Skrill ( Moneybookers ) leaving canada in jan. 2014

If you live in Canada and use skrill for deposits to play at casino's  or poker  you should probably read this.....

Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky recently posted an email he received from Skrill stating the online payment company will no longer process gambling transactions in Canada at the start of 2014.

"Skrill has reviewed its operations and will cease processing gambling payments in Canada," the message said. "Payments to gambling merchants will no longer be processed from 2 January, with payments from merchants ceasing on 31 January."

The news will come as a blow to Canadian poker players who rely on the e-wallet to facilitate transfers between poker sites and make withdrawals to their own bank accounts. Poker refugees who emigrated to the country after Black Friday will be hit hard as well and left with a dwindling set of options for making poker-related deposits and withdrawals.

While the email gave scant reasoning behind the move, forum posters were abuzz with their own theories. "Bobo Fett" believed the decision was closely tied to Skrill's acceptance into the regulated New Jersey online gambling market. "Now they finally have their foot back in the door in NJ; the last thing they want to do is jeopardize that," he posted. "The long game could see them coming back to many US states, which could definitely surpass their Canadian revenues."

Skrill follows the lead of Neteller, one of the gambling world's previously preferred payment solutions, which decided to pull out of the Canadian market in 2007. At the time, the company told the press that after a "risk profile and status" assessment, the actions of regulators and gaming operators had "increased the uncertainty around certain activities related to online gambling in some jurisdictions."

"I think Skrill's made a strategic decision to go completely 'legit' in North America - a market that's only going to grow," "Bobo Fett" concluded.

Skrill hopes to take advantage of the opportunity left by companies like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, American Express, and PayPal, all of which refuse to process gaming-related transactions in the US. And while only three states have legalized online gambling, others are pondering following suit, making for a potentially huge market.

Companies hoping to operate in the legal online gambling industry in the US have good reason to fear being labeled as rogue by regulators. Some states that could legalize online gaming may include a "bad actor" clause, a measure that gives regulators the power to block companies they perceive to have engaged in nefarious activity in the past.

Skrill could be hoping to avoid that fate and continue operating in the potentially lucrative US market. "We are a real part of the poker ecosystem in terms of how players manage their money and how they will be able to send money freely between all of the different sites," said Joe Hall, Vice President of Skrill USA. "We plan to be integrated with everyone within the market."

I guess this is the only payment processor in Canada ?  what are they going to do ??

The US govt and all of the "old farts" who have been there so long they don't have a clue anymore, are the ones who are responsible for all of this nonsense.  They are taking away every single option that anyone has for accepting a payout.  They all are asses!  They have no business in our business as far as how we spend the money we work for and THEY tax. I don't understand what the big deal is with payment processors processing money, no matter where it comes from.  Frankly, it is none of the governments business what anyone spends their money on once the government has taken its "cut".  If the business is licensed in the states then they pay for that license and the taxes and fees that go along with it, then what is the problem processing any type of payment?  Because it is money from winning a "game"???  which is exactly what it is.  Its no different than playing the damn lottery.  What I don't understand is what is the problem if someone wants to sit in their own home and play slots or some blackjack or poker?  They talk about "crime" ... BS .. crime is going to be wherever it is no matter what.  Another "excuse", a very poor one I might add is "people wasting money and becoming addicted" .. uh .. last time I looked, every state has the lottery which people play day in and day out and you are telling me that those people are not addicts and that is ok for them to use their money to buy lottery tickets but it is not ok for someone to deposit maybe $25 bucks in an online casino?  Hell a lot of the damn scratch off tickets in our state are $20 and yet you see no one complaining about "addicts" as far as the lottery is concerned.  Its like a double standard with these government people.  They could very easily legalize online gaming in every single state and collect tons of tax money which would help the states take in new revenue as well as the federal government who would also get their cut in the form of taxes on winnings etc. AND it would boost the economy by providing jobs as well.  You know, sometimes I think they all have their heads so far up their asses they cant see the obvious solution to their revenue problem.  Idiots ... every single one of them. 

Yeah!!  You go girl!  I agree with you completely.  I think these spineless cowards (both federal and state reps.) can't find their butts with both hands.  After all, that would require some common sense and that's  something none of these idiots possess. 

I find it hard to believe that they are pulling out of Canada just because US is a bigger (and most probably higher grossing  market). Got to be something else... Didn't know that Neteller is also out of Canada...

It could be that the new online gambling regulation is coming to Canada or it could be the pressure from the banks as to why Skrill is pulling out. But at this point it is all speculations as there not much info and Skrill management is still mute.

I hope we will get some info, it would be really interesting to know what is behind that...

I was up on my "soapbox" ... I get that way every once in a while .. .  It is just so frustrating because no one seems to understand the significance and the revenue possibilities.  Now I honestly think that you could also throw a few more "monkey wrenches" in the mix.  I am sure that the land based casinos have a big hand in this, as well as the "Indian Casinos".  They all stand to lose a lot of money if internet gambling is made legal, unless, of course, they have a corner on the US market (which I am sure they will).  So, even if by some miracle they do legalize internet gaming it is going to be monopolized by the groups that already own the big gaming establishments in Vegas, Atlantic City etc.  So one has to wonder, will there be an honest and open "competitive" environment or will it be a monopoly where we can only have a few places to choose from?  Are Microgaming, RTG and all the other online systems currently in place online going to be able to compete in the US market or are they going to be squeezed out by the US based gaming groups???  I also see taxes being levied the minute you cash out any type of winnings when and if this comes to fruition.  A lot to think about for sure, but all I know is that those idiots sitting on their fat a** in Washington needs to get a grip and start living in the 20 century .. this is not the Stone Age anymore.  As a matter of fact, what really gets me going is the legislation keeps getting blocked because the "old" constituents in certain states keep voting it down, yet they are the ones you always see in the Indian Casinos, on the gaming cruise ships and everywhere else that gambling is legal. The point is, Washington is always "crying" about how we have no money and that we need to raise taxes.  Do they not realize that their "crying and whining" about revenue could simply be solved with passage of  legalized online gaming?  Where does the excuse of "Crime will increase" come in when people are sitting in their own homes playing poker, blackjack or slots?  None of these people make any sense and I think that the citizens of this country need to get up off of their asses and do something about the wasteland that Washington has become.  They have no clue, they never will have a clue and we need people in there that do have a clue. 

What a pity, indeed!