ecoPayz.com Review 2021 – Pros & Cons of Banking with ecoPayz

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ecoPayz is a prepaid payment provider that has been in existence since 2000. In the beginning the payment platform was known as ecoCard. With this FinTech company you can deposit money into an online account and then use it to pay in online shops or send money to other ecoPayz users.

In this article we will have a look at the most important details of the payment provider.

About the Company

The ecoPay service is operated by a company called PSI-Pay Limited. Since 2008, the UK-based company has been under the supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority and is regarded as electronic money in accordance with EU directives.

The company has been working with MasterCard since 2009, enabling ecoPay to issue PrePaid debit cards. Business accounts were introduced in 2011 and renamed to ecoPayz in 2013.

Virtual cards, apps and ecoVouchers followed in recent years. Virtual cards are nothing more than real credit or debit cards (prepaid), but they can only be used online. Of course, you don’t have a real card in your hand that you could pull through a card reader at a real point of sale.

In the following we will explain what you have to consider when registering and all subsequent steps.

Registration with ecoPayz

When registering, you must first enter a user name, an e-mail address and a password. Then follow the personal details such as address, date of birth, and mobile phone number. You can log in immediately, but you should verify your e-mail in your profile settings.

Attention travelers and digital nomads:

If you create a new account from a country other than your country of residence, the account will be blocked immediately after creation. Not completely – you can log in – but certain functions are then blocked, such as deposits.

Then you have to contact the customer service via email and clarify the facts. This is the case with payment services in general – they always check the IP with which you log in. If you want to avoid problems, it is better to take an IP from the country you have given as your address (and you will need a utility bill to prove it).

Making Deposits

While you used to need a bank account to make deposits to your ecoPayz account formerly, you now have many more ways to make deposits at your disposal. A bank account is no longer necessary.

Account Top Up Methods:

Visa Cards, Local Banking, ecoVoucher, Przelewy24, Alternative Payments, PoLipayments, Neosurf, Klarna, GiroPay, InstantTransfer, PaysafeCard, SafetyPay, Bancontact Mister Cash, Instadebit, Fast Bank Transfer, iDeal, PayU, PocketChange, iDebit, Trustly, UnionPay, Yandex, Multibanco, Tencent.

The availability of the listed services depends on your country.

2 Core services of ecoPaz

Online Payments and International Money Transfers

Besides the possibility to use ecopayz as a payment service, you can also send money from your ecoPayz account. An EcoPayz account is not a bank account, but an in-house account with a 10-digit number assigned to it. Unlike payment services that maintain SEPA accounts, ecoPayz only allows money to be sent within its own system. So if you want to send money to relatives abroad, they also need an ecoPayz account, at least Silver Level.

The 4 account levels at ecoPays

Silver – Gold – Platinum – VIP Level

You start at ecoPayz with a Classic account, but you can upgrade it to a Silver, Gold, Platinum or VIP level. To get the silver account, only a verification should be necessary. In the Silver Level you can create further currency accounts in order to be able to receive 46 foreign currencies. These can then be converted into your main currency within the ecoPayz account, without expensive Forex exchange fees.

To achieve Gold status, you must have verified your deposit method. In addition at least 5,000 Euro had to be deposited, 25,000 Euro should have been sent to dealers via ecoPayz. Furthermore one must have had the silver account for 30 days.

For the Platinum status one must have applied for the ecoCard and have been a Gold member for 30 days. More than 50,000 euros are said to have been transferred to merchants. For the VIP level, the turnover must be 250,000 euros. The status upgrade leads to better service and cheaper conditions.

The ecoCard is only available for residents of the EU/EEA states (Europe).

Fees

Deposit Fees:

Although the registration is free of charge, the use however comes with costs. Transfers from the bank account to ecoPayz are subject to charges of 0 – 7%. For credit card deposits it is 1.69%-6% + 0.25€. If you use Trustly, a deposit costs 0.1€ + 3%, but at least 2€. For Entercash you have to pay 75 Cent and 2€ fee. Payments via Giropay, the German merchant bank or Sofortüberweisung are subject to a 1.5% fee.

Sofortüberweisung is only available from Gold status. Otherwise you can pay via Fast Bank Transfer, here fees of 2% are due. Only PocketChange machines can be used free of charge. Since the next machines are located in Japan, however, this will have no use in Germany.

Payouts are only possible after verification if you have the silver status. Fees per transaction range from 5.90 Euro to 10 Euro. Transfers between ecoPayz customers are also only possible from the silver status onwards. If you have not logged in for 12 months, 1.50 Euro per month will be charged due to inactivity. At least until there is no more money on the ecoPayz account. Similar practices should be known from Neteller and Skrill.

The receipt of an ecoCard MasterCard is free of charge. For the withdrawal of money 2% of the turnover will be charged, but at least 1.50Euro. Other money services for banking institutions are charged 4%. There is also anecoVirtualcard for payment on the Internet, which can be obtained for 1.80 euros.

Money Transfer Fees:

Sending money to family and friends cost the sender 1.5% (at least 0.5€), the recipient bears no costs. Unless you have the gold level, then the sending is free.

Online Payment Fees:

Online payments in shops that accept ecoPayz are free.

Business Account – ecoPayz for Shop Owners

As a shop operator you can register with ecoPayz as a business to integrate the payment service into your website. The payment service is especially well established in the area of online casinos and gaming sites, but can also be used by any normal online shop

Security Features

As a regulated financial services provider, ecoPayz meets the latest security standards such as fraud protection. In addition, according to ecoPayz, data protection is a top priority and customers’ financial data is never passed on to third parties. The Website uses 256 bit SSL encryption for secure and secret data transfers.

Login Security

When registering, you must specify a mobile phone number. If you want to secure your account, you can activate 2-step verification. For this you can either use sms codes or you can use an authenticator app. Either way you will receive a code at each log-in, which you have to enter to verify your account. If the code is wrong, you won’t get access the account. This security measure is already standard with financial services online.

Withdrawals

For withdrawals you have to link bank accounts in your profile. The corresponding accounts have to be yours, so you cannot link other people’s bank accounts to your ecoPayz account.

ecoPayz Specials

At ecoPayz there are always lotteries and other loyalty campaigns. In order to participate you only have to prove a certain turnover in order to take part in a raffle or to receive other small bonuses. At the moment there are only a few offers, but it is always worth to have a look.

How is ecoPayz comparable to Paypal?

The phone number linked to the account must have the country code of you country of residence.
You can pay online at all places that have the payment service integrated.
You can send money globally, but only within the platform.

Major differences to Paypal:

ecoPayz only works prepaid, so you cannot spend what you don’t have in your account. Paypal works with linked bank accounts and will take the money from your bank account or credit card, if a payment exeeds your Paypal balance.
Apart from that difference in functionality, ecoPayz is simply less esablished.