HONG KONG — AGTech Holdings Limited (stock code: 8279), an integrated lottery technology and services company in the China lottery market, through its joint venture subsidiary with SF Holdings, SF Lottery, has officially launched its new nationally-approved, theme-based instant scratch lottery product called “SF-Themed Instant Scratch Lottery” yesterday. The innovative lottery product, approved by the Ministry of Finance and designed by the National Sports Lottery Centre in conjunction with SF Lottery, is now available in the four pilot cities of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Nanjing in Jiangsu province, Changsha in Hunan province, as well as Nanchang in Jiangxi province.
Denominations for the product come in RMB1, RMB5, RMB10, RMB20, with corresponding top prizes ranging from RMB10,000 to RMB1,000,000. Importantly, the RMB1 face value lottery is the first of its kind in the marketplace. The SF-Themed Instant Scratch Lottery has also adopted the innovative self-service model for the first time in the industry, where players can redeem the prize themselves by scanning the QR code on the lottery card via the SF Financial mobile app. Additionally, in contrast to traditional instant scratch lottery, the SF-Themed Instant Scratch Lottery offers multiple winning chances, and has established a “Scratch and Scan” zone to provide lottery buyers to win various additional discounts and surprises.
SF Lottery is also expected to greatly expand its reach by allowing customers to conveniently purchase its SF-Themed Instant Scratch Lottery through the vast network of channels of SF Holdings. Sales of traditional lottery are mainly conducted through betting stations, which are limited by their geographical locations and convenience, thereby limiting access to the general public. SF Holdings, given its industry leading position, has an unparalleled network of couriers and physical retail stores, located in places with high pedestrian flow, such as central business districts, industrial parks, and communities with younger demographic, etc, all typically hard to reach by traditional betting stores. In the four pilot cities, over 10,000 trained SF couriers and sales staff have joined the sales team for the SF-Themed Instant Scratch Lottery. The dramatic increase in access, efficiency and convenience provided by the SF-Themed Instant Scratch Lottery is an unprecedented breakthrough in the lottery industry, and is expected to be rolled out nationwide by this year-end.
According to the public information provided by China Ministry of Finance, sales of instant scratch lottery in 2016 amounted to RMB28.5bn. in the PRC (equivalent to approximately US$3.5 per capita), 7.2% of total lottery sales. In previous years this proportion was considerably higher, accounting for 18.6% of total sales in 2010, for example. It is understood that relative to other countries, the current sales volume of instant scratch lottery in the PRC is modest. According to the public information provided by a world leading gaming company, in the United States, annual instant lottery sales was about US$43bn in 2015, which is equivalent to approximately US$130 per capita. That suggests a significant growth potential in the instant scratch lottery market in China.