# Skrill

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This article is about the payment service. For the electronic music artist, see [Skrillex](/source/Skrillex). For the fictional species, see [Earth: Final Conflict](/source/Earth:_Final_Conflict).

**Skrill** is part of [Paysafe Limited](/source/Paysafe), a global payments platform. It is one of Paysafe's digital wallet brands and was established in 2001 to offer multiple online payment and money transfer services.[3] The company facilitates multiple payment options including card payments, bank transfers and local payment methods. The funds in a Skrill account can then be used to pay merchants and other Skrill users or converted into [cryptocurrency](/source/Cryptocurrency).

Skrill also has cross-border payments accessible to users via its [remittance](/source/Remittance) service.[4] The service enables users to send money to a bank account overseas using their bank card.

In 2015, Skrill was acquired by Paysafe [5][6] along with former competitor [NETELLER](/source/Neteller) and prepaid payment provider [paysafecard](/source/Paysafecard).[7]

Skrill is operated by Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited, a company incorporated in [Ireland](/source/Ireland) and regulated by the [Central Bank of Ireland](/source/Central_Bank_of_Ireland),[8] for its European regulated activities. Skrill's activities outside the [European Economic Area](/source/European_Economic_Area) are operated by Skrill Limited – a company incorporated in the [United Kingdom](/source/UK) and regulated by the [Financial Conduct Authority](/source/Financial_Conduct_Authority).[9]

## History

### Early history (2001 to 2015)

Skrill, formerly known as Moneybookers, was founded in 2001 in the United Kingdom as a [digital wallet](/source/Digital_wallet) provider.[10] By 2007, it had become established as one of the top three e-payment solution providers in Europe[11] when it was purchased by [Investcorp](/source/Investcorp) in March of that year.[12] In August 2010, Skrill blocked an account operated by [WikiLeaks](/source/WikiLeaks) as a donation collection account, citing the organisation's addition to Australian blacklists and American watchlists.[13] In September 2011, Moneybookers announced that they would rebrand their service as Skrill, completing the rebrand in 2013.[14] As Skrill, they completed the acquisition of Austrian-based prepaid payment method [paysafecard](/source/Paysafecard) in February 2013,[15] before being acquired by [CVC Capital Partners](/source/CVC_Capital_Partners) for €600 million in August 2013.[16]

In 2009, Skrill, then known as Moneybookers, suffered a large security breach which exposed the data of almost 4.5 million customers. The breach was not discovered until October 2015 and included names, e-mail addresses, home addresses and IP addresses.[17]

### Paysafe subsidiary (2015 onwards)

In 2015, Skrill was acquired by [Optimal Payments](/source/Paysafe), the parent company of rival digital wallet [NETELLER](/source/Neteller), for €1.1 billion.[18] During this period, Skrill Group announced in April 2015 that it had completed the acquisition of Ukash, a UK-based competitor of paysafecard, which was merged during the same year.[19] In November 2015, Optimal Payments rebranded as [Paysafe](/source/Paysafe).[20]

In 2018, Skrill began to extend the amount of services offered to its users, launching an international money transfer service in February 2018,[21] and a crypto service in July 2018 allowing users to buy and trade [cryptocurrencies](/source/Cryptocurrency).[22] This was followed by the launch of Skrill's customer loyalty programme, KNECT, in November 2019[23] and the extension of the international money transfer service to US users in June 2020.[24]

### Sponsorship and relationships

In 2011, Skrill first sponsored the [PokerStars](/source/PokerStars) owned [European Poker Tour](/source/European_Poker_Tour) for its eighth season, sponsoring the event again in 2013 for its tenth season.[25]

In July 2013, English football's [National League](/source/National_League_(division)) signed a one-year sponsorship deal with Skrill[26] with the Conference's divisions being known as The Skrill Premier, The Skrill North and The Skrill South.

In May 2020, Skrill announced a four-year [AC Milan](/source/AC_Milan) sponsorship deal.[27]

In March 2021, Skrill announced a new partnership with the [English Premier League](/source/English_Premier_League) football team [Leeds United](/source/Leeds_United).[28][29]

## Service

Skrill is a digital multi-currency wallet that handles online payments and money transfers.[32]

## Awards

Skrill was named ‘Best Digital Wallet’ at The Digital Banker's Global Payments Innovation Awards 2023 and the Juniper Research Future Digital Awards 2019.[30]

Paysafe, Skrill's parent company, was named one of CNBC's World's Top Fintech Companies 2023. Paysafe also won the ‘Payments Provider of the Year’ award at the 2023 EGR North America Awards – its third consecutive win in the category.[31]

In 2022, Paysafe was named Payment Service or Solution Provider of the Year at the VIXIO Gambling Compliance Global Regulatory Awards,[32] won in the ‘Payment Solution & Innovation of the Year’ category at the 2022 SBC Awards Latinoamérica[33] for a second consecutive year, and won ‘Payment Innovation of the Year’ at the 2022 SBC Awards North America.[34]

## References

1. ["Paysafe org chart"](https://theorg.com/org/paysafe). Retrieved 14 September 2023.

1. ["Paysafe annual results 2022"](https://ir.paysafe.com/regulatory-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0000950170-23-008186/0000950170-23-008186.pdf). Retrieved 14 September 2023.

1. ["Skrill Holdings Limited: Private Company Information"](https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=118905485). *[Bloomberg News](/source/Bloomberg_News)*. Retrieved 26 March 2015.

1. ["Skrill Money Transfer Review: Is it safe? How does it work? What are the rates?"](https://www.monito.com/en/send-money-with/skrill). Retrieved 29 January 2021.

1. ["Board of Directors"](https://www.paysafe.com/en/paysafegroup/board-of-directors/). *Paysafe*. Retrieved 2019-02-01.

1. ["Skrill taps football legend to publicise its prepaid Mastercard Skrill prepaid"](https://www.verdict.co.uk/cards-international/news/skrill-taps-football-legend-to-promote-prepaid-mastercard/). *Cards International*. Retrieved 2020-04-30.

1. ["Optimal Payments to buy e-wallet rival for $1.2 billion"](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sentineltopco-m-a-optimal-payments-idUSKBN0MJ0SR20150323). *Reuters*. 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2022-09-10.

1. ["Skrill Account Terms of Use"](https://www.skrill.com/en/footer/terms-conditions/skrillaccounttermsofuse/). Retrieved 2021-01-29.

1. ["Skrill Launches Free International Money Transfer Service In U.S."](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200608005318/en/Skrill-Launches-Free-International-Money-Transfer-Service-In-U.S.). *www.businesswire.com*. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2023-07-27.

1. ["Company information for SKRILL LIMITED (04260907) incorporated 27-07-2001"](https://ukdata.com/company/04260907/SKRILL-LIMITED). Retrieved 26 May 2018.

1. ["Investcorp and the Moneybookers Bid"](https://store.hbr.org/product/investcorp-and-the-moneybookers-bid/811013). *hbr.org*. 2 Feb 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["Investcorp Technology Partners Undertakes Buyout of Moneybookers Limited for EUR105 Million"](http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/investcorp-technology-partners-undertakes-buyout-of-moneybookers-limited-for-eur105-million-153549825.html). 28 March 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2018.

1. Leigh, David & Evans, Rob (14 October 2010). ["WikiLeaks says funding has been blocked after government blacklisting"](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/oct/14/wikileaks-says-funding-is-blocked). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 26 March 2015.

1. ["Moneybookers to rebrand as Skrill - hopes to become a verb"](https://techcrunch.com/2010/11/16/moneybookers-to-rebrand-as-skrill-hopes-to-become-a-verb/?guccounter=1). 6 Nov 2011. Retrieved 4 Feb 2021.

1. Moss, Karen (11 February 2013). ["Skrill acquires paysafecard.com"](https://www.retail-systems.com/rs/Skrill_paysafecard.php). *retail-systems.com*. Retrieved 25 June 2018.

1. Williams, Christopher (19 August 2013). ["CVC buys PayPal rival Skrill for £500m"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/privateequity/10253182/CVC-buys-PayPal-rival-Skrill-for-500m.html). *The Telegraph*. Retrieved 26 May 2018.

1. ["Gambling Darling Paysafe Confirms 7.8 Million Customers Hit In Epic Old Hacks"](https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2015/11/30/paysafe-optimal-neteller-moneybookers-gambling-cyberattacks-data-breach). *[Forbes](/source/Forbes)*. Retrieved 12 November 2023.

1. PYMNTS (2015-03-24). ["Optimal Payments' Billion Dollar Bet On Online Gaming"](https://www.pymnts.com/news/2015/optimal-payments-billion-dollar-bet-on-online-gaming/). *www.pymnts.com*. Retrieved 2023-03-13.

1. ["Skrill Group completes Ukash acquisition"](https://www.finextra.com/news/announcement.aspx?pressreleaseid=59264). Finextra. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2018.

1. ["Optimal Payments Becomes Paysafe in Game-Changing Global Rebrand"](https://www.emergingpayments.org/article/optimal-payments-becomes-paysafe-in-game-changing-global-rebrand/). 11 November 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["Paysafe – Money transfers made easy with Skrill Send Direct"](https://www.emergingpayments.org/article/paysafe-money-transfers-made-easy-with-skrill-send-direct/). 2 May 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["Skrill opens crypto wallet"](https://www.finextra.com/pressarticle/74858/skrill-opens-crypto-wallet). 25 July 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["Skrill launches customer reward programme: Skrill Knect"](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/press-releases/2019/11/22/59136/skrill-launches-customer-reward-programme-skrill-knect/). 22 November 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["Paysafe launches Skrill money transfer in US"](https://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/news/paysafe-launches-skrill-money-transfer-in-us/). 8 June 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["Skrill returns as Official Payment Provider Sponsor of European Poker Tour for Season 10"](https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/tournaments/ept/2013/skrill-becomes-official-payment-provider-139138.shtml). 3 July 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["Skrill is the new title sponsor for the Football Conference Leagues"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150630193544/https://www.skrill.com/en/about-us/press/details/skrill-is-the-new-title-sponsor-for-the-football-conference-leagues/?gclid=CJPn1bGn17gCFXMRtAodRRsA-A). 26 July 2013. Archived from [the original](https://www.skrill.com/en/about-us/press/details/skrill-is-the-new-title-sponsor-for-the-football-conference-leagues/?gclid=CJPn1bGn17gCFXMRtAodRRsA-A) on 2015-06-30. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["AC MILAN ANNOUNCES SKRILL AS ITS OFFICIAL GLOBAL PAYMENTS PARTNER"](https://www.acmilan.com/en/news/articles/sponsor/2020-05-12/ac-milan-announces-skrill-as-its-official-global-payments-partner). *AC Milan*. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

1. ["LEEDS UNITED ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH SKRILL"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210312165819/https://www.leedsunited.com/news/club/27839/leeds-united-announces-partnership-with-skrill). *Leeds United*. 12 March 2021. Archived from [the original](https://www.leedsunited.com/news/club/27839/leeds-united-announces-partnership-with-skrill) on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-21.

1. ["Leeds United announces partnership with Skrill"](https://www.paysafe.com/ca-en/paysafegroup/news/detail/leeds-united-announces-partnership-with-skrill/). *Skrill*. Retrieved 2021-03-21.

1. Miller, George (2019-11-04). ["Skrill named Best Digital Wallet 2019 by Juniper Research"](https://europeangaming.eu/portal/latest-news/2019/11/04/57842/skrill-named-best-digital-wallet-2019-by-juniper-research/). Retrieved 2023-09-14.

1. Simmons, Fiona (2023-05-01). ["EGR Announces 2023 EGR North America Award Winners"](https://www.gamblingnews.com/news/egr-announces-2023-egr-north-america-award-winners/). *GamblingNews*. Retrieved 2023-09-14.

1. ["2022 Global Regulatory Award Winners | VIXIO GamblingCompliance Global Regulatory Awards"](https://gamblingcomplianceawards.com/history/global-regulatory-awards-2022/2022-global-regulatory-award-winners). *gamblingcomplianceawards.com*. Retrieved 2023-09-14.

1. ["SBC Events"](https://sbcevents.com/en/sbc-awards-latinoamerica/#winners)

1. ["Paysafe wins 'Payment Innovation of the Year' award"](https://gaminginternational.online/paysafe-wins-payment-innovation-of-the-year-award/). *Gaming International Online*. 2022-07-20. Retrieved 2023-09-14.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Skrill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skrill) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skrill?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.