NETeller Withdraws from Canadian, Turkish Markets

Despite not being pressured by any official Canadian government action, NETeller Plc announced in a press release today that the firm would no longer provide service to online gambling merchants for its Canadian customer base, effective immediately. NETeller also confirmed that it had withdrawn its very minor presence in the Turkish gaming market, following up on its blocking of Turkish bank-deposit options on March 9th.

The cessation of services between Canadian players and online gambling merchants is a de facto withdrawal from the Canadian market, because NETeller has no non-gambling merchants of significance. NETeller also placed an immediate freeze on its instaCASH service for Canadian customers, though peer-to-peer transfers, pre-paid debit transactions, and fund withdrawal by customers are still available options.

NETeller's statement on the matter only hints at the factor that resulted in the firm's withdrawal, with the closest explanation being this: "Recent actions by regulators, payment processors, and online gaming operators have increased the uncertainty around certain activities related to online gambling in some jurisdictions."

NETeller expects an additional loss resulting in its departure from the Canadian market, but is not expected to lay off any more workers following its sizeable staff cuts several week ago. NETeller also took pains to mention that the "75 days" mentioned in its release about frozen U.S. funds was not a timetable for repayment itself, but rather is just the timeline for creation of the plan, as noted in our story on NETeller's agreement with the USAO last week. "It would remain to be determined, as part of that plan," reads the new NETeller release, "the precise timing of the distribution of funds to US customers."

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