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Skrill offers free payment services to Italians during lockdown

Nov 06, 2020

Online payment company removes fees for money transfers and business checkout solution as new set of restrictions begin in the country

Milan, Italy: Skrill, the online payments company behind Skrill Money Transfer, is once again immediately dropping all fees and foreign exchange charges for anyone using Skrill Money Transfer to send money in or out of Italy as the country begins a new wave of restrictions. There will also be no charges for money transfers made within Italy. The restrictions are set to last until December 3, 2020 and the service will remain free until this date.  

From today, Skrill is also offering its wallet and Quick Checkout solution free of charge for two months to businesses in Italy using the service for the first time before the end of the year. Skrill enables businesses to process a range of different payment options such as cards, wallets, instant bank transfers, cash payments and other alternative payment methods via a single integration. The move is expected to particularly support the small businesses which have had to shift to a digital-only service during lockdown.  Furthermore, any merchant which starts accepting Skrill as a payment method will have the option to be promoted to millions of Skrill users around the world.

The decision to offer Skrill’s services for free was announced today by Skrill CEO, Lorenzo Pellegrino, an Italian national, in a bid to support Italian citizens and businesses during the pandemic. The company also removed its fees during the previous lockdown.

Lorenzo Pellegrino, CEO of Skrill which is part of specialised payments platform Paysafe, said: “Italians are bracing themselves for the coming weeks as restrictions begin to tighten across the country. It has never been more important to protect our loved ones and support local businesses. We’re keen to ease the pressure that both businesses and consumers are experiencing at this time and ensure that as many funds as possible are going to the right place.”

Skrill was founded in 2001 and its money transfer service allows customers to send money from anywhere in the world directly to people in over 40 countries, including Italy. The recipient doesn’t need to have a Skrill account to receive funds, which can also be sent to bank accounts and mobile wallets.

Research from Skrill following the outbreak of COVID-19 has highlighted the increasing reliance on digital payment services among both businesses and consumers. 17% of Italian consumers said they started shopping online for the first time during lockdown and 47% said they were shopping online more due to not being able to access high street stores. Following the first lockdown, 43% of Italians said they reduced their handling of cash due to health concerns and 31% stated that they turned to digital wallets as the quickest, most effective and convenient way to transfer money overseas.

Further research among Italian businesses operating online commissioned by Skrill in September 2020 showed that 70% said offering more payment methods is more important to them now than it has ever been. 76% of online Italian businesses have plans to add more payment methods into their checkout and 41% have seen a noticeable increase in the number of customers paying using digital wallets since the pandemic began.

About Skrill

Skrill has been making digital payments simple, secure and quick since 2001. We’re an acknowledged world-leader in developing global payment solutions for people’s business and pleasure, whether they’re buying online or sending money to family and friends. We also meet the needs of businesses worldwide, helping them build a global customer base and drive growth.

About Paysafe

Paysafe Group (Paysafe) is a leading specialised payments platform. Its core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in payment processing, digital wallet, card issuing, and online cash solutions. With over 20 years of online payment experience, an annualised transactional volume of over US $98 billion in 2019, and approximately 3,000 employees located in 12+ global locations, Paysafe connects businesses and consumers across 70 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. Delivered through an integrated platform, Paysafe solutions are geared toward mobile-initiated transactions, real-time analytics and the convergence between brick-and-mortar and online payments.

 

Visit us at: www.paysafe.com

 

For media enquiries, please contact:

Anna Howard, Director of Communications, Europe and Asia, Paysafe

Anna.howard@paysafe.com                                                  

Phone: +442038908975