Poker Fuse – As the new online poker client was rolling out late last week, a bwin.party representative confirmed that the fee for withdrawals to e-wallets is a permanent change.
Late last month, PartyPoker introduced a $4+3% fee for all withdrawals to Skrill and Neteller.
There was some hope among players that the change was introduced to curb abuse of a month-long Skrill promotion, which rewarded players cashback for using the service.
However, a spokesperson for bwin.party has now confirmed that the fee will remain, and it is also now applied to withdrawals through the WebMoney ewallet. The fee was originally $4 (or €3 / £2.50 depending on the balance currency) plus an uncapped 3% of the withdrawal amount. The fixed fee has been dropped, by the 3% remains.
“Payment processors charge online gaming companies when players deposit funds in their accounts, and again when they withdraw them,” Jeffrey Haas, newly appointed Group Director of Poker, explained on the 2+2 poker forums.
‘We have traditionally absorbed those transaction costs in our overhead, but changed our policy last month in respect to withdrawals by e-wallet 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 e-wallets,” he added.
Transaction rates for large merchants at Skrill on the standard rate card are below 2% although rates for online gaming clients, which are not publicized, are understood to be slightly higher.
Depending on the player’s country, there should be a fee-free withdrawal option available, such as PayPal or credit card, but normally players need to successfully deposit first before using that cashout method. Checks by mail have a fixed $5 fee, and a 7-20 day wait period.
