I was not aware of this either and share your concerns. We know generally that increased access places people at greater risk so making it easier to buy lottery tickets could have some impact. This is one of those examples where OLG would argue that they are simply improving their customer service by giving people more options. Their challenge is to balance their desire to promote their products to the broader community without increasing harm to those experiencing problems.

This is a game changer (no pun intended). It's unfortunate that there is no self-exclusion mechanism on this web page, as this is another avenue to increase the harm associated with gambling...unless this falls under the internet gaming category on OLG's site.

I agree with Steve's comment about this being representative of a balancing act. However, I feel like they can promote their products but still use harm reduction messaging to target priority populations.

I was curious about this as well.  I went on line to see what the registration process was like.  It seems as though you have to deposit money in an account in order for the transactions to happen.  I didn't see a link to add a credit card number or arrange direct deposit.  If I am correct, then that might be  a good way for people to manage their lottery buying habits as they will have to put the money up front for their purchases.  

It will also have people be more mindful of how much they are spending.

As another safety feature, this function is not available for mobile devices, so people won't be able to add funds to tehir accounts to buy more tickets when they are out and about.

All in all, while it may increase some people's access, it may also help others manage their play and purchase habits.