EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SKRILL

Skrill is an online payment provider that has been moving money digitally since as early as 2001. It claims to be ‘one of the world’s leading digital payment companies’ and it’s true that it has over 36 million customers across 200 different countries but I think it has a long way to go before it can really be considered a market leader.
Skrill is an international electronic payment system available to any Internet user over 18 with a registered e-mail. Skrill is the rebranded Moneybookers sytem that offers its clients massively enhanced payment facilities. Activities on the system are regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority and performed strictly according to the Law.
The Skrill payment system is a secure and flexible instrument for making payments and doing international business in the Internet regardless of a customer’s location. By its nature the Skrill account is an electronic multicurrency purse for handling payments and keeping money. You can use it to fund and withdraw money from your FXOpen account, as well as pay for other services and products online.
Skrill supports nearly 40 currencies and offers a wide local network of more than 60 funding options such as bank transfer, credit and debit cards and many more.

WHAT IS SKRILL?
Skrill, formerly known as Moneybookers, is an e-wallet. This is somewhere that you create an account and can hold money in an online wallet. You can then use that money to buy services on a number of online shops and to make deposits and withdrawals in a number of Netent casinos.

WHY USE SKRILL?
Why would you use Skrill as opposed to, say, your Visa or Mastercard? Well, it’s easier for one thing. You can attach your card, or bank account, to Skrill in order to top it up, but then all you need to make a deposit into casinos is your Skrill username and password. It saves getting up, getting your card and entering the long card number and additional details each time.

Secondly, it’s safer. Your card details are only stored with Skrill and not with every casino that you use. The less places your card details are stored, however safely, the less chance there is of anything going wrong.

SKRILL FEES
Skrill is one of the most expensive payment methods on the market. You’ll be charged to do anything. Loading money into your Skrill account- you’ll be charged. Making a deposit into a casino- you’ll be charged. Making a withdrawal from a casino to Skrill- you’ll be charged. Withdrawing from Skrill back to your card or bank account- you’ll be charged. So, in one entire cycle (upload, deposit to casino, withdraw from casino, withdraw from Skrill) you’ll be charged 4 different times.

UPLOAD FEES
Upload to Skrill via your credit or debit card (instantly) and be charged 1.9%.
Upload to Skrill via a paysafecard (instantly) and be charged an enormous 5.5%.
The only free upload option is manual bank transfer which takes 3-5 days and it’s likely you’ll be charged by your bank instead.
DEPOSITING FROM SKRILL TO CASINO FEES
This will vary from casino to casino, some being free and some having high charges. This is because Skrill impose charges on the casino, so it’s then up to the casino if they’re willing to take the charge on themselves (and not charge the player) or if they want to pass that charge to the player instead.

Deposit via Skrill to Cardbet and be charged 4%.
Deposit via Skrill to Tivoli Casino FOR FREE!
Deposit via Skrill to Redbet Casino FOR FREE!
WITHDRAWING FROM CASINOS TO SKRILL
If you’re lucky enough to win, you’ll need to withdraw your winnings from the casino back to Skrill, in order to meet closed loop policies. Much like deposits, the fees here will depend on the individual casinos.

Withdraw via Skrill from Redbet FOR FREE!
WITHDRAWING FROM SKRILL FEES
Withdraw from Skrill to your bank and be charged €2.95 (depending on your account currency). This is supposed to take 2-5 days.
Withdraw from Skrill to your registered credit or debit card and be charged €2.95 (depending on your account currency). This is supposed to take up to 7 days, however there are lots of reports of customers waiting over 40 days for the money to arrive. Myself, I waited 2 weeks and nothing arrived. Spent days trying to get hold of customer support- no responses via facebook, twitter or email and they either didn’t answer the phones or hung up on me. I eventually got through to someone and was told they’re having technical problems, can’t cancel the withdrawal (but it hadn’t been processed) and they had no idea how long it would be. Eventually, frustrated, I found the Head of Customer Support on LinkedIn and messaged her directly. She cancelled the payment immediately, refunded the charges and processed a bank transfer which took 1 banking day.