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Can I offer contests that involve both skill and chance in South Carolina? What are the requirements?

To offer contests that involve both skill and chance in South Carolina, the contest must be a savings promotion contest conducted by a financial institution authorized to do business in South Carolina, and the contest must comply with the definitions and requirements set forth in Chapter 45, Title 34 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. Savings promotion contests encourage people to save money by adding a feature to personal savings accounts that include a chance to win prizes. Savings promotion contests are not lotteries, because they do not require individuals to pay consideration for a chance to win a prize, and the individual maintains ownership of the money that is deposited into a savings or other qualifying account. The prizes are funded through the interest that accrues across the pool of savings accounts participating in a savings promotion contest. [1.2][1.3][1.4]

The following conditions must be met to conduct a savings promotion contest in South Carolina:

  1. The terms and conditions of the savings promotion contest must allow a depositor to obtain one or more entries to win a specified prize or prizes. Subject to any limits that the participating financial institution may place on the number of entries that a depositor is allowed to obtain for any savings promotion contest, as set forth in the terms and conditions of a specific savings promotion contest, the participating financial institution must allow a depositor to obtain an entry for a savings promotion contest only by doing either or both of the following: (a) depositing a minimum specified amount of money or making a specified number of deposits into a qualifying account in accordance with the terms and conditions of a specific savings promotion contest; (b) participating in one or more savings products or programs in accordance with the terms and conditions of a specific savings promotion contest. [1.4]
  2. A savings promotion contest must comply with all applicable consumer protection laws. [1.4]
  3. A participating financial institution conducting a savings promotion contest shall not require any depositor or other individual to pay a consideration for a chance of winning a prize or prizes designated in a savings promotion contest. [1.4]
  4. A depositor does not make a payment for consideration if the depositing of a specified amount of money, the making of a specified number of deposits, or the participating in one or more savings programs or products are all made or involve the depositor’s accounts. [1.4]
  5. Each entry in a savings promotion contest must have an equal chance of being drawn. [1.4]
  6. Participating depositors in a savings promotion contest are not required to be present at a drawing to win a prize. [1.4]
  7. A participating financial institution must maintain books and records necessary to facilitate an audit of a savings promotion contest and, upon written request, must provide those records to the appropriate state or federal regulatory agency of that financial institution. [1.4]
  8. A participating financial institution must not conduct a savings promotion contest in a manner that jeopardizes the safety or soundness of the financial institution or misleads its depositors. [1.4]
  9. A participating financial institution must post, online and in any location where entries may be submitted, the terms and conditions of the savings promotion contest. [1.4]

Therefore, to offer contests that involve both skill and chance in South Carolina, the contest must be a savings promotion contest conducted by a financial institution authorized to do business in South Carolina, and the contest must comply with the definitions and requirements set forth in Chapter 45, Title 34 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. [1.2][1.3][1.4]

Source(s):
Jurisdiction

South Carolina