Since Congress passed a law that limits deposit and withdrawal options from Internet poker sites, it's been a bit tougher for U.S. players to access their money. At Full Tilt Poker, U.S. players' options are limited to transfers by paper check, ePassporte or MyWebATM. Because I don't like waiting for checks to arrive in the mail and I had previously closed my ePassporte account, I tried to set up a MyWebATM account.
They wouldn't let me sign up for an account, and they don't have a good reason for it.
As I understand it, MyWebATM would function like Neteller used to by allowing online transactions to gambling sites. In addition, they issue a card that allows you to withdraw money
from ATMs.
I'll try to keep this as brief as I can:
On MyWebATM's Web site, they ask you several security questions about your credit history before they will issue you an account. In my case, they asked me about auto leases and home mortgages that have nothing to do with me. I have never leased a car or mortgaged a home. Because I answered "None of the above" to each of the questions, the Web site informed they could not create my account.
Here are the questions I was asked:
Your credit file indicates you may have a mortgage loan, opened in or around March 2003. Who is the credit provider for this account?
What are the terms for the above-referenced account?
Your credit file indicates you may have an auto loan/lease, opened in or around July 2005. Who is the credit provider for this account?
What is the total monthly payment for the above-referenced account?
Your credit file indicates you may have an installment account (personal loans, electronic/appliance accounts, jeweler accounts, auto loans, etc.), opened in or around April 2005. Who is the credit provider for this account?
What are the terms for the above-referenced account?
I sent them an e-mail (to support@mywebatm.com), and they said they would review my information. They wrote back saying they could not create my account, but they did not offer an explanation. I sent them a second e-mail, and their support staff never replied.
At this point I got worried that MyWebATM was asking me about private credit information that had nothing to do with me. I thought, "Maybe they're accessing my credit report, and I have some bad information on there that's hurting my credit."
When I checked my credit report, I found that I had a perfect record and had never made a late payment. There was no evidence of mortgages or leases on there.
Then I e-mailed Full Tilt for help, and they told me to call them at 1-888-845-8729. Their representative was friendly, but the only thing she could tell me was that I should try to call MyWebATM directly. She said MyWebATM comes up with its security questions using a system that's linked to my Social Security Number.
MyWebATM has removed its phone number from their Web site, but Full Tilt gave it to me. For anyone out there who wants to give them a try, the number is 1-866-746-7246. Then when the automated system asks for your account number, just bang on the "0" key about 20 or 30 times until a customer service representative picks up.
The first time I tried this, I was told that the MyWebATM part of the company was closed for the evening.
The second time, I finally got through to a representative.
Basically, she told me that because I'm debt-free, I can't set up an account.
Unless I had a mortgage or an auto lease, there's no way for me to answer their security questions. I asked if there were any other security questions I could answer, and the representative said there were not.
This doesn't make much sense to me. It's certainly no way to run a business, if they won't work with people like me who don't owe anyone any money and have pristine credit.
MyWebATM may work for some people, but I don't have much faith that their money is safe based on my experience.
Here's a 2+2 thread with more information on MyWebATM.
2 comments:
My mastercard debit ATM from WaMu works fine at FTP. Try any debit card.
That's the gheyest thing I've ever heard, Gnome. I did have to answer those security questions, but they ought to be able to use former addresses and such like that to confirm your identity, and not be turning away excellent credit risks like you for this fidiotic reason. I really like mywebtatm and use them instead of epassporte because they fund so much quicker and just generally got me up and running almost right away as opposed to making me wait more than 2 weeks just to confirm my bank account. Best of luck finding an alternative provider.
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