Skrill in ID verification partnership
Payments business agrees deal with ID technology provider Cybits, aimed at the German market.
Online payments company Skrill has announced a partnership with Cybits, an ID technology provider in which it owns an undisclosed percentage.
The agreement is specifically targeted at the German egaming market, with 20 online sports betting licences due to be awarded and a number of Power 50 operators having applied for certification.
Skrill acquired 985,000 shares in Cybits Holding last month, and the latter’s Cybits AG subsidiary will offer egaming providers an age verification interface via its [verify-U] offering, with this complemented by Skrill’s payment processing features.
The partnership comes six months after Skrill struck a deal worth up to 140m to acquire prepaid voucher provider Paysafecard.
The German egaming market is still awaiting a decision on whether the breakaway state of Schleswig-Holstein will fall into line with the country’s controversial State Treaty or retain its existing regime which offers poker and casino as well as the several sports betting licences it has issued to operators including Betfair and bwin.party.
The European Commission last month issued a detailed opinion against Schleswig-Holstein’s return to the State Treaty, with Malta and the United Kingdom offering support, however last week saw the expiration of the standstill period brought about by that opinion.
Bwin.party explained in a statement last week: “Despite the recent detailed opinions and the possible threat of a formal infringement procedure, Schleswig-Holstein may choose to press ahead with the revocation of its existing law and its accession to the framework proposed by the other 15 Länder.”
Skrill CEO Siegfried Heimgaertner said: “Our strategic partnership with Cybits provides a fully rounded service for online retailers, especially those in the German gambling market. This enables traders to easily implement a complete payment and security system quickly and easily.”
Cybits Holding chief executive Stefan Pattberg added: “With Skrill as a partner, we will be able to serve the market even better than we were able to previously, with the benefit of special knowledge, experience and existing customer relationships. We will provide solutions that are specifically customised to the German gambling market.”