What is Moneybookers?

[triplea]

Hi,

Now please forgive me for being a numpty about this but how does money bookers work. I read the link but it doesnt sink in.

I see you upload money to your account via debit card and presume you withdraw the same but its the email bit I dont get. How does sending payment from/to an email work?

Any 'real life' onfo would be good.

and

Thanks

[TakeAwayTuesday]

I can only comment on withdrawing from a bookies.

If you've registered with them (and deposited), then normally it's as simple as requesting Moneybrookers as your withdrawal option. You'll then get a notification of when the money is in your Moneybrookers account.

I think a few bookies my ask for your Moneybrookers registered email, so you'd just need to confirm that.

Beware of T&Cs on free bets. Some UK bookies will not give free bets to those who upload via Moneybrookers (Boylesports for example).

I assume the sending of money to other people works much like paypal.

[Andy]

I dont really understand the question but will write something on the off chance it answers the Q, if not we can keep trying :-)

Moneybookers acts as a "middle man" between your bank account and the bookmakers/casinos. You upload funds from your bank account/credit card and it is then in Moneybookers, which at this point is now to all intents and purposes a bank account.

You can move money from your moneybookers account into a bookmaker by putting in your E-mail address, much the same as you could deposit direct off your card by putting in the numbers on it, it is this information which tells them where to take the £s from. Think of your E-mail address as being the 12 numbers on the front of your debit card. When you come to withdraw from a bookmaker the same applies, tell them your E-mail address and they will know where to send the £s.

If one day you decide you want the £s out of moneybookers and back in your bank account you can either have it transferred electronically or request a cheque. (I would not deposit and withdraw too much though, its quite expensive for a cheque and a lot of fuss, its better to use Moneybookers to hold your "bankroll" as it is seperated from your usual spending/income and you can bet it as you wish. Just withdraw your surplus profits when you want them.

[munk]

I see you upload money to your account via debit card and presume you withdraw the same but its the email bit I dont get. How does sending payment from/to an email work?

(first note you don't have to use a card, bank transfer is the cheapest option (free) but takes 3-5 days - there's a dozen or so different paying in methods)

When you register with moneybookers you can add up 5 email addresses to your profile - you can send/receive money using any of those email addresses (not to go into too much detail but it's best to use one single email address that you don't use anywhere in public for security).

So an example, you goto munkchops magic arbshop gaming site and you want to deposit some money to arb with... you goto their 'deposit' page, click on 'moneybookers', enter in how much you want to deposit and the email address you used at moneybookers.

Next you will be forwarded to the Moneybookers website where you have to enter your email address/password and confirm the details of the deposit you're making. Once it's confirmed, you're redirected back to the gaming site and the deposit should show up in your account.

[turnpike]

What are the benefits of using moneybookers, other than hiding activity from your bank?

[munk]

Using moneybookers has nothing to do with hiding anything from anyone (well for me anyway)... the main benefit of Moneybookers is that they're quicker than banks for transferring money to/from merchants. Read above for more info.

[slim]

Using moneybookers has nothing to do with hiding anything from anyone (well for me anyway)... the main benefit of Moneybookers is that they're quicker than banks for transferring money to/from merchants. Read above for more info.

Just to second that. In fact I load up moneybookers from my bank account anyway.

I use it because there are no fees at most bookies for using moneybookers, they are taken many places that my maestro isn't, I usually get withdrawals quicker from moneybookers and finally, when dealing in foreign currency they only charge 1.75% on top of the interbank rate (which is far better than a bookie will charge you (see Partybets/gamebookers) or a credit card or even my bank!

[turnpike]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like it's worth joining for doing the Euro bookies.

[munk]

I would recommend Nationwide Flex for anything where you want to do overseas transactions, they only charge a standard interbank forex rate (or at least it's a lot lower than Moneybookers forex rate). I have to say Moneybookers are quite expensive IMO for foreign transactions, be very wary using them for overseas transactions!!!

Sorry to post conflicting information... I agree fully with everything kthxbai says above about MB apart from the forex remarks - yes they're cheaper than most bookies, but they're definitely not the cheapest, they don't use the standard interbank forex rate as their 'base rate', their forex base rates are higher than normal and on top of that they charge 1.75% as well! I'm ready to be shot down in flames... but generally forex 'tax' at MB for me is in the range 2-4% on top of the standard interbank base rate.

Don't get me wrong, I'd highly recommend Moneybookers, I use them more than my bank... but only for GBP transactions if I can help it. If I have to use them for overseas transfers, I try and make it a 'one way' thing - the money goes into Moneybookers USD account and stays there... 1.75% of £10k is... a lot.

[cooky]

Hi just signed up to moneybookers and tried registering my halifax debit card but it wont have it have asked the question as to why but just got reply back saying you cant register the card for security reasons and that was it basically. So the question i am trying to ask has anyone else had trouble registering a halifax bank card i read somewhere else someone had trouble registering an abbey card.