With a turbulent industry week drawing to a close, Neteller announced
the welcome news that it has no intention of pulling out of American
market and will continue to provide services for US players.
The alternative payment processor registered with the financial regulatory
authorities on the Isle of Man stated this (Thursday) morning that
it would continue to operate as normal in the US.
The company said it expects to have a clearer view of how it will
comply with the Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act following the 270-day
period after the Act is signed. During this time, the Act’s
regulations will be drafted.
Neteller said it would maintain existing customer and merchant support
across all the markets it currently serves.
Delegates at the European Interactive Gaming conference in Barcelona
received the same view from Neteller's Executive Vice President of
Sales and Marketing Bruce Elliot, who told an audience of online gaming
executives: "We are staying in the U.S. I don't think we have
a problem."
Another senior Neteller executive at the conference told several reporters:
"We are completely committed to the U.S."
The Neteller announcement comes on the same day that Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are rumored to shortly advise corporate customers to avoid taking Internet bets from the United States.
Commenting on the rumor an RBS spokeswoman said: "The Royal Bank of Scotland Group will take the necessary steps to ensure that we are fully compliant with this [U.S.] legislation." Barclays declined to comment.
PokerStars was using the services of the Royal Bank of Scotland plc but apparently has found another bank to process their US transactions as they also announced today they will stay in the US market. Neteller's bank is or was Barclays.
In other news the Isle of Man regulated online money transfer business
Neteller has announced the latest milestone in its market diversification
strategy by formally launching two new country specific versions of
its service in Denmark and Sweden.
The two new localized versions of the company’s service represent
the fifth and sixth new European products launched by Neteller during
2006. The company, which has customers in over 160 countries, launched
sites in Germany, France, Spain and Italy earlier this year and expects
to announce more localized services in the next few months.
With over 3 million customers in 160 countries, 3 500 merchants, and
over $7 billion in annual transactions, the Neteller Group operates
the largest independent online money transfer business in the world.
Neteller UK Limited is authorized by the Financial Services Authority
(FSA) to operate as a regulated e-money issuer.