Three Percent Fee on eWallet Withdrawals to be Permanent at Party Poker
Party Poker has confirmed that it will continue to charge 3 percent on all withdrawals made through WebMoney, Moneybookers, and Skrill, but has cancelled the flat fee. A Bwin.party Digital Entertainment representative said that eWallet withdrawal fees will be a permanent change at the new, upgraded online poker room.
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Last month, players were surprised when Party Poker introduced unannounced a flat fee of $4 plus 3 percent on all withdrawals made through Neteller and Skrill. Players hoped that the online poker room was charging these fees in order to prevent abuse of a Skrill promo that offered cashback to all players using Skrill as a banking method.
Party Poker is not the only skin on the PartyPoker Network to have imposed a $4 flat fee plus a 3 percent fee on all withdrawals through Neteller, Skrill, and Moneybookers. The online poker room had added a new question explaining the sudden, unannounced change to its Neteller and Skrill Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages. According to Party Poker players, the flat fee for those holding accounts in Euros was €3, while for players holding accounts in GBPs, it was £2.50.
Usually, there is at least one fee-free option to withdraw funds, depending on one’s country. These fee-free options are usually credit cards or PayPal accounts, but players will have to first deposit funds using these methods before using them for withdrawals. Party Poker charges a flat fee of $5 for every withdrawal request through check by mail, which turns out to be cheaper for those withdrawing more than $160 although it is a slow process that takes as many as 20 working days.
Earlier, poker news portals published reports of eWallet fees imposed on Russian players, and it was widely believed that the new fees applied only to players from certain countries.
Jeffrey Haas, the new poker group director, posted on TwoPlusTwo as follows: “Payment processors charge online gaming companies when players deposit funds in their accounts, and again when they withdraw them.”
He further said: “We have traditionally absorbed those transaction costs in our overhead, but changed our policy last month in respect to withdrawals by eWallet methods only … We still pay the fee for players funding their accounts, but now ask that players pay the fee when they withdraw using those eWallets.”
Transaction rates for online gamblers at Skrill are believed to be slightly more than the 2 percent charged for large online merchants.
