NETELLER Chief Executive Officer says
A casually dressed Ron Martin, CEO of the company appeared in a recorded video statement, summarizing the events that caused his company to put a hold on US accounts for six months and subsequently exit the US market.
Martin explained he had been following blogs and other public opinion sites on the issue, and touched on the firm's lack of communications with customers. This was inescapable due to the sensitive nature of negotiations as his company wrestled its way through Department of Justice allegations before in ending it with an agreement to pay a $136 million penalty.
After reiterating the crucial points in the arrangement to return the US money, Martin restated that payouts totaling some $94 million to hundreds of thousands clients in the United States had started, he continued his statement when he disclosed that in the first day, $40 million had been sent out to US players. He apologized to those US customers who had been kept waiting, and thanked them for their patience. The issue of interest, which will not be paid on the held money, was not addressed. Also not addressed was the amount of customer information passed on to the Department of Justice through the investigation.
Martin stressed the significance of trust and acknowledged that the company will now have to work hard to regain trust of its customers in the aftermath of the US fiasco.