Players on the Merge Gaming Network lost even more of the little hope they had of seeing their deposited funds late last week when they were told that Skrill is no longer a viable withdrawal method. Though Merge charged players a 5 percent fee on Skrill withdrawals, the e-wallet was seen as a reliable and simple way for players to receive their cashouts.
The Merge Gaming Network, which includes such online poker rooms as Carbon Poker and BetUSA, is one of the few to accept U.S. players (that is not licensed in one of the regulated states). It is also one of the worst when it comes to cashouts. According to a Merge cashout tracking thread on Two Plus Two, bank wires have been taking an average of 41 days to reach players’ bank accounts, checks have been taking 82 days from request to receipt, and Skrill withdrawals have been taking up to three months to complete.
Now, Skrill withdrawals won’t be happening at all. Last Thursday, players who had been waiting patiently for their cashouts to hit their Skrill wallets, were met with the following e-mail:
We apologize for the inconvenience but we are no longer able to provide Skrill as a Withdrawal Solution. Due to reasons out of our control, Skrill will no longer be used as a payment option to process Withdrawals. Therefore, we have canceled your pending Skrill WD and funds have been returned to your account. Please fill out the Bank wire instructions online and request a new Withdrawal via Bank wire. We will be sure to prioritize your Withdrawal once the verification process has been completed.
In order for you to receive your bank wire withdrawal, we need you to comply with our verification process by clicking here. to access our secure form. Click on the radio button ‘yes’ next to the question ‘Is the documentation you are uploading related to banking information?’ in order to expand the form to display the fields where you must enter your banking details and make sure to attached a bank statement or voided check.
We will continue to look for more banking solutions for our valued customer but for the time being Skrill is temporarily unavailable to process any Withdrawals at this time. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to processing your Withdrawal via Bank wire as soon as possible. As a small token of our appreciation and due to the inconvenience we have also added 3 X $11 poker tournament entry coupons to the Sunday Big Ticket Qualifier – [50 Seat Gtd] that takes place every Saturday at 16:00.
That is a problem in and of itself, but has created further, previously unforeseen issues for some. Upon choosing the bank wire option, some players have been told that Merge will not wire money to their banks because their banks use intermediaries to process transactions. One Serbian player on Two Plus Two said he provided Merge with a list of every bank in the country and Merge said it could not wire to any of them. Thus, some players literally cannot get their money off the network.
The Merge Gaming Network’s cashier is licensed by the Antigua Gaming Commission. One poster on Two Plus Two contacted the Commission and was told that the organization knows about what is happening. If the Commission is to be believed, Merge is having a problem with payment processors, not with actual liquidity.
