Neteller cuts workforce post-UIGEA

Filed in archive Gambling General on February 17, 2007

Neteller, the leading e-wallet processor based on the Isle of Man, is cutting 250 jobs as it withdraws from the US gambling market. 220 jobs will be lost in Calgary, Alberta, and another 30 in the UK as the payment processor looks on rocky times as the US government's internet gambling witch hunt continues worldwide.

Neteller will reduce its workforce to a total of 425, down from a high of 1,000 lest than a year ago. This comes after the arrest of two company founders on money laundering charges in the US (both men were no longer employed by Neteller), the suspension of stock trading, and the seizure of nearly $55 million in money being transferred from Neteller accounts to US customer accounts.

Neteller was the leading choice for US customers to fund gambling accounts, making it a prime target for the Department of Justice in the enforcement of the UIGEA. Since Neteller's closure to US citizens, gamblers are left scrambling as new payment processors open and close almost overnight, with some (MyWebATM) cutting off service to gambling sites even before they got off the ground.