WebMoney is an electronic money and online payment system
(transactions are
conducted through WebMoney Transfer ). WM Transfer Ltd, the
owner and administrator
of WebMoney Transfer
Online Payment System,
was founded in 1998 and
is a legal corporate entity of Belize, Central America . Originally targeted mainly
at Russian clients, it is now used worldwide. The
company claims to have
more than 11 million users.
Every account, known as
a "purse", is run in Gold- equivalents (WMG), US Dollar-equivalents (WMZ), ruble-equivalents (WMR), Belarusian ruble- equivalents [WMB] euro- equivalents (WME) or hryvnia -equivalents (WMU). From May 31, 2011
system supports Vietnamese đồng - equivalents (WMV), but
only through a mobile phone interface. [3][4] Also, Kyrgyzstani som and Uzbekistani som - equivalents (WMS) and
(WMY) were expluatated,
but canceled by central
system authority. Accounts are identified by
strings called WM-IDs;
account holders can
remain completely
anonymous towards each
other. Signing up and receiving
webmoney (known as
"WM units") from other
users is free; sending WM
units to other accounts
incurs a fee of 0.8%. Funds can be deposited
into or withdrawn from
webmoney accounts by money order, wire transfer , by conversion from other electronic currencies, or by cash transactions at authorized
exchange offices; all of
these incur various fees. It
is also possible to
purchase WM cards for
$10–$100 in order to fund an account. Security
WebMoney transactions
do not require a credit
card or bank account and
are final and cannot be
retracted; this is similar to e-gold and cash and unlike credit card transactions and PayPal.
Criticism
WebMoney isn't
integrated into an
international financial
system. It doesn't
offer to fill the purse
using international credit cards. It doesn't
accept Western Union or Paypal transfers. Though, there are
