In recent days, the ownership behind the payment processor Neteller officially announced several changes, including the name of the company.
NEOVIA Financial PLC formally announced on Friday that the Companies Registry of the Isle of Man had approved its name change. Effective immediately, the company formerly known as NEOVIA will now be called Optimal Payments PLC. In addition to the name change, several aspects of the company will be altered.
Optimal Payments will now be traded on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker “OPAY” instead of the old “NEO.” This change took place at the start of trading on Monday morning. In addition, Optimal Payments has opened a new corporate website.
The reason for the name change was explained on the corporate site. “In January 2011, NEOVIA Financial PLC announced the acquisition of Optimal Payments,” the statement begins. “With the acquisition of Optimal Payments, we created a truly international player in card and alternative payments. The combination of our online consumer payment account business, Neteller, our existing NetBANX payment processing business, and the Optimal merchant account and card processing business has brought together an unparalleled comprehensive offering for our customers.”
The company has a long history in the online world, opening up its e-wallet service Neteller in 1999 after operating NetBANX since 1996. The company, under the Neteller name, went public in 2004 and was used as a popular e-wallet option for American online poker players. After legislation in the United States was passed, the company suffered a few hardships.
When the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) came to life in 2006, one of the companies targeted was Neteller. Due to the company’s alleged processing of payments to and from online poker rooms, U.S. Department of Justice officials pursued it. This resulted in the arrest of two of its founders, who were Canadian citizens, in 2007 and the company stopped processing payments for American online gamblers. The issues between NEOVIA and the U.S. were resolved in 2009 with the dismissal of a complaint against the company.
In 2008, the company re-christened itself NEOVIA in an attempt to re-brand as more than an online gaming payment processing operation. Under the NEOVIA banner, the company acquired Optimal Payments, which lead to the name change late last week.
Although its name has changed, Optimal Payments still sports the same online options that have been offered throughout its history. In addition to Neteller and NetBANX, Optimal Payments also offers the Net+ card, a debit card that can be preloaded or connected to a person’s bank account. Through these services, Optimal Payments covers 180 nations around the world.
Neteller is still a viable payment option for people who aren’t located in the United States. Many of the top online gaming companies in the industry that still accept American action, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and the CEREUS Network, accept Neteller from players outside of the U.S. In addition to these U.S.-facing operations, such sites as PartyPoker, 888, Everest Poker, and Mansion Poker actively use the Neteller deposit option.
