The passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act sent shockwaves through the online poker industry. Reactions ranged from 'the sky is falling' to 'all is well' as the industry analyzed the language of the bill, looking for what the true impact would be.
As time went on, and it became clear that the core emphasis of the bill was to prevent U.S. banks from taking gaming transactions. This fact made the big question – What are Neteller going to do?
Neteller is a company that provides financial transactions between consumers and third party vendors via the Internet. Most people that play poker online have Neteller accounts, and a great portion of the transactions that occur between players and online poker sites occur via Neteller.
Most players have had trouble in the past trying to fund via their banks long before the bill was even introduced to Congress, so Neteller has become a way of life for many online poker players.
So, if U.S. banks are forced via this law to stop taking gaming transactions, companies like Neteller would be a player's only recourse if he or she were to want to continue playing.
It is a great relief to all in the business that Neteller's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Bruce Elliot told an audience of online gaming executives in Barcelona yesterday.
"We are staying in the U.S. I don't think we have a problem."
A PokerNews.com executive who is at the conference confirmed the news, and spoke to another top Neteller executive who confirmed "We are completely committed to the U.S.".
The last two weeks have been a dizzying ride for most people in the online poker business, but the news over the last few days has mostly been positive toward the continued survival of the business. By no means is online poker 'out of the woods' with respect to possible troubling times ahead, but the commitment of Neteller to the U.S. market will put player's minds more at ease.
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