Everything you Need to Know about Skrill

Published on 17 October 2014 by Rhi

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. So, what exactly is Skrill?

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.

Sign up to Skrill

In order to use Skrill as a payment method, you have to create an account with them. This is a pretty simple process, with just 3 sections.

Account Details

1. Account Type (personal or business)
2. Country
3. Currency
4. Language.

Personal Details

1. First name
2. Last name
3. Address
4. Mobile.

Account Credentials

1. Email
2. DOB
3. Password

Verification

At some point you’ll have to verify your account otherwise it will become limited or closed (usually without any communication from Skrill themselves).

• To do this you’ll need to provide a proof of identity such as a scan of a passport, driving license or ID card.
• A proof of address like a utility bill or bank statement.

Skrill Customer Service

Skrill has some of the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced, and this is really what lets it down and means it’s a long way from being a real ‘market leader’. Customers are what makes a company successful so the absolute foundation of any good business is good customer service.

Skrill have a number of channels of customer service such as Twitter, Facebook, E-mail, telephone and forums but rarely respond on any of them. If you are lucky enough to get a response, most likely it’ll be a template response which wont fully address or resolve your query and you’re unlikely to receive a follow up response if you try and get back to them.

They rarely answer their telephone lines and when they do they usually have little information, refuse to go any further to help and will often simply hang up the phone if they don’t know the answer to your question.

My advice, when experiencing issues with Skrill customer service is to deal directly with the casinos. They’ll often be much more helpful and will have personal contacts at Skrill who they can push (with a little persuasion!) if you’re not getting the resolutions you require.