying out National Lottery retail prizes of between £500 and £50,000.
Allwyn said the new payment method will see more money go to National Lottery-funded good causes because it would reduce adm and postage costs.
Lottery winners should go to claims.national-lottery.co.uk. There they can enter their email address and fill in a claim form. They need to supply personal details and upload an image of their winning ticket.
Once this has been done, the player will receive an email with a unique, secure link for them to submit their bank account number and sort code.
The system will check the name of the account matches the claim form and if it does, the payment will be issued within 24 hours.
Winners can can still choose to have their money paid by cheque. If a claim form is made on a weekend date, any payments made take two to three working days to clear.