Partypoker Eliminates Many Withdrawal Fees, Ukash Replaced by Paysafecard
On Friday, Partypoker announced that effective immediately, players choosing to withdraw via most banking options will no longer be subject to processing fees.
The online poker room has been frequently criticized by players about withdrawal fees, and it appears their voices have now been heard. Partypoker customers withdrawing via MasterCard, Maestro, Visa, bank transfer, Kalixa Pay, goplay prepaid MasterCard, ClickandBuy, and PayPal can now rest easy knowing they will no longer be subject to fees from the online gaming operator.
Partypoker’s Director of Games, Golan Shaked, seems pleased about the changes, and believes that the voices of players have been heard.
"Listening to the players is central to our ongoing strategy," Shaked stated on the partypoker blog. "When we started our Poker for the People campaign, withdrawal fees and our loyalty store were the two hottest topics raised at our live player forums. Our poker team has been working hard and we’re really pleased to have addressed these two issues but there’s still work to be done."
We want to be the online poker site that champions what players want.
What Shaked is implying by "work to be done" is that while changes have been made for most withdrawal options, withdrawing via popular e-wallets like Neteller and Skrill will still carry the three percent fee that was introduced by the site a couple of years ago. However, it appears that partypoker is strongly considering removing those fees as well.
"We want to be the online poker site that champions what players want and we’re up for the challenge of making our players’ experience the best it can be," Shaked proclaimed. "We are now looking at ways to eliminate withdrawal fees from the small number of payment processors who currently charge a premium for their services."
Ukash to be Replaced by paysafecard on August 31
In addition to the withdrawal changes, partypoker announced even more online payment processing news. The online payment provider Ukash revealed they will stop providing services to customers on Aug. 31 and will be replaced by paysafecard. Both paysafecard and Ukash are owned by Skrill, with the former being acquired in February 2013 and the latter in April 2015.
According to a message on the Ukash website, "unused Ukash vouchers can only be redeemed until October 31, 2015."
Paysafecard chief executive Udo Müller is excited by what the future may hold for the company.
"The acquisition of Ukash has given us the opportunity to expand the choice for consumers wanting to make secure online payments," he said. "We have brought together the best of the prepaid technologies from both Ukash and paysafecard to give consumers a safe and easy way to make online payments and we are now embarking on a nationwide campaign to ensure the retailers and users are aware of the changes taking place."
The paysafecard brand has proven to be a popular deposit option for online poker players. Launched in 2000, the payment solution company is currently distributed at more than 480,000 outlets across 39 countries. The company continues to grow with the number of paysafecard transaction increasing by 26 percent to more than 86 million in 2014. With Ukash now in the fold, another increase should be expected for the current year.
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