According to the latest Pennsylvania Bulletin, PA Lottery is proposing to offer Play at Pump. According to the notice, Mega Millions and Powerball will be among the first games offered. No playslips nor self-selection. Quickpick only.
For more details: http://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol45/45-44/1939.html
Play at Pump will require debit or credit card. No cash. While PA Lottery retailers have long been able to accept credit cards, very few knowingly do. Being many people don't carry much cash anymore, it makes sense though comes with some tradeoffs for both card issuers (increased default risk) and players (spending more than they can afford).
For most drawings, this will be a non-issue, but if and when MM / PB reach record heights again, what's to stop players from racking up $100, $200, $500, $1000, etc on play at the pump... Hopefully, PA Lottery and stores that offer Play at Pump figure this out before it gets crazy. I can already envision lots of players standing at gas pumps not fueling, or even with no vehicle at all, buying loads and loads of tickets on their credit card(s).
Redemption gets interesting. For larger prizes over $600, the player will need to bring the card, originally used for purchase, along with them to a claim center. However, PA Lottery will credit winnings of $600 or less to the card originally used for the purchase. Some card issuers may not care for that, especially if issued as an original credit verses a refund. Furthermore, players may experience difficulties / delay getting the excess funds back from the card issuer. Also, some players may be hit with cash advance fees and/or have their credit card limit decreased / account closed due to such activity.
All in all, Play at Pump seems more hassle than it's worth. Be interesting to see if it's ever implemented and what stores get on board. My guess is Wawa and/or Sheetz will be among the first for the test pilot.
In my view, PA Lottery should focus its efforts on a player pre-paid card that can be loaded with funds, and also used for redemption for future play / withdrawal from ATM. That would be a winner. As of now, redeeming winners of even $100 can be a hassle, since many lottery retailers don't have much cash on hand and/or make excuses not to pay out such prizes (ie. player didn't buy the ticket there, expecting one to spend some of their winnings there, just don't feel like it, etc).