Pollard Banknote Partners With Abacus Solutions International Group For In-Lane Retail Solution

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, April 6, 2020 /CNW/ – Pollard Banknote Limited (TSX: PBL) (“Pollard Banknote”) is pleased to announce our partnership with Abacus Solutions International Group (“Abacus”) to provide an innovative way for customers to purchase instant lottery tickets at retail points of sale by leveraging Pollard Banknote’s exclusive scanACTIV™ retail solution.

scanACTIV™ provides a new way for retailers to market and sell instant lottery tickets either at the register or at self-checkout stands, which are both significant growth opportunities for the lottery industry. scanACTIV™ was developed to provide flexibility, convenience, and security, in order to help lotteries and retailers in their efforts to drive instant ticket sales. The scanACTIV™ platform will facilitate new business partnerships between lotteries and major retailers. This innovative solution will enable retailers to easily drive even more lottery sales by placing this mostly impulse-driven purchase in lane, directly in view of consumers.

Customers can conveniently select, purchase, and activate a scanACTIV™ instant ticket at the point of sale. It is unlike traditional instant tickets that require lottery terminals and staff resources to manage the sale of lottery products. The scanACTIV™ platform, in conjunction with the Abacus Fusion Platform connecting to retail points of sale, allows for an easy, seamless, and secure customer transaction with tickets not being activated until they are purchased. Once the purchase transaction is completed, the game is now ready to be played. The ticket holder has the choice of playing their instant game similar to a traditional instant ticket, or via a digital reveal by visiting a website or mobile app to access a digital play experience. If a player’s scanACTIV™ ticket reveals a win, the customer then redeems their ticket at a lottery retailer, creating a full-circle process that begins and ends at retail. The game content is flexible, and the interactive game experience will attract players looking for innovative lottery experiences.

Abacus powers over 25,000 connected points of retail globally, enabling lottery purchase using existing point-of-sale systems. The Abacus Fusion Platform is the technology at the heart of Lottery Everywhere, powering the connection between lotteries, vendors, retailers, and ultimately consumers. Integrating scanACTIV™ into the Abacus Fusion Platform will enable the offering of instant tickets throughout the Abacus retail network.

“By collaborating with Abacus to integrate into their transaction gateway, we believe that our new and fully customizable in-lane retail solution can meet the needs of any lottery ready to expand its retail landscape in an entirely new fashion, and help drive additional revenue along the way,” said Jennifer Westbury, Executive Vice President of Sales and Customer Development, Pollard Banknote. “As a company, we have always focused on being at the forefront of innovation and the pursuit of retail excellence and look forward to continuing to execute on this vision with our new partnership with Abacus.”

Abacus CEO Simon Butler commented, “The Abacus technology enables lottery tickets to be purchased at any point-of-sale terminal, extensively increasing the lottery terminal footprint at a minimal cost. Integrating Abacus technology offers lotteries huge growth potential and keeps the lottery on the radar of customers. Our research shows that, in supermarkets in particular, only around 5% of customers visit the area of the store where the lottery terminal is located. An in-lane solution puts the lottery in front of 100% of the store’s customers and fits into their existing shopping behaviour. Working with Pollard Banknote and their new, innovative instant game products is an exciting opportunity and we look forward to launching this solution in the very near future.”

About Pollard Banknote

Pollard Banknote is a leading lottery partner to more than 60 lotteries worldwide, providing high quality instant ticket products, licensed games, Schafer Systems and Fastrak retail merchandising solutions, and a full suite of digital offerings, ranging from world-class mkodo game apps to comprehensive player engagement and iLottery solutions, including strategic marketing and management services. The company is a proven innovator and has decades of experience helping lotteries to maximize player engagement, sales, and proceeds for good causes. Pollard Banknote also provides pull-tab tickets, bingo paper, and its Diamond Game and Oasis-branded electronic ticket machines to charitable and other gaming markets in North America.  Established in 1907, Pollard Banknote is owned approximately 67.5% by the Pollard family and 32.5% by public shareholders, and is publicly traded on the TSX (PBL). For more information, please visit our website at www.pollardbanknote.com.

About Abacus Solutions International Group – Lottery Everywhere
Abacus – the gateway at the heart of connecting consumers, retailers and lotteries in the global market. Abacus believes the future of lottery lies in integrating into the existing retailer and consumer infrastructures by providing a highly secure transaction gateway that enables all parties to work together and create mutual growth. The Abacus Fusion Platform sits at the heart of connecting consumers, retailers and lotteries, with the Abacus team managing integration from start to finish. Abacus believes in building long term relationships by working together to develop new and innovative solutions. By using cutting edge technology, created by forward thinking industry experts, the Abacus gateway enables lotteries and retailers to respond to the ever-changing consumer market with speed, agility, reliability and integrity. For more information, please visit lotteryeverywhere.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking” statements and information, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. When used in this document, such statements include such words as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,” “plan,” and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management’s current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this document. There should not be an expectation that such information will in all circumstances be updated, supplemented, or revised whether as a result of new information, changing circumstances, future events, or otherwise.

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POLLARD BANKNOTE CONTACTS:

ABACUS SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL GROUP CONTACT:

Simon Butler
Chief Executive Officer
+44 7768 282638
E-mail: s.butler@abacus-bv.com