Consolidation is on the horizon for the online payment processing industry, as the parent company of Neteller announced it will acquire rival Skrill for more than a billion Euros, bringing together two of the services used most by online poker players.

Optimal Payments Plc announced an agreement this week to acquire Skrill Group for approximately €1.1 billion. The deal is not done yet, as it needs to go through shareholder and regulatory approvals.

In a press release on the acquisition, Optimal Payments talked about the acquisition's impact on the company and on the industry in general, noting specifically that the move helps its interest in online gambing and poker:

The Directors of Optimal Payments believe that the acquisition will be transformational and value-enhancing for Optimal Payments and will create a leading payment and digital wallet provider with significant international scale and reach that is well positioned to capitalize on the substantial and growing payment processing and digital wallet markets, particularly within the rapidly expanding online gambling sector.

How the deal would affect online poker players isn't immediately apparent, but there is already a lot of speculation on the impact of the consolidation between Neteller and Skrill:

–Consolidation means less competition in the ewallet market. That could mean increased fees for Neteller users, and online poker players trying to move money to and from poker sites like PokerStars. Poker players will obviously monitor the situation, but Neteller and Skrill are currently considered among the best and most efficient ways to move money for the purposes of online gaming.
–Skrill and Neteller do not overlap exactly in the locations and jurisdictions they serve. That means there is some risk that people that have access to Skrill will no longer be able to use the service when Neteller takes over. Optimal does note that there will be "100+ payment types in 22+ languages and 41 currencies offered by the Enlarged Group."
–Skrill and Neteller have different rules and guidelines for deposits, withdrawals, and maximum funds that can be kept in accounts. How the two companies merge their terms of service will be of interest to the poker-playing community.

Also of note, Optimal said in the release that the move positions the company to capitalize on the regulated American online gaming industry, which includes online poker in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, as well as the growing daily fantasy sports industry.

Skrill, which finished a rebranding from Moneybookers in 2013, had seen its stock go up — figuratively — in the online poker community in recent years.

This is a reprint from parttimepoker.com. to view the original, click here.