When it comes to online gambling payments, we can say that Skrill has a “monopoly” with Neteller. Both services belong to the same company, and they are the most popular electronic wallets at online casinos. In this article, we will take a closer look at Skrill and analyze it in detail: If you are wondering about this payment method, keep reading.
History and General Info
Skrill was established in 2001, but its name was “Moneybookers” back then. It used this name until 2011 and switched to its current name as part of a re-branding operation. In 2015, Paysafe Group purchased the company and became the largest electronic payment operator in the world. Currently, the group owns three brands: Skrill, Neteller, and Paysafe Card.
Skrill is a UK-based payment provider, and its annual revenue is more than 300 million dollars. It is used in 200+ countries and supports 40 different currencies. In 2014, they purchased UKash and further expanded its services. At the moment, Paysafe Card uses the payment infrastructure of Skrill too.
Costs and Fees: Is Skrill A Budget-Friendly Service?
Opening an account with Skrill is free, no payment is needed. It will stay as free for the next 12 months. However, if you do not log in to this account or use it to make a transaction within the same period, Skrill will deduct a service fee of 3 EUR per month from your account. (5 EUR after March 2019.)
Other fees and costs are as follows:
- Depositing money to your Skrill account: A 1% fee will be deducted from every transfer.
- Withdrawing money from your account: If you prefer withdrawing to your bank account, Skrill will cut a fixed 5.50 EUR fee. If you prefer using a credit card, the fee will be a fixed rate of 7.50%.
- Sending money from your Skrill account: If you are sending money to a bank account, there are no fees. However, sending money anywhere else requires a fixed fee of 1.45% (minimum 0.43 EUR).
- Receiving money to your Skrill account: This service is free of charge.
The most important thing here is the currency conversion rates. If the transfer requires changing currencies, Skrill will add an additional 3.99% fee on top of its own exchange rates. Its exchange rates are much higher than other financial facilities and change daily. So, if you select GBP as your currency and send money to an online casino that accepts only EUR, for example, this transaction will be a lot more “pricey” due to costs, fees, and exchange rates.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Skrill
We can list the pros and cons of using this payment method as follows:
Advantages:
- Lots of local currencies are supported, even Bitcoin
- Supported by many reputable online casinos (Royal Panda, Kaboo Casino, Dunder Casino, GUTS, Play OJO, Slots Million, Casino Cruise, etc.)
- It is also possible to withdraw funds via pre-paid cards.
Disadvantages:
- Fees and costs are higher when compared to similar services
- There is an additional exchange fee
- Withdrawal seems to be problematic, there are many complaints on the internet.
It seems, picking PayPal over Skrill is better, whenever possible. If PayPal is not available, Neteller seems to be offering a better service than Skrill, despite the fact that it is owned by the same company.
