Neteller

Neteller as an online payment system was founded in 1999 and is owned and operated by public trading British company Global Payments Paysafe Group Plc.

In 2004 the company changed its headquarters from Canada to the Isle of Man and nowadays the Neteller system is subject to the rules and regulations of the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority (FSA). As such Neteller is listed at the FSA as an “Authorized Electronic Money Institution”.

Although officially not a “bank” (but still responding to the strict regulations as established by the FSA and therefore to be considered as a bank in terms of safety and security) Neteller is required to keep its customer´s funds at all times in separated trust accounts, thus being able to pay out the balances of all its clients all at once if needed. So even in (the highly unlikely) case Neteller goes bankrupt the company will still be able to refund all its customers their money.

The Neteller system is allegedly available in over 200 countries, has millions of accountholders and is primarily focused on carrying out money transfers between individual customers and online casino gambling websites. As a matter of fact, in 2000 the Neteller service covered about 80% of all money transactions between players and online gambling websites although today the banking method has many other applications and possibilities.

What is Neteller?

Neteller is basically an online electronic wallet (e-wallet) which can be used to send and receive money by the internet. It is best to see the wallet as an online bank account which can be uploaded with money and which funds subsequently can be used to carry out online financial transactions.

To be able to use the Neteller payment service one needs to open a Neteller account on their website which initially consists of providing the service with some basic (personal) data such as name, address, date of birth, gender and phone number, as well as with the desired account currency, a password and the answers to some security questions.

The most important requisite however is that one must have a valid e-mail address to become a Neteller account holder. Once this (five minutes taking) subscription procedure is completed the applicant immediately receives the Neteller account ID number and the account security ID.

From this moment on the Neteller account can already be used to upload money to and which funds thus can be used to make online payments. The accountholder can also receive money from third parties on the Neteller account, however, in this stage the account is still considered “unverified” by Neteller (see below) and therefore has some restrictions in use.

The methods available for uploading funds to the Neteller account depend on the country in which the account holder is residing. Of course the international credit / debit card providers MasterCard and Visa are accepted as Neteller account funding sources, as well as local (online) bank transfers and even other e-wallets or online payment services. Fees for uploading money to the Neteller account vary depending on the funding method chosen but in general range from free (by International Bank Transfer) or a 1,9% up to a 7% service fee calculated on top of the deposited amount. Processing times of money uploads depend on the chosen method too, but many of the funding options are instantly.

Withdrawing funds from the Neteller account can be done by cheques (mailed to the accountholder) and bank drafts (both with a processing time of 2 to 21 business days and against a service fee of € 7,50 ) and by bank transfers and Member Wires (processing time of 3 up to 10 business days and a fee charged of €7,50 – €10,50).

To withdraw funds from the Neteller account (and to fully profit from the Neteller system) the Neteller account needs to be upgraded from “Unverified” to “Verified”. This is done by providing Neteller with a readable image of a valid ID (with photo) of the accountholder. On the Neteller website there´s a special “ID Verification” section that allows to upload and send the ID image to the Neteller ID Verification team.

With a Verified account the accountholder can receive the Net+ Virtual Pre Paid MasterCard that is linked to the Neteller account and allows making payments and receiving money online wherever MasterCard as an online money transfer option is accepted.

On top of this the Neteller accountholder can apply for a physical (plastic) Net+ Pre Paid MasterCard that allows paying and receiving money anywhere the MasterCard platform is available (whether online or in the millions of points of sale all around the world). Purchases made with the card are free of charge and you can even get (against a fee) cash money out of every ATM machine that accepts MasterCard.

Note: the cheapest way to withdraw funds from the Neteller account is by using the (plastic) Net+ Pre Paid MasterCard at an ATM as only a fee of € 4 (or similar amount in a different currency) is charged per cash withdrawal.

If a Neteller transaction (whether paying or receiving) to be made is in a different currency than the currency of the Neteller account a standard Forex fee of 2,95% will be charged over the amount transferred.

Neteller accountholders can also use the service also to wire amounts of money to other persons everywhere around the world, simple, instantly and completely for free. As a matter of fact a recipient doesn´t even need to have a Neteller account (yet); a valid e-mail address suffices for someone to receive money from a Neteller accountholder by the Neteller Money Transfer service.

Depending on the use of either the Neteller account, the Net+ Virtual Pre Paid MasterCard or the Net+ Plastic Pre Paid MasterCard certain limits (on points of sale purchases, ATM withdrawals, funds withdrawal amounts, money transfers et cetera) are applied. These limits both depend of the country of residence of the accountholder, the currency of the Neteller account and the (VIP) “status” of the accountholder.

In most of the cases both a payment made with Neteller as well as receiving money on the Neteller account are transfers that are carried out instantly. Neteller uses a128-bit encryption to secure the safety of the transactions and the transfers are completely anonymous as only Neteller data needs to be provided to a recipient (and no personal, bank- or credit card account information whatsoever).

Last but not least Neteller offers its clients regularly organized promotions and discounts and the service has an extended VIP client program that comes with even more benefits for its participants.

Paying with Neteller in an online casino

Once you’re the proud owner of a Neteller account making a payment is very easy and simple.

When you’re on the “Payments / Deposits” page of the casino you choose “E-wallets” from the payment options for gamblers. In the following sub-menu you choose for “Neteller”. The pop-up window that appears will ask you to provide the account ID and security ID belonging to your Neteller account. You need to fill in the amount you want to deposit and provide the currency of your Neteller account (which will be the currency in which the amount will be credited to your casino account).

The money will be instantly available on your casino account and you’re ready to play your favorite online casino games. Normally no deposit fees are charged.

Withdrawing with Neteller in an online casino

Making a withdrawal from your account at an online casino with Neteller basically follows the same steps as making a deposit using the service.

Head over to the withdrawal page of the casino, opt for Neteller as the withdrawal option and fill in the required data (amount, currency, Neteller account ID and password). Normally the withdrawal amount requested is immediately transferred to the Neteller account.

However, most online casinos only allow a withdrawal by Neteller if first a deposit with the same Neteller account is made (and, of course, you need to register your Neteller account at the casino as the preferred deposit / withdrawal method).

Advantages of using Neteller

As can be concluded from all the information above mentioned using Neteller as an online casino deposit and withdrawal method has many advantages.

• First of all Neteller payments are very safe. Not only because Neteller secures the transactions by applying the 128-bit encryption, but also because no other information than the data related to the Neteller account has to be provided to make payments / deposits or withdraw / receive money;
• Because no personal data has to be disclosed when using the Neteller account for online money transfers the service is completely anonymous. The recipient will only see the account ID (which consists of a 12-digit code);
• Both deposits to, as well as withdrawals from the online casino account are carried out instantly. The money will immediately available on the casino account to play with or immediately available on the Neteller account;
• As Neteller is a pre paid (debit) card an advantage can be there´s no risk of building up debts as no credit is provided by the system. Therefore it´s much easier to stick to a certain budget for playing in an online casino as players can only use the amount of money available on the Neteller account at that moment;
• Another great advantage of using Neteller as one of online casino banking methods is that the system can be used for both deposits as well as withdrawals, which is not the case with many other online payment services (which are sometimes only available to make deposits with).
• Last but not least all other features that come with a Neteller account (other than for the usage in an online casino) can come in very handy such as the Neteller Money Transfer service and the Net + Pre Paid MasterCard.

Disadvantages of using Neteller

When it comes to using Neteller for online casino payments and withdrawals there are not many disadvantages to discover. The few disadvantages are:

• The registration procedure (especially to get a “Verified” Neteller account) can be somewhat time and energy consuming;
• The fees charged for some applications can be a disadvantage (although Neteller can be considered as one of the least costly online payment services);
• The limits that are applied on some of the Neteller account functionalities.

Where to pay with Neteller?

As Neteller is an online payment method specialized in depositing to (and retrieving funds from) online casino accounts most online casinos accept the Neteller service as a banking option. Have a look at the right-hand side bar on this page to find out which Netent Casinos allow Neteller transactions.