UK - Requesting Banking/Depositing Advice

[Cassidy]

Hi all,

I live and work in England (UK) and was wondering what would be the best method for funding my online Poker activities.

I expect to be cashing out once a month and really don't want to get clobbered by exchange rates, hidden fees, etc if at all possible.

Regards,

Cassidy

[Cernunnos]

Hi
I live in essex, cash out once a month, I use a neteller account, I have mine in US dollars for ease of transfer between sites, and linked to UK bank account for cashing out, seems to be the easiest way I have found.

[MadMat]

I do the same, US$ Neteller account, linked to my bank account.

Cashing out to the bank is the only time you pay any neteller fees.

Mat

P.S. whereabouts in Essex Cernunnos? I'm in Southend!

Agreed - Neteller (in $) funded from current account. A lot of UK savings accounts won't let you transfer to neteller because the transfer does not actually go to an account in your name (e.g. ING Direct).

You will get a 1.9% charge applied to the exchange rate in both directions, but they use the interbank rate which works out better than most credit cards.

When you set up neteller, do a dummy transfer. You will get a dropdown box which lists the supported accounts

Can you explain what you mean by 1.9% charge applied to the ex rate in BOTH directions?

This is the same method I used for my withdrawls, but always feel it's a bit random as to what exchange rate (or other fees) are applied. First off, I don't really know what days rate to use, but even then comparing the actual amount exchanged with rates on sites such as ft.com or exchangerate.com it doesn't always seem obvious exactly how much 'commission' was added to the ex rate.

Is this really the best way there is for us UK players to make withdrawls... better than say making less frequent, but larger, withdrawls in the form of a USD check thro the post and then paying this into a bank account over the counter?

[Ro-me-ro]

[ QUOTE ]
Is this really the best way there is for us UK players to make withdrawls... better than say making less frequent, but larger, withdrawls in the form of a USD check ...

[/ QUOTE ]

Your bank will charge you a fee for cashing the cheque, and a bigger exchange rate defecit than 1.9%... trust me /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ellis

[tigerite]

I cashed back direct to my VISA debit card, but it was probably a bit more than 1.9%, I know Cahoot for instance charge 2.25%. However I may well do it in future via Moneybookers, if I can ever get them to validate my bank account, as they don't charge at all for conversions, only a "spread" of 0.8% to guard themselves against the fluctuating markets, or something like that. It's also free to withdraw to your bank, and only 2 Euros if you want to via debit card, or whatever (and that would be from £ to £ so no end costs).

[Cernunnos]

Hi Mat
I run a pub (tenancy) in Dovercourt, in the process of leaving it, will play full time then. I guess running a pub it shouldn't be much of a suprise that I'm Irish.

[MadMat]

[ QUOTE ]

Is this really the best way there is for us UK players to make withdrawls... better than say making less frequent, but larger, withdrawls in the form of a USD check thro the post and then paying this into a bank account over the counter?

[/ QUOTE ]

I withdrew using a USD cheque once, from party when I was first startig at and unaware of neteller never again!

Took over a month to get the money and was charged £7.50 to cash a $65 cheque by my bank (Woolwich)

Mat

[quoteI withdrew using a USD cheque once, from party when I was first startig at and unaware of neteller never again!

Took over a month to get the money and was charged £7.50 to cash a $65 cheque by my bank (Woolwich)

Mat

[/ QUOTE ]

It all goes to the shareholder's Christmas party. I withdrew $900 twice last month from Party to my Visa debit card which at the time was about £508 and the first amount I got was £490 and the 2nd was £494. I think the bank took about 3% from it.

Would using Neteller be cheaper?

[Cassidy]

I spoke with a rep at Neteller.

With any question I asked she had to go talk to a "supervisor" so I am a little wary of her advice.

She confirmed that there is a 1.9% fee payable to Neteller on ANY transaction that requires a change of currency. My Neteller account is in GBP so any transfer to or from an online USD gaming site incurs this 1.9% fee. Transfers to and from my UK bank account incur no fee because there is no currency conversion.

She also confirmed that when moving money to or from my Neteller accoun to an online gaming site there is no way for me to know what exchange rate will be used for the currency conversion prior to the transfer taking place.

I could setup a new Neteller account in USD. I asked if I could convert my current Neteller account from GBP to USD. She said that this could not be done and that I would have to close my current Neteller account and open a new one in USD.

If I setup a new Neteller account in USD I would not incur any fees for transferring to or from online gaming sites.

However when I cashout from Neteller to my UK bank account or pay money into Neteller from my UK bank account I would incur this 1.9% fee for currency conversion PLUS I have no way of knowing prior to the actual transfer what exchange rate Neteller or my bank would be using to do the transfer.

At some point it appears you will get hit by Neteller fees.

[ QUOTE ]
However when I cashout from Neteller to my UK bank account or pay money into Neteller from my UK bank account I would incur this 1.9% fee for currency conversion PLUS I have no way of knowing prior to the actual transfer what exchange rate Neteller or my bank would be using to do the transfer.


[/ QUOTE ]

This isn't quite true, at least for the deposit to Neteller. When you deposit using the Neteller screen it asks you how much you want to deposit in $, it then asks what the currency of the account the money is coming from is in. It then tells you the exchange rate (taking 1.9% fee into account) and tells you the foreign exchange amount that the $ amount corresponds to at that exchange rate. You can back out of the transaction at any point. You then instruct your bank to transfer the foreign exchange amount to Neteller and Neteller do the exchange to $.

I haven't cashed out yet so I don't know if the same applies.

[Ro-me-ro]

[ QUOTE ]
At some point it appears you will get hit by Neteller fees.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you have a GBP NETeller account, then you will be charged 1.9% when you deposit into the Poker site, and 1.9% when you cash out of the poker site.

If you have a USD NETeller account, then you will be charged 1.9% when you fund your NETeller account, and when you cash out of your NETeller account.

Either way (if you are a winning player) you will pay the 1.9% fee at least twice.

Therefore since having a USD NETeller account has the added benefit of being able to transfer from site to site without fee, there is only one sensible currency to have your NETeller account in.

I suggested to them a long time ago to allow clients to have internal account balances - i.e. when I cashout credit my USD balance, and if I want to cash out to my bank account, then I would first have to transfer the balance internally at 1.9% defecit before submitting my cash out.

I guess they didn't like my idea /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Rom

[excession]

'If you have a USD NETeller account, then you will be charged 1.9% when you fund your NETeller account, and when you cash out of your NETeller account.

Either way (if you are a winning player) you will pay the 1.9% fee at least twice.'

Um - well most winning players just deposit say $100 and run it up. It's only losing players that get hit with hefty deposit charges!

I took $2400 out of my USD Neteller ac (to buy a nice Dell laptop) in April by direct transfer to my UK bank account. It took about 3 days. I think the fees were about $12 with a small hit on the exchange rate too (no worse than any other Bank). I use Neteller a huge amount for swapping $$ between sites and do not begudge them a penny - they have made online poker safe and profitable for me, a few dollars when I'm pulling out other folks' money is not an issue.

[Cassidy]

Looks like a USD Neteller account is the way to go.

I expect to be withdrawing once a month from Neteller to my UK bank account.

I'm curious though as to when the currency conversion occurs.

I assume that Neteller deducts 1.9% from the amount being transferred as its fee and then converts the remaining USD to GBP which is then transferred to my bank.

I wonder if any additional "commission" is applied during the currency conversion in addition to Netellers 1.9% fee.

I also closed my GBP Neteller account to open up a USD one. Only problem was that when I went to confirm the USD one I needed to enter my driving license # as ID, but my # was attached to my GBP one, so I had to enter my # "wrong" and then they called me, had to close the GBP and then they corrected my # for the USD one.

As for the fees, I do an initial deposit into a site without fees, (say, a Prima site) with my debit card, then withdraw that to neteller, no fees!

Does anyone know if you get charged for depositing to your debit card from a poker site? I.e. If I deposit into my debit card with PokerStars do I get charged? I'm pretty certain I don't, in which case I never pay any fees.

[Ro-me-ro]

[ QUOTE ]
I assume that Neteller deducts 1.9% from the amount being transferred as its fee and then converts the remaining USD to GBP which is then transferred to my bank.

I wonder if any additional "commission" is applied during the currency conversion in addition to Netellers 1.9% fee.

[/ QUOTE ]

No they don't. It's a hidden fee in the exchange rate. Visit some official exchange rate site (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/fds/hi/business/market_data/currency/11/12/intraday.stm) and take the rate less a 1.9% difference. It's the same as your credit card company when you buy into a poker site -- they might charge a hidden commission fee of say 2.25% which would make dDiabolical's play of buying via debit card at poker sites -ev /images/graemlins/smile.gif

But really the best place to see this is at NETeller. Go open up your USD account and try out a few transactions (you don't have to complete them) - you can specify a internet banking deposit and they will send you the details that you need to provide to your bank to deposit into their account. To withdraw to your bank account you need to verify your bank account (they send you a micro deposit which you have to enter to confirm the account). The fee for withdrawing to your bank account is £1 in addition to the "hidden" 1.9% commission charge.

Rom

[excession]

'To withdraw to your bank account you need to verify your bank account'

Actually I withdrew the $2400 without having to verify

[Ro-me-ro]

April... back in the day when the process of withdrawing via NETeller to bank account was not automated /images/graemlins/smile.gif