Payza In The USA: Money Services Being Restored To All 50 U.S. States

Today, the large online payment processor Payza is expected to release the name of it’s new American based partner. The new partner will effectively restore Payza’s status in the United States as a MSB (money service business) which will allow the company to resume it’s popular eWallet service to millions of Americans. This marks the first time since November of 2013 that Payza will be able to conduct business as normal. We asked Payza when users can expect to be able to use the eWallet in the United States again: “eWallet transfers won’t happen this week as there is still more work to be done, but the obvious benefit is that Payza will be licensed to act as an MSB in the US again, in all states, so even some states we could not serve while with Obopay.”

Payza’s troubles all started on November 26th, 2013 when Obopay, the company that was responsible for all of Payza’s U.S. based funds suddenly had their assets seized. Amongst the assets seized were Payza members funds. The U.S. Department of Justice still holds on to these funds and Payza has been working diligently to recoup them for their U.S. members. The funds that were seized initially were held in a FBO (For Benefit Of) account by Obopay.

Since this happened, Payza has been working hard to clear their name and to push the service to the next level. They have been working on forming new partnerships that will allow the company to resume full services to the United States. An announcement will be made later today that specifically names the companies new partner. Just a few hours ago on Twitter Payza tweeted: “Big News #Payza People! We have an announcement coming tomorrow about new partnerships in the U.S.”

It was originally believed that the issues regarding U.S. based funds were at the fault of Payza. It has since been determined that Obopay was indeed the culprit. Obopay has been ordered to shut down and cease all of their operations. The DOJ seized all of their assets including but not limited to Payza’s. Payza has since been working diligently to restore access to American users while also bolstering up it’s site with new features.

One of the most recent upgrades made to the company is a one-step signup process. This allows members to create starter or personal accounts with very limited information. This allows for faster registration. In the past members would have to create the account and complete the profile one at a time.

“The new, one-step signup process replaces the current three-page process and reduces the time it takes for members to complete the account creation process,” said Ali Nizameddine, Executive Vice President of Product and Technology. “The new process separates account creation from profile completion.”

ScrollDog sat down with Rob Elbaz of Payza who has been keeping us highly informed with the company. Mr. Elbaz noted that sometime this morning a press release would go out with full details. This article will be updated with the press release information once it is received.

What steps are being made by Payza to re-start U.S. based operations & when can we expect to see the service back online?

Payza still has some services available in the U.S., notably Payza Gateway and Specialized Gateway, our online credit card processing service for U.S. merchants. While our most popular product, the e-wallet, has been affected by this situation, we are in ongoing discussions with potential partners to obtain the necessary licensing to resume full e-wallet services in the U.S.