Voluntary withdrawal from US
18 January 2007
"The Board today confirms that the Group has voluntarily ceased processing funds transfers between NETELLER e-wallets and online gambling merchants on behalf of US residents. This decision represents the culmination of a series of deliberations over recent months by the Board which, in light of impending regulations related to the Act, believed that NETELLER's position in the US market was no longer sustainable. Since the passing of the Act, the Company has been working diligently on a programme of operational and technical planning measures and procedures to allow implementation of any such decision at the earliest opportunity. NETELLER has committed to an orderly withdrawal for the benefit of its customers and will endeavour to maintain a high degree of service throughout the process.
With immediate effect, as of today Thursday 18 January 2007, at 12:01AM GMT, US resident customers were no longer able to transfer funds using their NETELLER e-wallets to or from any online gambling site.
In line with the Group's standard business practices for all customers, the funds of US resident customers are held in segregated trust accounts and are fully secure and will be available for withdrawal by customers, on demand. The ability to withdraw funds will exist regardless of the customer's location or ability to transfer to any site. All US resident customers will continue to be able to use their NETELLER e-wallet accounts to safely transfer funds to and from non-gambling merchants and are not required to close their accounts or withdraw their funds.
NETELLER customers not resident in the US are not affected at all by this withdrawal from the US market. The Group will continue to operate its non-US business as normal, maintaining existing customer and merchant support across all the markets it currently serves.
In order to be able to support this US withdrawal, NETELLER has dedicated the last few months to developing product enhancements to its software platform in order to be able to block automatically transfers to online gambling merchants from US residents. These features are now fully deployed and integrated into the Group's core platform.
Today's updated position with respect to the US market leaves the Group able to focus on its continuing business and the opportunities available in the growing markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas outside of the United States. NETELLER remains focused on developing its business in line with its stated strategic objectives, including geographical and product diversification for all markets. The Group will continue to launch localised services within the global market and a number of new product launches are scheduled for early this year."