Born in the UK in 2001, Skrill is a fully digital money transfer system. Tied to the account is also a reloadable card
The landscape of electronic payment systems becomes richer and more versatile with each passing day. If until a few years ago, paying by electronic means or transferring money online was something for "geeks", today it is part of everyday life. And as these payment methods have taken hold, more and more players have tried to grab market share.
In this scenario, Skrill has played ahead of many other competitors. Established in the UK in 2001 (although the name was initially Moneybookers), Skrill has managed to establish itself globally as one of the safest and most reliable systems. One click is all it takes to send money from one account to another or to transfer money from a Skrill account to a bank account. And as of recently, you can also apply for the Skrill reloadable card, which allows you to make payments (online and in stores that accept Mastercard) with the funds available in your online account.
Let's see in detail what Skrill is, how the account and prepaid card works and how you can reload them.
What is Skrill
Skrill is an electronic payment system that allows you to create an account linked to your email address (rather than an IBAN) and receive and transfer money within seconds. With an active Skrill account you can make online payments to tens of thousands of e-commerce portals, send money to other Skrill users and bank accounts, and buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Skrill also allows you to initially set the currency with which to make payments and money transfers.
The Skrill account can then be linked to a prepaid card of the Mastercard circuit, with which you can pay in the "real world", withdraw cash from ATMs and pay on e-commerce portals that, eventually, do not accept the Skrill account as a method of payment.
Skrill account: how it works
Regulated by the Financial Service Authority of the United Kingdom, the Skrill account can be considered, in terms of functionality and payment tools offered, the same as a bank account. The main difference is that the former is linked to an email address; the latter is identified by an IBAN code generated by an international financial authority. Otherwise, Skrill behaves like a free online bank account, operating 24 hours a day, every day of the year (including public holidays).
All services and tools provided by Skrill are managed from the personal dashboard, which can be accessed after creating a personal profile. Understanding how to create a Skrill account is extremely simple: to sign up for Skrill you just need to have a working email address and ID handy. During registration you will be asked to set a password, while once inside the dashboard you will be able to verify your identity to increase your payment and money transfer limits.
As already mentioned, from the dashboard you can perform any operation allowed by Skrill: once the account is recharged, it will be possible to send money to another Skrill account by entering the other person's email address; send money to a bank account by indicating the IBAN code; buy cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Stellar Lumens, ZRX are supported) and make online payments on over 100 thousand supported virtual stores.
The user interface of Skrill is extremely intuitive: the left column is occupied by the menu, which gives direct access to all the features offered by the payment system. From here you will be able to access the exchange for purchasing cryptocurrencies, tools for transferring and withdrawing money or reloading the account itself.
Skrill Prepaid Card: how it works
Although it is not mandatory, it can be extremely convenient to apply for the Mastercard debit card linked to the Skrill account. Chiamata Skrill Prepaid Mastercard, permette di fare pagamenti online (anche negli e-shop dove Skrill non è accettato) e prelevare soldi dagli ATM di tutto il mondo. La Skrill Card è legata direttamente al conto online, quindi i fondi depositati nel proprio “wallet" personale saranno utilizzabili anche dalla carta. A differenza di altre carte ricaricabili smart, la Skrill Prepaid non è dotata di IBAN e non può essere ricaricata con un bonifico bancario.
Carta Skrill e conto Skrill: costi
Sia il conto Skrill sia la carta Skrill Prepaid non hanno costi di apertura o emissione. Prevedono dei costi di gestione, invece, tutte le tipologie di transazione realizzate con il conto e con la carta. In particolare, l’utente dovrà pagare delle commissioni per:
- Deposito denaro (1% detratto dall’importo depositato; ogni 100 euro verranno depositati 99 euro sul conto)
- Prelievo denaro (5,5 euro)
- Trasferimento denaro (1,45% dell’importo versato in un altro conto Skrill; nessuna commissione per trasferimento su conto corrente bancario)
- Acquisto e vendita di criptovaluta (1,5% per ogni transazione, sia di acquisto sia di vendita)
- Inattività (se il conto Skrill resta inattivo per più di un anno, si dovrà pagare una commissione di 5 euro al mese)
- Prelievo bancomat (1,75% del contante prelevato)
- Conversione di valuta (3,99% del contante prelevato via ATM)
Come ricaricare Carta Skrill e conto Skrill
Come detto, l’unico modo per ricaricare la Skrill Prepaid è accreditando del denaro sul conto Skrill. Per ricevere denaro sul profilo Skrill ci sono diversi metodi:
- Deposito da altro conto Skrill;
- Deposito da carta di credito collegata al conto;
- Bonifico bancario;
- Altri sistemi di pagamento (Rapid Transfer, Paysafecash, Paysafecard, Neteller, Trustly, Klarna, BitPay)