Answering all your burning questions regarding MuchBetter.
We understand that over the past few months, many customers have been frustrated, whether it be due to our service disruptions or if you’ve encountered any problems with your account. We hope this page will answer all your burning questions but if it doesn’t, you can ask us a question using the form at the bottom of the page.
"Why couldn’t I withdraw my money for six months? Is MuchBetter a scam?"
Unfortunately, our EEA customers were unable to withdraw their funds from their wallets as our previous partner, EEA licence holder, UAB PayrNet, had its operations suspended by the Bank of Lithuania, and then its licence was revoked.
"How can I trust MuchBetter?"
We understand that you may feel uneasy about keeping your funds with MuchBetter due to the service disruption, but here’s a high-level summary of what occurred:
- The Bank of Lithuania revoked UAB PayrNet’s EEA licence, not ours – we used UAB PayrNet as our partner using their EEA licence which is why we could no longer operate in Europe until we signed a deal with a new partner.
- As UAB PayrNet were responsible for your funds, we were unable to settle your outstanding balances ourselves using our own funds.
- While we hoped that UAB PayrNet would settle with you swiftly, we made sure that we had enough funds ourselves in the case we would be able to settle with you and take over your debt from UAB PayrNet.
- At no point did MuchBetter have any issues regarding liquidity – we continued to operate normally in other countries as usual while we experienced service disruption in the EEA.
We want to assure you that MuchBetter puts the customer first and whilst the disruption was completely out of our control, we are putting measures and safeguards in place to reduce the risk of anything like this happening again.
"Did MuchBetter steal our money?"
No. MuchBetter hasn’t stolen anyone’s money. All customer funds were in segregated accounts as required by law. In Europe, segregated funds were held by the licence holder which was UAB PayrNet.
The only entity that can authorise your funds to be released is the licensed entity; however, to help ease customers’ concerns and as a thank you for your continued support and patience over the past few months, MuchBetter has chosen to settle the outstanding PayrNet balances of our European customers using our own funds through our new European partner.
We understand that this has been a lengthy process and have chosen to settle using our own company funds as we feel that our customers have waited long enough, and we wanted to ease customers’ minds as the matter was not resolved directly with PayrNet by the 22 August deadline.
This means that, once MuchBetter customers in Europe have accepted updated terms of service and agreements, they will not only have access to their accounts again, but they will also be able to utilise the money they had in their accounts before activity was paused in mid-February. More regulatory steps are required in some European countries, whilst most EEA customers have received their funds, customers in a few countries will have to wait a little longer.
"Why does MuchBetter charge fees to withdraw my money?"
We use payment partners to facilitate withdrawals, and some of these will charge processing or bank fees to complete withdrawals. While we do try and keep these fees as low as possible, we’re unable to make all withdrawal methods free if our partners charge fees.
"Has MuchBetter gone bankrupt?"
No. At no point was MuchBetter declared bankrupt. Our customers have always been our priority and we continued to operate in other countries as usual while we experienced service disruption in the EEA.
MuchBetter has and continues to be in a strong financial position, which can be seen from the fact that we are settling our EEA customers’ outstanding balances using our own reserves as PayrNet has yet to pay them.
For our return to Europe, we’ve been working on improving the user experience of our digital wallet app, which now features quick links, an improved transactions breakdown and a sleeker look overall. We’ve also got new and exciting features coming to the app in the coming months based on customer feedback and overall innovation.
"Why doesn’t my card or fob work?"
MuchBetter prepaid debit cards and contactless fobs in use before February 2023 were issued by PayrNet and due to the decision made by the Bank of Lithuania, the cards and wearables can no longer be used.
We’re liaising with a new regulated issuer to bring you cards and fobs again, and we understand that you’re frustrated – believe us when we say that we can’t wait for normal services to resume so you can use the full MuchBetter offering again.
We’re close to resolving our service disruption and once normal service resumes, we’ll be able to bring you new and exciting features to elevate your MuchBetter experience.
"Was MuchBetter accused of any wrongdoing by the Bank of Lithuania?"
No, the Bank of Lithuania has confirmed in writing that MuchBetter is not being accused of any wrongdoings with respect to the investigation being conducted.
On 22 June 2023, the Bank of Lithuania made an announcement stating that it had decided to revoke UAB PayrNet’s licence and initiate bankruptcy proceedings due to severe and continuous breaches by UAB PayrNet of regulatory requirements applicable to UAB PayrNet including anti-money laundering, reporting, safeguarding customers’ funds, sanctions and other requirements.
"Who is PayrNet, and why did MuchBetter shift responsibility to them?"
MuchBetter never shifted the responsibility to UAB PayrNet as both your wallet and funds were kept with PayrNet. UAB PayrNet is an e-money institution that was licensed by the Bank of Lithuania, and it was the entity that is solely responsible for safeguarding the funds kept in MuchBetter customers’ wallets.
As we said above, on 22 June 2023 the BoL announced it had decided to revoke UAB PayrNet’s licence and to initiate bankruptcy proceedings due to severe and continuous breaches by UAB PayrNet of regulatory requirements applicable to UAB PayrNet including anti-money laundering, reporting, safeguarding customers’ funds, sanctions and other requirements.
A recent update from UAB PayrNet on 17 August alluded to MuchBetter now being responsible for the debt, even though no contact has been made with us by UAB PayrNet. While we have consistently tried to make direct contact with UAB PayrNet since February when the Bank of Lithuania opened their investigation, we have received no meaningful response to help resolve the issues.
To help ease customers’ worries and as a thank you for their continued support and patience over the past few months, MuchBetter has chosen to settle the outstanding PayrNet balances of its European customers using their own funds through their new European partner.
"Does MuchBetter work with unlicensed gaming websites?"
No. MuchBetter only works with licensed and regulated merchants and partners. We perform ongoing due diligence on our existing merchants and partners while also ensuring that all necessary checks are completed when onboarding any new partnerships.
MIR Limited UK Ltd: Registered office, Signature By Regus, Berkeley Square House, 2nd Floor, London, England, W1J 6BD. Regulation: Licensed and regulated as an electronic-money institution (EMI) by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) License No.: 900704.
QuickPay Limited: Registered office, The Black Church, St Mary’s Place, Dublin 7, Dublin, Ireland, D07P 4AX, registered under number 641373. Licensed and regulated as an Electronic Money Distributor of Sureswipe E.M.I. PLC trading as Revsto, which is licensed by the Central Bank of Cyprus to operate as a licensed Electronic Money Institution, license number 115.1.3.26.
