WebMoney

WebMoney Transfer
Online payment solution
Founded Moscow (1998)
Headquarters Moscow, Russia[1]
Parent WebMoney Transfer ltd[2]
Website Official website

WebMoney, is an online payment settlement system. The company was founded in November 1998 in Russia as a money transfer system for United States dollars, in the wake of the 1998 Russian financial crisis that had led to increased US dollar use in Russia.[3][4]

WebMoney users' funds are stored in a "purse", which holds electronic money corresponding to an underlying asset, such as a currency.[4] The underlying assets for WebMoney units are held by a global network of companies that act as guarantors for the payment system.[5] Guarantors accept deposits in the underlying assets and issue the corresponding WebMoney units.[6] WebMoney Transfer can be used for peer-to-peer payments, and includes an escrow system.[7] It charges 0.8% of the transacted amount in fees, up to a maximum fee of €50.[7]

Among the services of WebMoney Transfer is INDX online exchange - an online tool through which one can trade derivative securities, called NOTES, which are secured by shares of public companies and other assets. Also WebMoney Transfer announced the addition of Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Ripple (XRP), Dash (DASH), Monero (XMR) linked notes to its INDX online exchange. There are no transaction and service fee levied on INDX exchange platform[8][9].

In June 2013, the Ukrainian government seized computer equipment from the Ukrainian guarantor and froze 60 million UAH (US$7.5 million) of funds residing on guarantor's accounts in Ukraine, causing Ukrainian WebMoney transactions to be blocked. Officials of the Ministry of Revenues and Duties of Ukraine said that there were major irregularities in the operations of the company acting as the Ukrainian guarantor, and that the rules of the operation of the payment system were not agreed with the National Bank of Ukraine.[10][11][12] The ministry described WebMoney as an "illegal system" that was suspected of being used for money laundering and tax evasion, and the central bank said that WebMoney did not have a licence to operate in Ukraine.[13] WebMoney transactions resumed in Ukraine the following week.[13]

In March 2015, the Ukrainian guarantor's bank accounts were released after a court ruling. Later that year, the National Bank of Ukraine and the State Savings Bank of Ukraine partnered with WebMoney.UA.[14][15]

In November 2015, WebMoney Europe Ltd, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, was granted an FCA licence to issue e-money within the European Economic Area.[16]

In 2015 WebMoney launched crowdfunding platform WebMoney Funding for implementation of projects under the principle of voluntary donations, participation in group purchasing and event planning. One of the specific characteristics of WebMoney Funding service is that all the projects can be financed not only via the credit cards and e-wallets, but via bitcoins as well[17]. In may 2018 the National Bank of Ukraine has abolished the registration of the inner-state payment system WebMoney.UA (the subsidiary of 'Financing company ElMI', Kyiv) as it was put on the sanctions list of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine[18].

References

  1. ↑ "Company Overview of WM Transfer Ltd". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  2. ↑ "WebMoney Owner and Administrator". WebMoney. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  3. ↑ Ghernaouti, Solange (2016-04-19). "Chapter 8: The Cybercriminal's Toolkits". Cyber Power: Crime, Conflict and Security in Cyberspace. CRC Press. p. 248. ISBN 9781466573055.
  4. 1 2 Mullan, Philip Carl (2014). "WebMoney Transfer". The Digital Currency Challenge: Shaping Online Payment Systems through US Financial Regulations. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137382559.
  5. ↑ Mullan, Philip Carl (2016). WebMoney Transfer. A History of Digital Currency in the United States: New Technology in an Unregulated Market. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 252–259. ISBN 9781137568700.
  6. ↑ Finberg, Ron (2013-06-19). "Is WebMoney the Next Liberty Reserve?". Archived from the original on 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  7. 1 2 "eWallets: the future of digital money?". Odgers Berndtson. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  8. ↑ "Ether (ETH) notes now available for trade on WebMoney's INDX exchange". www.cryptoninjas.net. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  9. ↑ "WebMoney adds Ripple and Dash linked notes". www.cryptoninjas.net. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  10. ↑ "UAH 60 mln of Ukrainians blocked in WebMoney by tax authorities". QHA. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  11. ↑ Dixon, Julia. "Ukraine freezes WebMoney bank accounts". DGC Magazine.
  12. ↑ "WebMoney Ukraine says tax evasion charges are 'absurd'". Russian Legal Information Agency. 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  13. 1 2 "WebMoney says Ukrainian arm resumes transactions". Interfax-Ukraine. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  14. ↑ "Внутрішньодержавні платіжні системи та міжнародні платіжні системи, платіжними організаціями яких є резиденти". National Bank of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  15. ↑ Карпусь, Вадим (2015-06-18). ""Ощадбанк" стал партнёром Webmoney.UA (Oschadbank has become WebMoney.UA's partner)". ITC.ua (in Russian).
  16. ↑ Finextra (2015-11-17). "WebMoney gets European e-money license". Finextra Research. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  17. ↑ "WebMoney Funding Platform Now Accepts Bitcoin Transfers - Bitcoin Network, News, Charts, Guides & Analysis". Bitcoin Network, News, Charts, Guides & Analysis. 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  18. ↑ National Bank of Ukraine excludes WebMoney from register of inner-state payment systems. 112 Ukraine. 2018-05-25.

Further reading

  • "Exclusive Interview: Vladimir Sharko, Director, International Business Development, WebMoney Transfer". The Paypers. November 14, 2011. Archived from the original on 2016-08-10.
  • "Interview with Avet Mnatsakanyan, CEO. WebMoney Europe: We are not just an e-wallet, we create the environment for doing business online". Banks.eu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
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