Neteller Begins Releasing US Funds Today
US accounts were frozen in January when NETeller exited the US market after its founders were arrested by US authorities and subsequently pleaded guilty to charges lodged by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
Neteller prudently includes a warning because the company is returning $94 million to many thousands of US customers; it will take time for all payments to be processed. It was also cautioned that its website could initially be inundated. Also issued was a timely reminder for all customers to be on their guard against phishing and other fraudsters endeavoring to cash in on the release of the funds.
The distribution plan follows the Neteller announcement of June 4 2007 advising that the plan had been agreed with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, and that US customers may commence requests for the return of their funds from July 30. US customers will be able to access their Neteller accounts online until 26 January 2008 to request withdrawal of their funds.
Neteller will not charge fees to customers to process requests for funds. US customers will receive the entire balance of their account; no requests for partial payments will be handled. US customers cannot use their accounts for any transaction beyond the request for funds. The money will be distributed either by electronic transfer to the bank account on record or by a check to be sent to a confirmed mailing address. If a US customer has a bank account registered with Neteller, funds transfer will be by electronic transfer pending confirmation that the registered bank account is current and valid.
United States Players will be less pleased to know that the six month hold on their funds will not be recognized for purposes of interest - the company advises bluntly that in accordance with its Terms of Use, no interest on account balances will be paid.
"We are very pleased to start the funds distribution process today. I can assure our US customers it has been our highest priority and we'd like to thank them for their patience during this period", said Ron Martin, President and CEO. "The implementation of this plan marks another major step forward in the Company's recovery strategy".