Neteller Parent Approved as Payment Processor in New Jersey
The parent company of Neteller, Optimal Payments, was approved as a payment processor for legal and regulated internet gambling sites in New Jersey, the company announced on Monday. Joel Leonoff, President and CEO of Optimal Payments, commented in a press release, “We are excited to be an approved vendor in New Jersey and we look forward to leveraging our vast experience and expertise to help facilitate online payments for our partners in New Jersey.”
The company is approved to provide “payment and risk management solutions to New Jersey licensed providers of internet gaming.”
PokerNews relayed Neteller’s deep-rooted history in the United States, “Neteller served as the most popular e-wallet option for poker players in the U.S. before the company was forced to leave the country by the Department of Justice post-UIGEA. Six years later, Optimal Payments is making its long-awaited return to the U.S. The company has already partnered with Caesars Interactive Entertainment and Bally Technologies to provide payment solutions and related services.”
The company’s exit from the U.S. market a half-dozen years ago was ripe with drama. The founders of Neteller, Stephen Lawrence and John David Lefebvre, were arrested in January 2007 “in connection with the creation and operation of an internet payment services company that facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars of illegal gambling proceeds from United States citizens to the owners of various internet gambling companies located overseas,” according to a Department of Justice statement.
One day later, Neteller pulled out of the U.S. marketand money was frozen in users’ accounts for the next seven months. The company returned nearly $100 million to U.S. players and settled with the U.S. Government for $136 million in mid-2007.
Optimal Payments’ stock, which is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol OPAY, was up big on Monday as a result of the news. The stock climbed 21.75 pence to close at 310.75 pence, a gain of 7.5%. It has more than doubled its annual revenue in the last four years.
Check out PocketFives’ New Jersey poker community for all of the latest news. The state’s online gambling sites open for business on November 26.
Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.
