- Ukash has signed a deal with retail payment network PayPoint that enables customers to withdraw cash from their accounts.
- Until now Ukash customers—including online poker players—could only use Ukash to make deposits.
- Ukash believes that the deal will not only make their service more attractive to customers but also more useful to online retailers.
UK e-wallet provider Ukash has signed a deal with retail payment network PayPoint that enables customers to withdraw cash in over 24,000 locations. Until now Ukash customers—including online poker players—could only use Ukash to make deposits.
Ukash operates a system where users can purchase unique 19 digit codes that can be used to make online payments at online poker rooms and other internet sites. No personal information is required to use Ukash, although gaming sites carry out their own anti-money laundering identity checks.
The financial service provider targets people who want to shield their banking information, purchase habits or identity as well as those that do not have a credit or debit card that can be used on the internet. There is still a sizable segment of the population who are unwilling to transmit their bank and credit card details over the internet for fear of fraud. The Ukash model eliminates that risk.
Ukash believes that the deal will not only make their service more attractive to customers but also more useful to online retailers. CEO David Hunter explains: “At the heart of this new service is our mission to give consumers the utmost flexibility with their Ukash, We also believe it creates even greater appeal for e-commerce retailers to add Ukash to their payment options.”
Ukash is owned by Smart Voucher Ltd. and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an Electronic Money Institution. It has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2011 and 2012 and made 23 on the Sunday Times list of the 100 fastest growing UK technology companies.
Competitor NETELLER reports that ~60% of its business remains with gambling sites, but that it is expanding internationally and to a wider base of internet retailers. In most countries, NETELLER provides customers with a MasterCard which can be used for cash withdrawals at ATMs and for normal purchases in shops.
With this deal, Ukash has set out on the road to providing a more rounded service to customers that has the potential to follow the NETELLER model. Shares in NETELLER’s LSE listed owner Optimal Payments plc have doubled in the last six months.
NETELLER fell foul of the US DOJ following the introduction of the UIGEA. It’s founders were arrested while in transit through the US and its US customers had their accounts frozen. After an out of court settlement, NETELLER left the US market, but now that state regulated poker is returning to America, the company is hoping to return.
The company has already established a partnership with Caesars interactive to provide a range of payment processing related services.