Skrill Review: Fees, Comparisons, Complaints & Lawsuits

Different Rates for Different Countries

Skrill offers a wide variety of payment options in various currencies, including digital wallets and online payment gateways for European merchants, which makes it difficult to compare the company’s contract terms to industry averages. Rates vary between businesses based on their monthly sales volume. Businesses making up to $3,000 in sales are charged a rate of 2.90% plus $0.29. Businesses with sales between $3,000 and $10,000 are charged a rate of 2.80% plus $0.29. The next tier of sales over $10,000 but under $100,000 are charged a rate of 2.70% plus $0.29. Lastly, sales exceeding $100,000 a month are given a rate of 2.60% plus $0.29. Merchant accounts are also charged a fee of $0.49 for each refund and $20 for chargebacks.

Most Skrill complaints do not disclose any other rates and fees (such as an ETF or PCI Compliance Fee) within the company’s contract, focusing instead on problems with fund withholding and sudden cancellation.

Higher U.S. Fees Than Average

For U.S. users, Skrill charges a fee of 2.9% to load an account using a Visa or MasterCard card and a fee of 7.50% to load an account using a Paysafecard prepaid card. Users can load a Skrill account via ACH transfer for free. Withdrawing funds from a Skrill account costs $5.50, and sending money to another Skrill user costs 1.9% of the transaction (maximum charge of $20). There is also a monthly inactivity fee of $3.00 starting in the 13th month of inactivity. These costs are subject to change, so U.S. merchants are advised to check the company’s currently displayed pricing.

Troublesome Fraud Policies

Most complaints about Skrill generally express confusion about Skrill’s fraud prevention policies, trouble resolving fund-holds in a timely fashion, “hacked” accounts, and excessive identity verification procedures enforced by Skrill. We have seen complaints about this last point posted by both merchants and individual customers of Skrill, who all complain of having to provide photo verification, proof of address, and other sensitive personal information to Skrill in order to verify their identities. This verification process appears to go on for an excessive amount of time in some cases, leaving merchants twisting in the wind without their withheld funds. This procedure, like the establishment of a cash reserve, is a reasonable policy for Skrill to have in place, but it appears that Skrill’s enforcement of it is poorly executed.

Not Recommended for High Risk

Skrill’s mishandling of suspected fraud is an especially egregious issue for a company that openly markets its services to high-risk merchant types such as online gaming, Forex, and digital content. These merchants may be better off working with high-risk specialists. We also encourage merchants to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant accounts.