ePassporte Closes to Online Poker Sites

I'll start off by saying so far this is not confirmed by other poker sites:

This is big news for the poker industry. ePassporte has been the #1 reliable method of withdrawing from online poker sites such as PokerStars for a while now.

It seems as though on the cashier screens at Cake Poker, PokerStars, and Full Tilt Poker ePassporte has been removed.

Well, I still have $5 in my e-pass account...... if this is true, I'm sure glad I didn't have more. I doubt I'll get it back.......

Just checked Stars and Epass is still a deposit option, so I dont know if its being removed from there or not

Just incase this turns out to be false I better reiterate that it hasn't been confirmed by any other poker sites apart from Cake Poker right now.

I doubt they are closing their doors to US players, they make way too much money with the rip-off, eh, deposit fee I mean that they charge

hm, well nowhere in the posted announcement does it specifically mention "US players", so how were you able to gather that?

probably because of the title of the thread?

I was just planning on depositing a rather large sum ($600) onto pokerstars via epassporte to take advantage of the 20% reload bonus. I do not want to deposit to epassporte, pay the $30 fee, then pay the $3 fee again to withdraw, so I have emailed Pokerstars support to see what their response to this is. I'll let you know what they say when I get a response.

Hello Zachary,

I can confirm that ePassporte is not available at this time, however, we
have not received any information that states whether this will be a
permanent measure or not.

I am very sorry that we cannot provide any more details, since I know how
unsettling this can appear.

Please check back with us tomorrow, hopefully some more light will be shed
on this by then. You may want to consider our Instant eCheck option in
the meantime, since I see you have used it in the past.

If there's anything else we can assist you with, just let us know. You
may request telephone assistance for your deposit issues 24/7 at
dad@pokerstars.com

Best regards,

Robert
PokerStars Deposit Assistance Department

When I tried this popped up

Attached Images

ScreenHunter_02 Apr. 11 21.21.jpg (16.5 KB, 4 views)

No more e-Molasses-Porte for US folks? No big loss, IMO.

see my post concerning this same issue rec'd from another source..

another 1 down the tubes, geez, 1st. neteller now this,,, this has me stimied, wonder whats really going on,,, buck

Well I was wrong, but eChecks are still great

um, i was obviously asking nick

I think this is purely rumor or perhaps isolated to Cake. I just tried signing up for a dummy account at ePassporte, and it worked just fine being from the US.

I then went into FullTilt Poker's deposit area (granted, not Cake) and the ePassporte method seemed to work just fine as it prompted me to go to the epassporte site.

Got the cake message, hearing the rumors. I messaged epassporte:

There is a lot of furor in the online poker community this morning. The word on the internet is that Epassporte is no longer servicing online poker merchants. I am writing to look for an official word on the issue before wild speculation runs (more) rampant.

will let you know what they say

It's not a US thing, it's just about them not letting people deposit on poker sites. Like Nick said, we dont know if it's everybody or not yet, but I hope they dont close their doors to poker players

I can confirm that I used epassporte as a virtual visa to pay my cable/internet bill this morning. The charge is already showing in epassporte's online statement, hasn't finalized yet, but that is normal.

Got this from full tilt.

,,463.JPG

FROM THE PPA

I am a constituent, voter, and poker player asking for your support.

Specifically, I ask that you support proposed legislation that clearly exempts the great
game of poker from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). I also
ask that you sponsor and support legislation to repeal the badly flawed UIGEA outright.

With UIGEA regulations now pending, the debate on these issues has reached a tipping point
, and new voices are emerging against UIGEA every day.

Our right to play poker online was inadvertently restricted with the passage of UIGEA.
While it is clear that UIGEA should not affect online poker
nationwide (UIGEA only enforces other federal gaming laws, and federal case law has
consistently held that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting, and very few states
have any laws against Internet poker), this legislation has nonetheless had a chilling
effect on my ability to access and patronize these legal businesses. I ask for your help
in rectifying this situation. There is no reason for the federal government to treat a
poker game that adults play against others online any differently than a Friday night poker
game played around a kitchen table.

As regulations to implement UIGEA come close to their effective date, our nation’s financial
institutions are warning the Congress that these regulations are unworkable. At the April
2, 2008 Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology
hearing on the impact of UIGEA on our nation’s financial services industry, even the
authors of the UIGEA regulations testified that they have struggled with the ambiguity
of the UIGEA statute.

Louise Roseman of the Federal Reserve testified that it will be very difficult to enforce
the law "without a more bright line on what is included as unlawful Internet gambling”.
Even if this “bright line” were defined, however, she stated that payment systems are not
designed to perform this type of function. Representatives from the American Bankers
Association, the Credit Union National Association, the Financial Services Roundtable and

Wells Fargo fully concurred with this assessment. Dozens of other banks have submitted
similar comments to the Federal Reserve and to the Treasury Department. The principal
comment of the American Bankers Association is a concise summary: “We maintain that
the UIGEA is a fundamentally flawed response to those challenges.”

I encourage you to introduce legislation repealing the badly flawed UIGEA. Banks should be
responsible for managing their deposits and their loan portfolios, not for policing the
behaviors of Americans in their own homes.

I also encourage you to support HR 2610, the Skill Game Protection Act, and HR 2046,
the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act. HR 2610 clarifies federal law by
expressly exempting games of skill like poker from UIGEA. HR 2046,
the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, regulates online poker
via stringent licensing regulations for poker site operators. Both bills have rigorous
safeguards against underage and compulsive gambling. Both also clarify the Wire Act to
bring it into the 21st century.

These safeguards will work – the June 8, 2007 House Financial Services Committee hearing
on Internet gaming proved conclusively that Internet poker can be effectively regulated.
Note that neither HR 2610 nor HR 2046 force any state to permit online poker, as states
can opt out if they wish.

One thing the 2008 Subcommittee hearing made completely clear is that Congress needs
to define “unlawful Internet gambling” before it can expect financial institutions to
have any chance at effectively enforcing any ban on such activity. The idea that the
federal government cannot define this concept, yet expects banks to perform this
law enforcement function, is ludicrous.

Poker is a uniquely American game of skill and a great American pastime. Presidents such
as FDR and Harry Truman, Chief Justices such as William Rehnquist and William Howard Taft,
members of Congress, generals, and average Americans have enjoyed poker for more than
150 years. It is an honorable game. Congress now has an opportunity to show respect
for the millions of voters who enjoy the great game, while at the same time averting
the looming risks of asking our financial services industry to enforce a law that even our
regulators can’t define.

What’s most important to me is your support for my rights. Please respond to this letter
and let me know if you will support my freedoms. I will be watching your actions on this
issue closely. I hope that I, along with my nearly one million fellow Poker Players
Alliance members, can count on your support.

Thank you for your consideration.

^ i like your wallpaper.

anyway, epassporte sucks, so i don't see this as a big deal.

Thanks i made it myself.lol Epassporte was the last option many of us in the US had to deposit.That's why it's a big deal.

i just cashed out 250 using instant check and it was in my banking account in 3 days. it fast and easy to use.

just used echecks at ps,went thru with no problems.finally found a way to deposit there

epassporte accounts still work,.. .they're not just for poker site deposits and withdrawls, lol,... BUT they are no longer working with the poker sites.
sure,.. you might see the epassporte screen pop up when you go to it from poker site,... but try to actually do a deposit or withdrawl,... ain't gonna happen.
epassporte has been a continual problem for me,... probably over $100 in fees and charges in the past few mos.,.. and the absolute worst customer response I have ever dealt with anywhere in my life,.. period! (12 days for email responses??,.. then not even answering the freak'n questions, instead sending out one of those general 'broad statement' responses, but really telling me nothing,... 20min. minimum wait for phone support as well,.. that was on a good day).
What a BS service anyways,.... you'd think there would be a HUGE business oppurtunity out there for someone?? Wonder what the glitches are,.. 'security problems' (they did stop using Mastercard awhile back now). Maybe legal issues?? I know that here in Canada, credit card deposits can be a real hassled, with transactions automatically being denied when dealing with pokersites (key for some is to try to deposit (make purchase) not in exact amounts (ie. deposit $98.73, instead of $100).
Off topic here sorry,.. but am sure folks will be looking for alternatives for making deposits. yah,... I too was planning on making a deposit this weekend with one of those VisaGiftCards (thru epassporte). Oh well,.. pressure is on now to take down a big tourney, lol,.. .and no more transferring funds to friends and family's accounts, lol (the bastards, hee hee)

I was told by US players that ePassporte was not available to them. It could be *all* players, but I'm sensing if they made the move, it would be a similar move to Neteller and US players.

I only have $7 on my epassporte account currently thank goodness. What makes me mad is all the money I spent on their services/products over last 2 months just getting everything set up so that I can withdraw easily to go to the WSOP in June and now I am trying to figure out how to get my $ off of Cake so that I can go.

Cake told me they were working on new deposity/withdraw options. Anybody else here anything from Cake?

here is a message i received from Cake.


Hello
Thank you for your email. As you may be aware the movement of checks has not always been ideal since the signing of the UIEGA. CakePoker employs a number of processors to help us move checks out to our players. While we have continued to deliver checks to our US resident players, checks in excess of $2500 US$ have been handled by a specific group of processors that has proven to be less effective over time. In an effort to compensate we are introducing a few new processors this week that we expect to bring check processing and delivery times down significantly. With these new processors we are required to formally confirm the identification of the individual before a check can be dispatched. As a result you will be required to provide picture identification in the form of a driver’s license or a passport. Although you may have provided this or similar ID is past we do not keep these documents on file so unfortunately you will have to forward it along again to our support team. Once you have provided this identification you will not be required to provide it again on subsequent check requests.
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Kind Regards,
Sean
CakePoker Support

I just received this email from Full Tilt:

Dear roundcat,

You received this email because you have made a deposit using ePassporte.

We have recently been notified by ePassporte that they are no longer able to facilitate deposits or withdrawals between ePassporte and Full Tilt Poker player accounts. We apologize for this inconvenience which is unfortunately outside of our control.

As an alternative to ePassporte, we are pleased to offer you Ultra Prepaid.

...

Boo.

They could've at least given a bit of warning that they were changing their policy to give people time to move their money around as they wished. Or since I believe they're based out of Curacoa they could've just flipped the US gov't the bird you'd think.

Can anyone tell me why you would use Epassporte with their lame fees? Echeck is completely safe and so easy with no fees. Zach why not use that?

You would think that ePassporte would send a notice out to let people know what their changes are. It will be an inconvenience for some but there are many other options so it shouldn't hurt poker much.

i have no experience with echecks, but one of the advantages of epass is that its easy to transfer money from site to site. read that echecks are the best option now though.

Pretty unique situation, won't have the cash until a week after the bonus and with epassporte I can use a credit card to deposit, echecks requires having the cash in the bank. I'm actually probably going to go into the bank Monday and ask about an option for a line of credit. I have one at my bank at home and although the interest rate is outrageous, the fee for just a few days probably would be less than the $30 charged by epassporte, so that should work out better anyway.

I don't have a bank account or credit cards, just the debit card from epassporte as then I can conveniently spend money from poker.