GPWA Times Magazine - Issue30 - October 2014

operator with one click or one tap so we're building those services in Europe. We're not building those yet in the U.S. VN: That sort of service package makes you almost a master affiliate. Skrill: We're a top-10 affiliate. We want to make tools for affiliates. I would love for an affiliate to be able to offer sign-up and deposit all in one click to one operator — they get a rev share and so do we. We're building that. VN: How do you see the affiliate market in Europe evolving in terms of integration into that market? Skrill It will continue to get bigger. We work with thousands of affiliates. Huge institutional ones like PokerStrategy and PokerNews all the way down to a guy in his boxer shorts in his bedroom. We will continue to provide tools for them because they're very important for us to reach customers, very important for us to send messages and educate, very impor- tant revenue stream for us — depending on who the affiliate is they'll have differ- ent behavioral trends. The guy in his bed- room might be making $200 commission a month. As soon as he receives that in his Skrill account, he's going to gamble it and make usmore revenue. So there's a real im- portance for us to be at every level of that. VN: The concept of moving the payment and deposit infrastructure off of the op- erator and right onto the affiliate website is very interesting. Skrill: It would have to be done in part- nership with the operator. We success- fully trialed something in the last couple of months with a big poker affiliate that works. It's not the prettiest. It needs some love and attention around the edges. But we'll continue to do that. Optimal: A lot of affiliate groups have a strong working relationship with us where they're referring their affiliates to NETeller and facilitating payments to the various sites through NETeller. We do that in Europe in a very significant way and we're beginning to look at opportunities to do the same thing in America. But as far as them processing a payment them- selves, that I don't think is viable. Process- ing through us and having a relationship and partnership with us, we do that in a very significant way today throughout Europe and have been approached by a number of companies in the U.S. who are trying to emulate that model as well. VN: Name three things you want regula- tors in the U.S. to know. Skrill: We understand where the funds are coming from, we know who these people are and where the funds are going, and that we're working with licensed operators. VN: From a strategic standpoint, what are the next steps for you in the U.S.? Optimal: We've integrated NETeller into the marketplace. I think it's been quite successful. I think we've alleviated a lot of the problems that have been there with credit cards. I think NETeller has emerged as one of the more workable solutions to get 100 percent conversion of customers through various alternatives. What we'll do on a continual basis is keep integrat- ing more and more alternative payments. So whatever is out there, we'll integrate into NETeller. Maybe we'll offer directly through our NetBanx solution. But we will just have our hub grow and grow and grow with more and more options. What- ever is out there that we think is viable, we'll work to integrate so that as an opera- tor it's a one-stop shop. In Europe, we have 150 to 200 different deposit methods. So it's not as intricate or elaborate (as Europe). In the U.S., it's a lit- tle more confined. But we'll keep expand- ing. We'll expand services as well. If there are different geolocation services that emerge that are valuable, we'll consider (them). But right now, we have a strong relationship with our current provider. We're very happy with it and we think we're bringing value to the industry. But there may be other services that evolve that we may want to bring into the mix. Skrill: We want to work with all the op- erators in all of the jurisdictions. We want to work with all of the daily fantasy sites in every jurisdiction. We want to work with all of the (advance deposit wagering) sites. So there's a big plan to get all of that together and help provide the liquidity in the marketplace that we're able to provide in Europe which is not really here today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vin Narayanan is the editor-in-chief of the GPWA Times Magazine and has been covering the online gambling industry for the last eight years. He’s also an expert on the legal and regulatory landscape of online gaming in the U.S. 37 Reach out to players in the funnel at the right place and time