YouTeller Getting Set for Limited Rollout

YouTeller, a newly formed online payment processor started by London-based Seed Captial Ltd., announced this week that it will begin accepting customers in March on a limited basis.

Following the Gmail model, YouTeller will initially allow 1,000 customers who pre-registered to signup for the service. After that, one must be “invited” by a current customer in order to be allowed to signup. This way, says the company, YouTeller’s servers will not be flooded with signups and it can assure reliable service for everybody. YouTeller says that open signups will not begin “within the next few months.”

In addition to the technical stability expected from this process, YouTeller also believes that it will help curb money laundering. Because customers are invited, relationships between customers can be followed and any shady business can be traced that much easier.

Also adding to security and money laundering prevention are the strict, tiny limits on placed on customer deposits. YouTeller was granted a “Small E-Money Issuer” license by Britain’s Financial Services Authority, which defines the maximum amount of funds a customer can have, as well as the maximum amount of funds that can be transferred in one transaction. For online poker players, these limits are so small (€150 in both cases) that most people would have no use for it. At the same time, the company feels that these low limits will also make it highly unlikely that anyone would use the service to launder money.