Moneybookers
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| Type | Online Payment and Money Transfer Service |
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| Founded | London UK (2001) |
| Headquarters | London, England / UK |
| Parent | Investcorp Technology Partners |
| Website | www.moneybookers.com www.skrill.com |
Moneybookers is an e-commerce business that allows payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. It serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as cheques and money orders. Moneybookers performs payment processing for websites, online auction sites, and other corporate users.
Moneybookers is registered as a Money Service Business (No. 12115607) with HM Revenue and Customs in the United Kingdom, and is licensed to operate within the European Union. Moneybookers is regulated by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom.
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[edit] Offer
Moneybookers allows for sending and receivig payments to/from 200 countries and territories in 41 currencies, supporting major credit/debit cards and around 100 local payment options. The majority of significant economies are supported; restrictions include countries on US and/or EU economic santions list. Also, US-based customers cannot receive money from non-US accounts, and non-US customers cannot upload funds using cards or accounts located in the United States.
Individual customers can open an account with Moneybookers through registering their email address and certain personal data on the company's website. Completing an optional identity verification process allows sending/receiving higher-value payments. Accounts are identified by email address(es) associated with them; consequently, payments from a Monebookers account (other than withdrawals to own bank account or a payment card) take shape of "sending" money to an email address. An email address once assigned to a Moneybookers account cannot be altered or removed, and there is a limit of four email addresses per account.
For businesses, Moneybookers offers a payment gateway, escrow payments as well as web SMS and fax sending services. Unlike some of its competitors, Moneybookers does not usually get involved in merchandise disputes, and the availability of credit card chargebacks may be limited.
[edit] History
The moneybookers.com domain was created on 17 June 2001.[1] The website was launched on 1 April 2002.[2] Almost 2 million new users registered with Moneybookers in the initial 1.5 years of operation. On 2 September 2008, Moneybookers claimed to operate in all countries and handle over 5.5 million accounts.
In March 2007, Moneybookers was bought by Investcorp Technology Partners for €105 million[3] and as of 9 March 2009, it has been put up for sale by its owners for an estimated £365 million.[4]
In February 2010, The Sunday Times ranked Moneybookers as the fastest growing private equity-backed firm in the UK based on profits.[5] As of May 2012, the company boasts of 25 million customers, including 120,000 merchant accounts,[6] its payment gateway being integrated by a number of global online brands such as Facebook, Skype and eBay.
[edit] Rebranding
In 2011, Moneybookers announced that they would be rebranding their service as Skrill. A new website and improved payment facilities are planned to be launched by summer 2012, along with a full move to the Skrill brand. For existing merchants, all current functionality will remain available.
[edit] WikiLeaks controversy
In August 2010, Moneybookers blocked the account operated by WikiLeaks as a donation collection account under an excuse of compliance with "money laundering or other investigations conducted by government authorities." Despite WikiLeaks not being indicted in any unlawful activity or having formal restrictions on its activities anywhere except in Australia, Moneybookers decided to cut off the organisation's donation mechanism worldwide, thus coming under fire by free speech activitists worldwide as complacent with out-of-court pressure applied on Wikileaks by the government of the United States.[7]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "whois record". 2009-10-12. http://reports.internic.net/cgi/whois?whois_nic=moneybookers.com&type=domain. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
- ^ "Moneybookers.com". 2002-01-04. https://www.moneybookers.com/app/presscentre.pl?action=show&news_id=1. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- ^ "Investcorp Technology Partners Undertakes Buyout of Moneybookers Limited for EUR105 Million". http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=194056. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- ^ Telegraph.co.uk, Investcorp to sell Moneybookers
- ^ The Sunday Times: "Deloitte Buyout Track 100 League"
- ^ "Skrill.com – Key facts". http://corporate.skrill.com/about-us/key-facts/. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
- ^ WikiLeaks says funding has been blocked after government blacklisting The Guardian, 14 October 2010
