After the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was signed into law, several of the biggest names in offshore financial institutions withdrew their services from US customers. Neteller was the most famous of them, and most recently, ePassporte has been added to that list.
In April of 2008, ePassporte, with no official notice to customers, abandoned US customers in the wake of an investigation into internet gambling by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Southern New York. The virtual debit card company reportedly told poker sites catering to US customers-like Full Tilt Poker and Cake Poker-that it no longer wished to be, "associated with anything that might be considered illegal by the United States governnment." Unlike the Neteller case, ePassporte customers were luckily able to withdraw their funds immediately using the service. But the exit of another company from the US market left players with even fewer choices to assist in financial transactions with online poker sites.
Some sites had the foresight to anticipate the problem and explore other options for customers. Currently, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker offer a new and much easier way to deposit and withdraw funds from their sites with Poker eChecks.
The eChecks are surprisingly simple to use. By accessing that payment option on either of the two participating sites, a deposit can be made into an online poker account and is available instantly. The program verifies the customer's bank account and routing numbers, and within moments, funds are transferred and ready for use. Though the program may take up to 10 days to verify the banking information of the customer, it does not delay the availability of funds. Not only is the process fast, but it costs the customer nothing ... nada ... zero. The poker room pays a fee, reportedly $2 per check, but the service is available to customers for free.
Some players may experience a delay upon requesting a withdrawal of funds, but this is only if the initial deposit transaction is still in the verification process. If enough time has passed since the deposit was made, the withdrawal should be quick, and the money should show up in the customer's bank account immediately.
The process by which eChecks operates is as secure as any wire transfer or other funding option, as the company complies with strict processing rules, including ID verification, 128-bit SSL encrypted communications, and industry standard data encryption of the personal information involved. Poker eChecks is based outside of the United States and is not subject to UIGEA restrictions on financial institutions.
PokerStars was the first site to experiment with eChecks, and it has been a resounding success with players. As a result, Full Tilt Poker has also implemented the process after serious consideration, and other online poker sites are said to be exploring the option as well. As the US government puts the pressure on financial institutions to comply with the UIGEA, a law that those institutions have called ambiguous and unrealistic in Congressional hearings, it is up to poker players to tell Congress that this law is unacceptable. Until the poker community can rally around the cause and influence our representatives in Congress, options remain limited. Visit www.PokerPlayersAlliance.org to do your part in making a positive change in our industry.
