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Skrill review

Updated September 28, 2026 · SumCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026

We earn a commission when you sign up through links on this site. Partner status can affect where a brand appears in our rankings. Partners with a live offer in your country come first, then every other brand by score.

Our verdict

Skrill suits people who want a prepaid card, crypto and several currencies in the same account, and who are happy to pay for the privilege. It suits less well for everyday spending abroad, where the monthly fee of €5 and the conversion fee of 3.99% sit above what most rivals charge.

Key facts

Best for
A prepaid card, crypto holdings and multi-currency balances kept in the same account.
Monthly fee
€5↗
Currency conversion fee
3.99%↗
Card type
Prepaid↗
Card network
Mastercard↗
Custody
Custodial↗
Legal entity
Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited.↗
Headquarters
Ireland↗
Features
Crypto, Virtual card, Multi-currency
Official website
skrill.com

Facts checked September 26, 2026, 2 sources

Apps and profiles

Get the app
App Store
Elsewhere
WikidataX

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Crypto, a virtual card and multi-currency balances sit in the same account, as crypto, virtual card and multi currency shows.
  • Irish register entries cover both the payment side, PSD_EMI IE_CBI!C184986, and the crypto side, MiCA CASP 213800QBQVHWRBHJTA89, with the Central Bank of Ireland as regulator.
  • The card is prepaid on the mastercard network, so acceptance follows Mastercard rather than a niche scheme.
  • The account is run by a named company, Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited., so the contract sits with a legal entity rather than a trading name.

Cons

  • A monthly fee of €5 applies, while bunq charges €0, Wise £0 and the Varo Believe Secured Credit Card $0.
  • The currency conversion fee of 3.99% is high, placing Skrill at 251 out of 258 compared brands.
  • The monthly fee ranks 385 out of 422 compared brands, so holding the account is costly for light users.
  • Money sits custodially, custodial, so the provider rather than the customer controls the balance.
Skrill

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Who it suits

  • People who already hold crypto and want the same account to pay ordinary bills from a prepaid card.
  • Users who mostly spend in the currency the balance is held in, so the conversion fee of 3.99% rarely comes up.
  • Customers who want a named Irish regulated issuer, Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited., holding their prepaid money.

Who should look elsewhere

  • Frequent travellers who convert currency, since the conversion fee of 3.99% suits them poorly and Wise charges a monthly fee of £0.
  • Readers after a cheap everyday card, since bunq charges a monthly fee of €0.
  • US customers who want a dollar card, since the Varo Believe Secured Credit Card charges $0 a month in dollars.

Safety of your money

Skrill holds money for you rather than the other way round. The account is custodial, which means the provider keeps control of the balance and you hold a claim on it rather than the funds themselves. That is the normal shape for a prepaid card account, and it is the reason the licensing behind the brand matters to anyone weighing how safe the balance is. The licensing sits in Ireland. The payment side of the account is covered by an electronic money permission registered with the Central Bank of Ireland, listed as PSD_EMI IE_CBI!C184986. The crypto side carries its own permission from the same regulator, a MiCA crypto asset service provider registration listed as MiCA CASP 213800QBQVHWRBHJTA89. Having both entries means the cash balance and the crypto balance are each registered in their own right rather than sitting under a general trading licence. The practical reading for a reader weighing safety: the money is held by a supervised Irish company, and the crypto activity is separately supervised. The trade-off in custodial is that access to your balance depends on the provider staying open for business, so a custodial account suits people who want the provider to handle the mechanics rather than people who want to hold the asset themselves.

Regulation and registers

The registrations here are worth keeping apart. Skrill's payment account is an electronic money permission with the Central Bank of Ireland, and the register entry is PSD_EMI IE_CBI!C184986. That is the permission a prepaid account needs to hold customer balances, rather than the bank licence a lender would hold, so the register to search is the electronic money register. The crypto activity is authorised separately, again by the Central Bank of Ireland, as a MiCA crypto asset service provider: MiCA CASP 213800QBQVHWRBHJTA89. Because both entries sit with the same national regulator, searching either one leads a reader to the same authority, and both confirm that the account is run by a registered entity rather than an unregistered trading name. What a register entry tells you, and what it leaves open, is worth being clear about. It confirms the regulator, the permitted activity and the entity behind the brand. It does not on its own describe the account terms or how quickly funds come back in a problem, so readers putting a large balance on the account should read those terms rather than treat the registration as the whole answer.

Where it sits among rivals

Skrill sits towards the expensive end on both fees that decide what a multi-currency card costs in practice. On currency conversion it ranks 251 out of 258 compared brands, which places it near the back of the table. On the monthly fee it ranks 385 out of 422, a similar spot on a larger table. Read together, those ranks tell a consistent story. A provider near the end of both lists charges more to hold the account and more to change currency than most of the brands readers compare, and those are the lines that move for anyone who pays regularly. Features on the account do not change that arithmetic for a reader who spends mainly in the currency the balance is held in. The other view is that a higher monthly charge can be worth it when the extra features are used often. If crypto and currency work make up a large part of your spending, the cost ranking matters less than how much you actually convert. For a reader who opens the account for the card and pays in a single currency, the ranking is the more useful signal, and it is not encouraging.

How Skrill compares

Where Skrill is available

Licence in Ireland
Central Bank of Ireland, checked September 26, 2026
Licence in Ireland
Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) (MiCA CASP 213800QBQVHWRBHJTA89), checked September 26, 2026, also valid in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia
Licence in Ireland
IE_CBI (PSD_EMI IE_CBI!C184986), checked September 26, 2026, also valid in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia

Frequently asked questions

How much does Skrill cost each month?+

Skrill charges a monthly fee of €5 for the prepaid account, before any card spending or currency change. bunq charges €0, Wise charges £0 and the Varo Believe Secured Credit Card charges $0, so Skrill sits on the paid side of the everyday market. Providers on the site run a median retail loss rate of 70.15%, which makes the upkeep charge worth weighing.

What does Skrill charge to convert currency?+

The currency conversion fee is 3.99% on Skrill. Across the brands compared here, that places Skrill at 251 out of 258 on this measure, close to the back of the field. It is the fee that bites hardest if your balance covers several currencies and you pay in a currency you are not holding.

Is Skrill regulated?+

Yes. Skrill's payment account is registered with the Central Bank of Ireland under PSD_EMI IE_CBI!C184986, and its crypto activity is covered by a separate MiCA registration with the same regulator, MiCA CASP 213800QBQVHWRBHJTA89. Both entries sit in Ireland, so a reader checking the registers can confirm the provider from those reference numbers.

What kind of card does Skrill offer?+

The Skrill card is prepaid and runs on the mastercard network, so acceptance follows Mastercard. The account also offers a virtual card, which suits online payments where a physical card is not needed. The card sits inside a multi-currency account, so balances can be held and spent in the currency you top up.

Who holds the money in a Skrill account?+

Skrill holds it. The account is custodial, meaning the provider keeps control of the balance rather than the customer holding it. That is normal for a prepaid account, and it is why the Central Bank of Ireland registration matters: the money is held by a regulated company, not left in a personal account. Access still depends on the provider staying open for business.

Can I hold crypto on Skrill?+

Yes. Crypto is part of the account, alongside a virtual card and multi-currency balances, so money and digital assets sit under the same login. The crypto activity is registered separately with the Central Bank of Ireland as a MiCA crypto asset service provider, MiCA CASP 213800QBQVHWRBHJTA89. Because holding is custodial, the provider holds the crypto on your behalf.

Which company is behind the Skrill brand?+

The account is operated by Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited., the named legal entity behind the brand. It is based in Ireland, the same country as the Central Bank of Ireland entries that appear on the payment and crypto permissions. Reading the entity name on the terms tells you which company your money is actually contracted with.

Is Skrill a good fit for spending abroad?+

Only if you spend mainly in the currency your balance is held in. The monthly fee of €5 applies whatever you buy, and the conversion fee of 3.99% applies every time you pay in a different currency, which is the normal pattern for a trip. Wise, with a monthly fee of £0, is the cheaper choice for that kind of spending.

Sources

Compiled from 4 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.

Not confirmed yet: Free ATM withdrawals, Protection.

Skrill

Skrill

A prepaid card, crypto holdings and multi-currency balances kept in the same account.

8.8/10Visit