Buying boledo always involved the physical act of going or sending to the nearest vendor or corner store to select the numbers. But, tonight, all that is changing with the launch of an app - which will allow anyone anywhere to get their numbers with just a few swipes of their cellphone.
It's free to download and if you win there are no extra charges to zip those winnings straight into your bank account. The It was launched today and Jomarie Lanza reports:
Those Sunday mornings of waking up early and running to the store to buy whatever number your granny got from a dream, can now easily be purchased with a click and a swipe. The Belize Government Lotteries Limited now has an official " Fi We Boledo App" providing buyers with instant accessibility to buying numbers and purchasing tickets from their favored lotteries. We spoke to the app developer about how it works
Maurice Rogers, Technical Lead, Development Team, KYN Consulting
"We have had in our test group we have had some of the older people and some of the younger people as well and once you are save if you know how to use Facebook you will be able to know how to use this app and so we try to make it very intuitive for the public and yeah we don't force any major problems right now once you are able to navigate your phone you should be able to know how to use the app."
"On the app they will be able to of course sign up and everything and after they have signed up then they will be able to buy Boledo, Lottery and jackpot games as soon as they become available and then they will be able to collect their winnings and view their ticket history on the app and as well as, the system will automatically deposit their winnings to their preferred banking application so whether that is Digiwallet or they have a bank or credit union that they prefer they can just put that in as their preferred payment way and then yeah the app will automatically deposit the winnings to their bank account."
"There is no fee if you win and all your winnings are deposited there is nobody taking a cut along the way or to that effect."
And if you are concerned about the security features, Rogers says that they implemented the same checks that a bank would use to keep information private.
Maurice Rogers, Technical Lead, Development Team, KYN Consulting
"So we have, when building this app we used industry standard level protection so we used the same type of security that the banks used and the same level of security for that and along with that then we did rigorous security testing on our platform as well because it is money so people will try to do things on the platform so we also have a rigorous security testing framework and period security checks along the way so. The beauty of it is that no purchase can be completed without your authorization code so for any purchase anything that is happening with your money in your Digiwallet account or boledo account you have to put in that token so that the transaction is authorized."
And while some, specifically the older generation, prefer to keep the tradition of going to the store to buy their numbers, the Managing Director for the BGLL says that the app was developed with a focus to appeal more to the younger buyers, and even their distributors support the idea.
Janel Espat, Managing Director, Belize Government Lotteries Ltd
"While we expect that there may be some migration of sales, the main purpose of rolling out the mobile app is to capture a new demographic. Currently through the traditional sales our customer base is made up mostly of of people aged 40 up so we are hoping that with the app we will attract the younger generation that are more technically savvy and perhaps would not want to stand in line to wait to purchase a ticket so that is what we are hoping we will achieve by introducing the mobile app and obviously increase sales by increasing our market base."
"We did consult with our sales distributors and they were 100% on board with it yes."
And while the vendors may not have complained audibly - the fact is they stand to lose a portion of the revenue, and we have heard rumblings from the Chinese community who are the major boledo retailers. They stand to lose their percentage and the foot traffic into their stores - so, reports, tell us they are not too pleased with the app. But, time will tell how and if it affects their sales since Boledo buyers are known to be ritualistic.
