Skrill

Skrill is part of Paysafe Limited (“Paysafe”) (NYSE: PSFE) (PSFE.WS), a global payments platform. Skrill is one of its digital wallet brands and was established in 2001 to offer multiple online payment and money transfer services.[3]

This article is about the payment service. For the electronic music artist, see Skrillex. For the fictional species, see Earth: Final Conflict.
Skrill, a Paysafe company
TypePublic company
IndustryOnline payments
Founded27 July 2001 (2001-07-27)
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Bruce Lowthers (CEO)[1]
ProductsPayment gateway
Digital wallet
Prepaid card
PSP
Cryptocurrencies
Money transfer
RevenueIncrease US $1.496 billion (Paysafe’s FY 2022 revenue)[2]
Number of employees
3,300
ParentPaysafe
Websiteskrill.com

Skrill operates in more than 100 countries with the digital wallet offered in more than 40 currencies.[4][5] The company facilitates multiple payment options including card payments, bank transfers and local payment methods. The funds in a Skrill account can then be used to pay merchants and other Skrill users or converted into cryptocurrency.

Skrill also has cross-border payments accessible to users via its remittance service.[6] The service enables users to send money to a bank account overseas using their bank card.

In 2015, Skrill was acquired by Paysafe [7][8] along with former competitor NETELLER and prepaid payment provider paysafecard.[9]

Skrill is operated by Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited, a company incorporated in Ireland and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland,[10] for its European regulated activities. Skrill's activities outside the European Economic Area are operated by Skrill Limited – a company incorporated in the United Kingdom and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.[11]

History

Early history (2001 to 2015)

Skrill, formerly known as Moneybookers, was founded in 2001 in the United Kingdom as a digital wallet provider.[12] By 2007, it had become established as one of the top three e-payment solution providers in Europe[13] when it was purchased by Investcorp in March of that year.[14] In August 2010, Skrill blocked an account operated by WikiLeaks as a donation collection account, citing the organisation's addition to Australian blacklists and American watchlists.[15] In September 2011, Moneybookers announced that they would rebrand their service as Skrill, completing the rebrand in 2013.[16] As Skrill, they completed the acquisition of Austrian-based prepaid payment method paysafecard in February 2013,[17] before being acquired by CVC Capital Partners for €600 million in August 2013.[18]

Paysafe subsidiary (2015 onwards)

In 2015, Skrill was acquired by Optimal Payments, the parent company of rival digital wallet NETELLER, for €1.1 billion.[19] During this period, Skrill Group announced in April 2015 that it had completed the acquisition of Ukash, a UK-based competitor of paysafecard, which was merged during the same year.[20] In November 2015, Optimal Payments rebranded as Paysafe.[21]

In 2018, Skrill began to extend the amount of services offered to its users, launching an international money transfer service in February 2018,[22] and a crypto service in July 2018 allowing users to buy and trade cryptocurrencies.[23] This was followed by the launch of Skrill's customer loyalty programme, KNECT, in November 2019[24] and the extension of the international money transfer service to US users in June 2020.[25]

Sponsorship and relationships

In 2011, Skrill first sponsored the PokerStars owned European Poker Tour for its eighth season, sponsoring the event again in 2013 for its tenth season.[26]

In July 2013, English football's National League signed a one-year sponsorship deal with Skrill[27] with the Conference's divisions being known as The Skrill Premier, The Skrill North and The Skrill South.

In May 2020, Skrill announced a four-year AC Milan sponsorship deal.[28]

In March 2021, Skrill announced a new partnership with the English Premier League football team Leeds United.[29][30]

Service

Skrill is a digital multi-currency wallet that handles online payments and money transfers.[32]

The digital wallet provider’s services include:

  • A payment gateway that facilitates the electronic transfer of funds between businesses and their customers.[31]
  • A peer-to-peer money transfer service for Skrill customers to transfer money to one another.[32]
  • A currency exchange service that allows users to convert their primary account balance into other currencies.[33]
  • A cryptocurrency service for buying, selling and withdrawing digital currencies.[34]
  • A cross-border remittance service for sending money to a bank account overseas.[35]


Users in certain locations can obtain a Skrill Card linked to their account.

Awards

Skrill was named ‘Best Digital Wallet’ at The Digital Banker’s Global Payments Innovation Awards 2023 and the Juniper Research Future Digital Awards 2019.[36]

Paysafe, Skrill's parent company, was named one of CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies 2023. Paysafe also won the ‘Payments Provider of the Year’ award at the 2023 EGR North America Awards – its third consecutive win in the category.[37]

In 2022, Paysafe was named Payment Service or Solution Provider of the Year at the VIXIO Gambling Compliance Global Regulatory Awards,[38] won in the ‘Payment Solution & Innovation of the Year’ category at the 2022 SBC Awards Latinoamérica[39] for a second consecutive year, and won ‘Payment Innovation of the Year’ at the 2022 SBC Awards North America.[40]

References
  1. "Paysafe org chart". Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  2. "Paysafe anual results 2022" (PDF). Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  3. "Skrill Holdings Limited: Private Company Information". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  4. "E-Wallet Comparison: Skrill serviced countries list". Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  5. "Sending money with Skrill made easier than ever with new send to phone number feature". Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  6. "Skrill Money Transfer Review: Is it safe? How does it work? What are the rates?". Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  7. "Board of Directors". Paysafe. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  8. "Skrill taps football legend to publicise its prepaid Mastercard Skrill prepaid". Cards International. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  9. "Optimal Payments to buy e-wallet rival for $1.2 billion". Reuters. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  10. "Skrill Account Terms of Use". Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  11. "Skrill Launches Free International Money Transfer Service In U.S." www.businesswire.com. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  12. "Company information for SKRILL LIMITED (04260907) incorporated 27-07-2001". Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  13. "Investcorp and the Moneybookers Bid". hbr.org. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  14. "Investcorp Technology Partners Undertakes Buyout of Moneybookers Limited for EUR105 Million" (Press release). 28 March 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  15. Leigh, David; Evans, Rob (14 October 2010). "WikiLeaks says funding has been blocked after government blacklisting". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  16. "Moneybookers to rebrand as Skrill - hopes to become a verb". 6 November 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  17. Moss, Karen (11 February 2013). "Skrill acquires paysafecard.com". retail-systems.com. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  18. Williams, Christopher (19 August 2013). "CVC buys PayPal rival Skrill for £500m". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  19. PYMNTS (24 March 2015). "Optimal Payments' Billion Dollar Bet On Online Gaming". www.pymnts.com. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  20. "Skrill Group completes Ukash acquisition" (Press release). Finextra. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  21. "Optimal Payments Becomes Paysafe in Game-Changing Global Rebrand". 11 November 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  22. "Paysafe – Money transfers made easy with Skrill Send Direct". 2 May 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  23. "Skrill opens crypto wallet". 25 July 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  24. "Skrill launches customer reward programme: Skrill Knect". 22 November 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  25. "Paysafe launches Skrill money transfer in US". 8 June 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  26. "Skrill returns as Official Payment Provider Sponsor of European Poker Tour for Season 10". 3 July 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  27. "Skrill is the new title sponsor for the Football Conference Leagues". 26 July 2013. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  28. "AC MILAN ANNOUNCES SKRILL AS ITS OFFICIAL GLOBAL PAYMENTS PARTNER". 12 May 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  29. "LEEDS UNITED ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH SKRILL". Leeds United. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  30. "Leeds United announces partnership with Skrill". Skrill. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  31. Expert, Baxity (11 January 2022). "Skrill Business Account: How To Create Business Account on Skrill". Baxity. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  32. "Skrill Review 2023: Online Payments & Debit Card, Is it Safe? Pros & Cons". Money Check. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  33. Chris (17 October 2019). "Skrill introduces Multi Currency Feature". eWallet-Optimizer. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  34. "Global payments brand Skrill expands crypto wallet services". Cointelegraph. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  35. Monito. "Skrill Review". www.monito.com. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  36. Miller, George (4 November 2019). "Skrill named Best Digital Wallet 2019 by Juniper Research". Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  37. Simmons, Fiona (1 May 2023). "EGR Announces 2023 EGR North America Award Winners". GamblingNews. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  38. "2022 Global Regulatory Award Winners | VIXIO GamblingCompliance Global Regulatory Awards". gamblingcomplianceawards.com. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  39. "SBC Events".
  40. "Paysafe wins 'Payment Innovation of the Year' award". Gaming International Online. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2023.

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