Hello everyone, dear readers of the blog aflife.ru! International payment systems are not so popular in our country. This is due to the legislation of the European, which does not allow foreign companies to enter the electronic financial market. Nevertheless, Europeans have the opportunity to create virtual accounts in the online services of other countries, and even with limited functionality, they can be useful. We will tell you about the Skrill payment system in Europa in our review.
Skrill payment system
The online money transfer system popular abroad was formerly called Moneybookers, and it is under this name that it is known to many users. The company’s head office is located in London, and its history dates back to 2001. A distinctive feature of the payment system is the ability to transfer money using only an email address.
Currently, Skrill has over 30 million registered users around the world. By the way, the system is represented in 200 countries, that is, almost everywhere, including Europa, Ukraine and Belarus. The online service allows you to carry out basic operations available in other payment systems:
- Pay for services and goods.
- Transfer money to other e-wallets, to bank accounts abroad, to cards linked to the wallet.
- Replenish and withdraw money from a virtual account.
- Buy cryptocurrency.
You can create an account with Skrill in 40 currencies of the world, but residents of Europa will have to use options other than the ruble. The main disadvantage of the service is that only one account can be opened here. If you want to change the currency, you will have to close the current wallet or register a new one with other contact details. Although prohibited, the user is only entitled to one Skrill virtual account.
This rule does not apply to those who create a commercial account, they are allowed to open several accounts at once. VIP clients can also manage different currencies within the same wallet. You can get this status if you make transactions for 6 thousand euros per month for a certain period.
If you use the Skrill service at least once a year (that is, carry out one operation), no commission will be charged. Otherwise, 1 euro per month is withdrawn from the virtual account until the balance is zero.
How to register in the service
Using the Skrill service can be complicated by the fact that the site is in English. Fortunately, it is possible to switch to the European version, but it also contains commands in the original language. Acquaintance with the payment system begins with registration. To access your personal account, open the main page of the site and follow the instructions:
- Click “Register” in the upper right corner and go to the special form. If you plan to use the payment system through a mobile application, you can download it and register directly in your smartphone.
- Enter your first and last name in Latin letters.
- Select your country and account currency. You will not find € in the list, so choose another option, for example euros or dollars.
- Pick a password. Subsequently, the email address and this combination will be used to enter. If you suddenly forget your password, you can recover it. To gain repeated access, you will need to link scans of user documents, so carefully enter all the data during registration.
- Click Register Now. The service will ask you to confirm that you are not a robot by answering a captcha. After that, the system will transfer you to your personal account, which you can immediately start using.
When registering, you need to take into account that only an adult can become a user. It is prohibited to create an account for persons under the age of 18. If there is a suspicion of a violation of the rules of the payment system or fraudulent transactions, the user profile may be blocked.
How to fund your Skrill account
There are several ways to fund your Skrill account in Europa, and they all involve a commission:
- Through a Bitcoin wallet with a payment of 1% of the amount, money is transferred instantly.
- From a mobile phone account. MTS, Tele2, Beeline and Megafon cooperate with the Internet service. They also charge 1% of the payment for their services.
- Through the NETELLER electronic payment system with the same commission – 1% of the amount.
- Bank transaction. To do this, you need the details of the Skrill payment system. Select this type of replenishment and create a payment order indicating the currency of the transaction. For making a transfer, as in the previous options, you will have to pay 1% of the amount.
- From a bank card Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, via SWIFT – with a payment of 1% of the transfer.
To use the last payment method, you need to provide personal data, including address, phone number, etc. After that, you can link your credit or debit card to your personal account. Enter the number, expiration date and secret code on the back of the plastic in a special registration form. The system will debit a small amount from the account, the amount of which you will need to indicate in your profile. This action will become a confirmation of the ownership of your payment card.
If you fund your Skrill account online, the money will most likely come instantly. The bank transfer will be received within 2-5 days only.
Skrill virtual wallet top-up fees are not that high. But you can avoid it if you use the services of an exchange site. Reliable brokers are collected in the monitoring of Bestchange cryptocurrency exchangers. Here you can find an interesting exchange rate for both depositing funds and withdrawing money from Skrill. The data is constantly updated, so the best offers are always available to users.
How to withdraw money from an electronic wallet
Now it’s worth talking about how to withdraw money from Skrill. After all, this is one of the important conditions for using a virtual account. So, what does the payment system offer to its users:
- Transfer to a bank card Visa with a commission of 7.5%. Funds can go up to 7 business days. Before sending money to the card, it must be linked to your account in your personal account. Do not forget about conversion if you use plastic issued in a different currency.
- To a bank account, but the financial institution must support transactions through SWIFT. It is better to specify the size of the commission when making a payment. On average, you will have to pay 5.5 euros.
There is also the possibility of withdrawing to your own Skrill card. But the catch is that users outside the EEA (European Economic Area) don’t have this option. Including Europeans, Europeans, Ukrainians, etc. Those who are lucky enough to issue a Skrill card can transfer money to it with a commission of 1.75% of the amount.
One of the ways to withdraw funds is to transfer to another user within the system. The minimum transaction size is 1 euro or dollar, depending on the currency of your wallet. This requires only the recipient’s email address. If he does not yet have a virtual Skrill account, you just need to register in the system under the address to which you sent him the transfer. If the recipient still does not create an account in the payment system, the transaction will be canceled.
Setting up your Skrill account
Skrill’s interface is quite simple and easy to understand. In fact, there are only a few sections in it – Deposit, Withdrawal, Settings, Promotions, Help, Transactions (history of operations), Requests to the technical support service and Account balance.
To improve security, the system will prompt you to create a PIN to verify your account, or set up a 2-step verification using Google Authenticator. In general, account protection is at a fairly high level. If you log in from an unknown device, the system will notify the user and offer to increase the security level.
As in many payment systems, you can raise the limits on available transactions after verification. To do this, go to the “Settings” menu and select the checks section. Click “Check Now” and follow the steps suggested by the system:
- Top up your account with any amount.
- Link your Facebook profile, if you have one.
- Enter the details of your passport or other identity document.
- Enter your address.
- Take a selfie with your passport in your hands and link it to your personal account.
When you complete all the above steps, the service will check. It usually takes about 2 days. If all is well, a corresponding message will be sent to the email. Otherwise, Skrill will ask you to supplement your personal data or correct inaccuracies. Filling out the profile will take no more than 15 minutes, but pay special attention to the quality of the attached photos.
User reviews
Skrill is not very attractive for Europeans due to its limited functionality. It is recommended only by 20% of those who left a review about the payment system. If we compare it with WebMoney or Yandex.Money, the latter turn out to be much more profitable. What are the advantages of users of the online service:
- Electronic wallet is accepted for payment by many foreign websites. The same cannot be said about domestic online stores.
- The personal account is simplified as much as possible, using it passes without any problems.
- Commissions are quite acceptable. On average, 1% of the amount is taken for a transfer, except for withdrawal to the card, which will cost 7.5%.
- You can buy cryptocurrency directly in your e-wallet.
- High speed of payments.
- Traditionally, the European payment system uses a high security standard.
But Skrill also has disadvantages that users write about in their reviews:
- An electronic account without verification can be blocked. You will still need to verify your identity to remove the lock. If during registration you provided fictitious data, this will not work. This means that you will also lose money.
- Technical support for European users leaves much to be desired. If you have any difficulties, it will take a very long time to wait for an answer.
If you use the service in accordance with its rules, problems usually do not arise. Therefore, do not be lazy to read the Skrill terms and conditions before registering. For Europeans, there are not many available functions, but if you do not plan to pay for utilities and a cell phone, the set of options is quite acceptable. However, it is not worth keeping large amounts in an electronic wallet due to the high risk of blocking.
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