NETeller begins long-awaited payback plan Monday

It may be the busiest traffic day ever for the NETeller Web site.

But beleaguered American customers will happily bear with the expected bottlenecks and slow response times tomorrow, as they will finally be able to log in to their frozen NETeller accounts and make a request to withdraw their funds.

In accordance with their agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, NETeller begins the long and arduous payout of more than $94 million owed to their American members in just a few hours, when the page turns to July 30, 2007.

And it's not expected to be easy.

Here's the deal: The agreed-upon distribution plan provides for a 180-day period for U.S. members to make an online request for the return of funds using NETeller's Web site.

This period ends precisely at 11:59 p.m. (GMT) on January 26, 2008, when accounts will be permanently closed and U.S. members will no longer be able to sign in.

Funds will then be delivered by electronic transfer to the bank account on record with NETeller or by check to the member's mailing address as quickly as possible. U.S. members must request an electronic transfer if they already have a bank account registered, and confirm that bank account remains valid.

Members who do not qualify for an electronic transfer will be able to request payment by check. All members will only receive the entire balance of the funds in their account, and partial requests for funds aren't possible. NETeller also won't charge withdrawal fees.

Things in particular NETeller wants you to note: Even if you've already made a withdrawal request, you'll still need to perform another request under the distribution plan.

No interest on account balances will be paid either, and U.S. members can't use their accounts for any type of transaction other than to request funds.

Also of note: since $94 million is being returned to hundreds of thousands of U.S. customers, NETeller is asking for a bit of patience as it will take some time for all payments to be processed.

Members are also being told to be wary of phishing scams, and should only log in to the NETeller.com Web site to request the return of funds. It must have NETeller.com as the top level domain using the https security protocol - nothing else.

Due to increased call volumes, NETeller will be unable to answer calls from members in the United States and recommend sending any questions via the contact page web-form, where agents will respond to e-mailed questions as quickly as possible.

If you can't log in to the site tomorrow because of heavy traffic backlogs, they suggest trying again a few hours later. If you still require further assistance, you should contact NETeller Customer Service at usmembers@neteller.com.

courtesy of Christopher Hunt

News Added: 29 July, 2007

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