Moneybookers + Banks

[BiGD0GG]

It's been a while but one of my buddies is having an issue with his bank and moneybookers. I know you guys are the ultimate resource when it comes to this type of information. Moneybookers sent him some money but his bank asked him what it was for, he did not confirm with them promptly and his bank sent the money back to moneybookers. Then upon a further discussion he told them the money was from gambling thinking he had nothing to lose but the banker basically offered to close his account. Now my buddy will need to find a new bank. What are best practices when going to open a bank account for transactions of this nature? Also is moneybookers the way to go? Or is there better methods out there. He only plays at 2 top tier books and needs to transfer large sums where limits at these money transferring services become a factor.

Thanks in advance.

[Pancho Sanza]

In future, if he's asked again, tell your friend to say its from something other than gambling, problem solved.

[Hartley]

Where does your buddy live?

[BiGD0GG]

He lives in Quebec.

[Hartley]

BigDogg, I meant which country is he in? If he lives in the U.S. then he can't be playing at MB anyways and must be using a foreign address. In that case he'll have no luck.

If he lives anywhere else it shouldn't be an issue. Mind you if he lives in Canada Instadebit is as good as or better than Moneybookers (although I don't know which Canadian bank would stop the transactions). If he lives in Europe or most other places Neteller is still the best option.

[Hartley]

OK BigDogg there's absolutely no reason for them to flag the transaction - it's not illegal to gamble online in Canada. Have him ask the banker why they have declined the transaction.

In the meantime, I would highly recommend Instadebit to him if the books accept it (most do although a lot of European ones including Betfair don't). Limits are higher and the company is located in Toronto so money transfers are from Canadian accounts to Canadian accounts so it won't even raise eyebrows from pricks at the bank.

Right now for Betfair only Moneybookers is available although I've been told other options for Canadians are being explored. Also at BF if he deposits with a credit card (some banks like CIBC allow it, some like Royal Bank don't), he can withdraw all deposits back to the cc if he wins. But if he's betting at Pinnacle, 5 dimes, WSEX, Greek etc. they all accept Instadebit.

[Pancho Sanza]

Tell him to switch to BMO, they deposit my moneybookers cheques no questions asked ever.

[DrunkenGoon]

Never had an issue with getting electronic transfer from MB, never asked me for a transfer reason either. I use Royal and TD.

TD did recently lost one of my incoming wires from a different place and they have no system in place to check for a possible incoming at branch level, you're just at their lazy ass mercy

[zoom]

Question for you other Canadians. Do you guys fund your accounts in US or Canadian $. I've always used US$ but am thinking about switching my accounts over to CAN$.

[Hartley]

I have both US and CDN accounts