UPDATE (25th March 17:45 BST): This piece has been updated with additional information and comment from Optimal Payments, the parent company of Neteller.
Payments processor and prepaid card provider Neteller has added a bitcoin deposit feature.
A representative for Neteller confirmed the deposit feature when contacted for comment, telling CoinDesk it may be officially launched as early as tomorrow.
The move is an apparent reversal of policy for Neteller, which previously revised its terms of use policy to explicitly prohibit the “trade, exchange, purchase or sale of bitcoins, or any other virtual currency”.
Users of the service have since taken to social media to advertise the presence of a bitcoin option on the website. The spokesperson said that what users are reporting is likely the first stage of the integration.
“It is brand new,” the representative said, declining to elaborate further on the feature.
According to a 25th March press release provided by Optimal Payments, the parent company of Neteller, the integration was conducted in partnership with bitcoin payments processor BitPay.
Optimal Payments president and CEO Joel Leonoff said in a statement:
“Neteller already provides merchants and customers a broad and diverse set of online payment options and the addition of bitcoin gives them another valuable payment method to help convert more transactions. We recognize the important role that crypto-currencies play in the future of payments and we look forward to working with BitPay as the acceptance rate grows.”
Optimal Payments, which earlier this week made headlines for its agreement to purchase prepaid card provider Skrill for €1.1 billion. Neteller has long been associated with the online gaming industry, offering services to a number of well-known sites in the ecosystem. As such, the representative added that the service will not be available initially for users in the US.
CoinDesk will continue monitoring this developing story and provide updates as they become available.
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