Upfront Summary: Is Skrill Safe?
Skrill is a safe, secure, and legit digital wallet provider. They have been operating since 2001, so they are not a fly-by-night startup that may disappear with your money. As with any digital wallet, the safety of your payments is still your responsibility, and you need to ensure payments you make are to a legitimate or safe destination. With the company’s age, the number of users, and the amount of money that Skrill has safely stored and delivered over the past 20 years, you should feel that your money is safe with them.
By 2025, it’s estimated that more than 50% of the world’s population will use digital wallets, meaning that safety, trust, and reliability from your digital wallet provider are paramount. Users find the safety of not having physical cash on them and the safety features and convenience over debit and credit cards to be a big draw when using digital wallets. However, how can you know if Skrill is really going to be a safe option for you? You’ve heard horror stories about people’s money being taken or lost. We’ve reviewed everything available online about Skrill and provided it here so you can make an informed decision on if Skrill is right for you.
Skrill Company Information
| Official Website: | https://skrill.com |
| Founded: | 27 July, 2001 |
| Owner: | Paysafe Group |
| Location: | Worldwide Service |
| Customer Service Contact: | Phone: +44-203-308-2520 Chat, Email, Web: Online Support |
| Social Media: | Facebook, Instagram, Twitter |
What is Skrill?
Skrill is a digital wallet provider, allowing you to store money and make payments in various currencies across multiple countries. You can pay merchants, other Skrill users or buy cryptocurrency. You can also get a physical card backed by Mastercard to make payments in physical stores. If you need to send money between countries, you can also use Skrill for this.
Skrill is similar to a bank in its payment options, and it’s also a major competitor to other digital wallet providers like Paypal, who you may be more familiar. However, Skrill does not offer you any products, as it’s simply a service that allows you to take or make payments, primarily online.
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How does Skrill work?
Skrill allows you to add money to your account via various methods, including credit/debit cards, bank transfers, cash via a Paysafe card, or you can receive money to your account from other Skrill users. You’re then able to make payments for whatever you may need or send money internationally to bank accounts.
The primary benefit of why you’d want to use Skrill is that when buying online, you need to deal with multiple currencies; you also have products or services that will only accept cryptocurrency now. So Skrill is providing a central location to store, convert and send payments much easier and generally cheaper, especially on currency exchange, than your bank.
When dealing with online merchants, you don’t need to provide direct banking information like your credit card, which adds a layer of protection to your bank account. You also don’t need to provide your address or other information to merchants to protect your privacy.
Is Skrill safe and legit, or is it a scam?
Skrill is regulated by the FCA internationally and operates under English and Welsh laws. It is safe, legit, and is in no way a scam. Skrill officially operates in 120 countries with a specific list of countries they do not offer service. The site does not contain viruses or malware and takes your privacy very seriously.
Skrill is also licensed on a per-state basis in the USA. You can find details for each state here.
Making payments online means you can get services or products from anywhere in the world, and Skrill is not verifying the products you are buying. Skrill does authenticate information on businesses or users, but you should still make your own decisions on who and what you are buying as Skrill is only the payment processor. You are not more or less likely to be scammed by using Skrill than any other payment method.
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Is Skrill trustworthy and reliable?
Skrill is a trustworthy and reliable digital wallet. It has an average 4/5 rating online from users, with a relatively high number of 1/5 ratings which is a little concerning. There aren’t any specific complaints of scams when using Skrill.
Most negative reviews for Skrill relate to accounts being suspended or fully terminated due to unknown reasons. It is sometimes difficult to transfer your money out of Skrill to your bank account.
A recurring complaint is that funding your account from Mastercard limits how those funds can be used. Such as no gambling or currency conversion; you can only use these funds for online shopping or transferring to other Skrill users.
There is no specific buyer protection from Skrill. You should handle any disputes with a merchant directly with that merchant. If your account has been used fraudulently, then Skrill asks you to contact them directly, and they will investigate.
Skrill Fees and Costs
Skrill fees are relatively complex and depend on where the money comes from, what your country is, what currency you want to use and what particular service you are using.
There is no cost or monthly fee to have a Skrill account. However, you must log in once a year, or you may lose your balance. You may be charged a percentage of any deposits you make. You may also be charged a set fee for any withdrawals you make.
You will be charged a fee for sending money funded by a credit card through Skrill.
Currency conversions will add a 3.99% cost to the top of the conversion rates.
If you get a physical card from Skrill, it will cost $10/year and $2.50 per ATM transaction.
Cryptocurrency purchases have a set fee of $0.99-1.99 for transactions below $100; over $100 it will be 1.5% of the transaction you make.
Skrill provides a full breakdown of their fees for each country and currency, available here.
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Does Skrill have good customer service?
Customer service reviews of Skrill are similar to their overall reviews, which is an average 4/5 rating. So the customers that are unhappy with the service are also dissatisfied with the customer service being unable to assist them in fixing their issues, which appear to be accounts being closed or problems making payments.
Of the customers complaining, the issues related to delayed replies or automated replies to customer complaints. These complaints are an ongoing theme across multiple reviews and review sites. So I believe the customer service is limited in how helpful they are with real issues.
Does Skrill have a refund policy or buyer protection?
Skrill does not provide any buyer protection, and you are responsible for verifying where you are sending money.
Once you have made a payment via Skrill, you need to work with the merchant you purchased from to get any refunds. For Skrill deposit refunds, you can withdraw those funds back to your account or close your account within 10 days of opening to have your deposited funds refunded, minus any transaction costs.
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How to delete a Skrill account?
- Login to your Skrill account
- Click on your Username on the top right corner
- Click on Settings
- Click on Account Settings
- Click Close Account
The pros and cons of Skrill
Pros
- More countries and currencies supported than competitors
- Physical credit card available where Skrill isn’t supported by a merchant
- Convenient central location for all online transactions
- Very secure and safe when logging in, providing MFA.
Cons
- Verification of your personal information can be slow
- Limited customer service
- It can be difficult to extract your funds to a bank account
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Skrill Careers
Is Skrill a good company to work for?
Skrill looks to be a below-average company to work for, with employees saying there are limited career advancements and in some cases below-market salaries.
Is it difficult to get a job with Skrill?
There do not appear to be any limiting factors in getting a job with Skrill. They have various locations worldwide and a wide variety of business areas they hire within—everything from customer service, finance, and engineers.
Best Skrill Alternatives
Skrill and its alternatives make online payments possible when you don’t want to use a traditional bank or a merchant only accepts online payments. Below is a list of alternatives to use if Skrill doesn’t meet your exact needs:
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Additional FAQs
Is Skrill safer than Paypal?
Skrill is no more or less safe than Paypal. The buyer is always responsible for the payments they are making. Paypal does, however, have a superior dispute resolution process, though that isn’t guaranteed to make it safer for you.
Can I have 2 Skrill accounts?
You may not open 2 Skrill accounts unless prior approval is arranged with customer service. Your account may be disabled if you attempt to do this.
How fast are Skrill payments?
Skrill to Skrill payments are instant and can not be canceled. International transfers can take up to 3 business days to be approved and then 1 business day to complete the transfer.