- In tandem with the rollout, NETELLER parent company Optimal Payments issued a press release earlier in the week announcing its return to the US market.
- NETELLER’s primary competitor Skrill, formerly Moneybookers, is already live in the regulated US market, going live on multiple online gambling sites in New Jersey in late 2013, including the online poker market leader, PartyPoker New Jersey and sibling Borgata Poker.
- Its return to the US market comes almost seven years after its US operations were shut down by the US Department of Justice in early 2007.
Online payment processor NETELLER is now available as a cashier option for deposits and withdrawals on two regulated New Jersey online poker rooms.
“We think it will be a very popular and effective method for both deposits and withdrawals for customers,” Seth Palansky, Caesars’ Vice President of Corporate Communications, told pokerfuse.
Caesars has added NETELLER as an option on both its WSOP New Jersey online poker room and its sister online casino, CaesarsCasino.com.
“It’s the PayPal for the gaming set so to speak, and we think it will help folks, in particular anyone who has had trouble depositing with credit cards,” Palansky added.
888 has also added NETELLER as a deposit and withdrawal option, according to an 888 representative posting in its public support forum. Its website has yet to be updated with the details.
NETELLER’s primary competitor, Skrill, formerly Moneybookers, is already live in the regulated US market. It launched in the cashiers of multiple online gambling sites in New Jersey in late 2013, including the market leader in the state, PartyPoker New Jersey.
In tandem with the rollout, NETELLER parent company Optimal Payments issued a press release announcing its return to the US market.
According to the PR, Optimal is working through a “federally-insured U.S. financial institution sponsor” to relaunch its service.
Part of this is the “Net+ Card,” a service developed “to meet the unique needs of the U.S. marketplace,” according to Joel Leonoff, Optimal’s President and CEO.
The US service is not a true ewallet service as is offered in Europe. Instead, customers receive a prepaid Discover card which can be used to deposit. Players can withdraw funds at ATM machines.
NETELLER’s service can be expected to be added to other online gaming sites in both New Jersey and Nevada soon.
Its return to the US market comes almost seven years after its US operations were shut down by the US Department of Justice in early 2007. Players waited an anxious five months before they managed to regain access to their funds, following a settlement with the DOJ.
The settlement and company’s subsequent compliance record enable it to obtain licenses to operate in Nevada and New Jersey. It has been preparing to re-enter the wider US market for some time and has established several commercial relationships including deals with Bally and WSOP owners, Caesars.
Before being shut down in the US, the company’s fee revenues were $239m, after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) those revenues dropped to $44m in 2010. Last year the company processed $15bn in transactions worldwide.
Since the regulated market opened up in the US, the new online poker rooms offer a variety of alternative ways to deposit. Credit cards Mastercard and Visa can be used for igaming transactions, although there are still issues with cards being rejected by some banks. Other common options include wire transfers, checks and deposits at the cage at partner casinos.
