Issue N31, 2007
August 9, 2007
New Affiliate Website for Asian Online Casino
Maharajah Club, the online casino and sportsbooking company that focuses on Asian markets, recently announced that it was creating a new affiliate website as a means to market its products and attract affiliate partners to its sites. Maharajah Club runs four successful online gambling sites (MaharajahClub.com, MaharajahClub.net, MahaCricket.com and MaharajahSport.com). Affiliates will be responsible for referring new customers to these sites and, according to the online casino site, will be paid handsomely for their efforts. “We believe that rewarding good partnerships is the way good business is done,” remarked CEO of the company, Sachin Pawa.
The affiliate business is worth a whopping $2.5 trillion dollars and obviously as many people as possible are vying for a piece of that action. Webmasters, entrepreneurs and companies are always on the lookout for good affiliate partnerships in order to increase their own profits and Maharajah Club feels that its products will be able to do just that. New affiliates will be able to choose between being paid a flat fee for every new active referral, or being paid a percentage of the revenues that resulted out of these referrals to Maharajah sites.
Neteller Boss Reassures Customers through YouTube Speech
In a bid to gain the public’s trust and reach as many of its customer base as possible, the online banking service, Neteller has found an ingenious way to get its message out – through a YouTube speech. The company has only recently managed to sign a deal with the United States Department of Justice that will essentially end a grueling six months of investigations and charges for illegal online gambling activities. During that time period, Neteller froze the funds of most of its US customers. However, with the new deal, the company is due to release these funds and has stepped up on a campaign to clear its name and win back the trust of some of their many online customers who switched to other means of payment since January.
In a pre-written statement that ran over 3 minutes, the company’s CEO, Ron Martin, reassured US gamblers on YouTube that Neteller’s compensation program was going ahead as planned, and outlined ways for customers to get their money back if they had not already applied. Martin also offered his regrets for the incidents over the last few months and promised that things would be different in the future. “Clearly, the situation has strained the trust we've built over the years. For that loss of trust, I'd like to apologize and thank you sincerely for your patience,” he said in the message.
New Zealand Government Targets Christchurch Casino
Claiming contravention of the country’s 2003 Gambling Act, the New Zealand government has clamped down hard on the land-based Christchurch Casino and has ordered the company to wrap up its online gambling business within seven months, or face the consequences. Christchurch Casino is registered and licensed offshore by the government of Antigua and Barbuda. The company runs online bingo, sportsbooking, poker and casino gaming. In 2006, Christchurch Casino was warned to cease its online operations and, as a result, the company promised to install software that would block local New Zealanders from using its services. The New Zealand Internal Affairs Department has expedited the charges brought against the company after it was learned that its online arm was being sold to overseas investors.
Another e-Wallet Company pulls out of US Market
After months of speculation and rumors, the e-wallet company, Eco Card has announced its intention to pull out of the US online gambling market. In an email statement issued by the company this week, it was said that Eco Card would cease processing transactions originating from US customers if they were related to online gambling of any kind. A date for cessation of business was given as August 24th and the company said that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was mainly responsible for its decision.
Eco Card was quick to reassure its US customers, however, that – unlike in the Neteller case – their funds would not be frozen after August 24th and they would be free to withdraw their money or use it for other online purposes. The company reiterated that it would still be serving the US online banking industry, although it would not process gambling-related transactions. Customers from other countries were still free to use Eco Card as a payment option for their online gambling needs and the company would continue to process these transactions. Eco Card was considered a good alternative to Neteller and many US players opened accounts with this company when the latter suspended its services in January of this year. Customers still have a couple of weeks to get in some online gambling fun using Eco Card’s services in the United States.