Allwyn applauds retailers for record rate in mystery shopper age check

National Lottery retailers are correctly asking for ID as proof of age at the highest rate since National Lottery mystery shopping visits started more than two decades ago, Allwyn stated today (22).

As part of its new Operation Guardian programme, Allwyn organised over 8,200 mystery shopper visits in 2024 to check retailers were challenging players who appeared under the age of 18. The final results show that a record-breaking 92.3 per cent of National Lottery retailers correctly asked for ID as proof of age on their first visit.

The visits are carried out by people who are over 18 – so as not to inadvertently cause a retailer to break the law – but who look younger.

Retailers who sell to a mystery shopper on the first visit will be given additional training and subsequently re-visited. Retailers who sell on three separate occasions to mystery shoppers may have their lottery terminal removed.

Allwyn introduced Operation Guardian in 2024, with the new programme building on and expanding previous mystery shopper and retail training initiatives to increase the levels of support for retailers – ultimately enabling them to sell National Lottery products even more safely.

In total, over 16,000 store visits were carried in 2024 out as part of Operation Guardian. In addition to the 8,200+ proof-of-age visits, Allwyn carried out 4,000 ‘excessive play’ visits to ensure stores could provide support information to players requesting help with their play if needed.

Towards the end of the year, this also incorporated a smaller-scale mystery shop exercise for the new 10-Scratchcard per purchase limit, which Allwyn officially launched in October 2024.

The final part of Operation Guardian, a ‘knowledge check’, encompassed 4,000 visits which assessed store staff’s knowledge around preventing underage play and minimising excessive play.

Retailers were tested using six core questions, and the 2024 results show that 85 per cent of retailers answered five or more of the questions correctly.

Any retailer not passing one of the three parts making up Operation Guardian received additional training from Allwyn. This is further to the training they regularly receive either face-to-face via Allwyn’s increased retail sales team or through its new Retailer Training Centre.

In 2024, Allwyn made over 130,000 face-to-face and phone contacts to support National Lottery retailers in selling The National Lottery responsibly.

Allwyn’s Director of Commercial Partnerships and Retail Sales, Alison Acquaye-Acford, said, “A huge congratulations to our 40,000-plus National Lottery retailers for their commitment to selling The National Lottery responsibly and raising their standards to the highest levels ever seen.

“Participant protection is central to Allwyn’s plans for growing The National Lottery responsibly over the next decade and this is clear to see from the successful introductions of new training and initiatives in 2024, including Operation Guardian and the 10-Scratchcard limit.

"We’re delighted that our work in this area is already bearing fruit with these record-breaking figures. This is all down to the diligence of our retail partners, and I’d like to thank each and every one of them for their excellent work and dedication in this area.”