Atlanta, GA-based iKobo, a company that provides a worldwide online money transfer service, is discontuining its operations, effective immediately.
Update (20 Nov): looks like went for a fire sale instead of fading out. M2 Global, an online transaction processing technology company, has acquired all of iKobo’s assets and says it’s working hard to restore iKobo customers’ ability to transfer money.
In an e-mail to its users, the company writes:
We regret to inform you that iKobo is discontinuing services. Effective immediately, no further money transfers to your iKobo account will be allowed. Your card issued by Palm Desert National Bank will continue to be active until November 13, 2008. Your card will no longer work after this date. However, the card funds are safe and guaranteed, even after the card is de-activated.
Please use your card at an ATM or to make purchases between now and November 13 to spend down the balance of funds on your card. Any remaining balance as of November 13, 2008 will be refunded to the sender, the US resident, as stated in the bank cardholder agreement (https://www.ikobo.com, link at bottom of page to “US Program Terms and Conditions”) .
We will assist you in any way possible. If you have any further questions regarding the above notice please contact us at info@ikobo.com.
It has been a pleasure serving you and we appreciate your business. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.
Sincerely,
iKobo
iKobo was founded in 2001 and used an open network of VISA merchants and ATMs numbering more than 25 million which was supposedly more convenient and safe to send and receive money than a closed network of independent agents. iKobo enabled consumers to use credit cards, debit cards, or bank accounts online to send a re-loadable Visa Prepaid Card to recipients.
iKobo is a privately held corporation backed by venture capital firms, according to their website, but we’ve been unable to pin down which investors funded the company.
Update: doh. It’s right there on their website: the money came from Total Technology Ventures, Council Ventures and Greenhill SAVP. Its most recent round was a Series C to the amount of $4 million in October 2006, and commenter Seth says the total amount of funding was $13 million.
(Hat tip to Branden)
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used their site once, wasn’t impressed and they spammed the crap out of me after i did one transaction with them.. not even sure why i used the service, no need for it
I’ve been an iKobo member for over two years and never received any spam from them. I get the impression you’ve never actually used iKobo, because it’s not a service you use for “one transaction”.
I agree, no probs with them, pity they gone bust!
I have never even heard of these guys. Am I just super late?
Unless you send money over distances, there’s no reason you’d have ever heard of them. I don’t think I ever saw an ad for them anywhere. I found them only through a recommendation by another user. Perhaps one of the reasons they didn’t survive.
Institutional investors in iKobo included Greenhill SAVP, Council Ventures and Total Technology Ventures (TTV), who invested more than $13 million since 7/2004.
I do not understand why services like this just shut down. I would have bought some of their assets, I am sure they had some customers that run more efficiently would have been profitable.
We are also intrested in their potential customer base for using our mobile payment and money transfer technology. mWorldPay offers easy universal money transfer or payment from any cell phone. If anyone has a contact at IKOBO please contact us customerservice@TreasureCom.com or visit our website at http://www.TreasureCom.com or http://www.mWordPay.com
Actually what I see is a bull shit excuse for a website or what is suppose to be a website and service. If you are going offer such premium service the least you can do is not use a cheap web developer.
Tried to send money with them once and the experience was terrible as was the customer service. Good in theory, bad execution…
There is a massive market for this type of service as well as escrow. Ebay would do very well to start an escrow service for their auction listings - Think of the cash float!
I used this service for the past 4 months to send money abroad and it was great in my opinion. Their customer service was unusually poor as stated by many, but after getting the account setup I was happy enough. Sad to see them leave as now I need a new solution.
Check Xoom.com.
Don’t.
Transcard International Limited provides this kind of service. We’ve been in business since 1995 and specialize in moving money to hard to reach jurisdictions such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Let me know how we can be of service to you.
Always sad to see a fellow Internet business go down, even though I never knew them.
I’m so bummed out - I had them send my parents a card to south africa just two weeks ago, now we’re trying to find out how to activate it to get the money out and no one will answer the phones or my email!!! The atms suggestion they made above just doesn’t work…I guess I will see as of Nov 13 if they will really send the money back to me!
I am sailing in same boat as Angela Grant mentioned above. I am also waiting for Nov 13 as my parents haven’t even received the card yet so even if they receive it they will also end up in same situation.
Angela: I will appreciate if you can info back if you receive the amount or not after Nov 13th 08.
I don’t recall the activation process for the card since I started membership so long ago, but the instructions should have been included in the package with the card or one of the initial emails they sent you. For some reason, I am thinking that the activation was by placing the card in a Visa ATM and accessing it with the PIN that should have been emailed to you and mailed to the recipient.
As licensed money transmitters iKobo should have a bond with the state of Georgia that protect all funds associated with a money transfer. If the funds had already been transferred to the card, Palm Desert Bank is the issuer so funds should be protected by them as well. Either way, take a proactive approach and do not wait too long for a refund to arrive… call the bank or the banking department of the state of Georgia.
I know how you feel. this company worked great. i also have been sending money to my parents in SA, for the past couple of years. Now this sucks, especially since the holiday seasons coming up. Anyone has any idea, what other system i could use…pleease
Ikobo is relaunching today. The new improved Ikobo cards will be issued by the Global Bank of Commerce in Antigua.
I used to send money overseas almost a hundred times. It was a wonderful service — much cheaper and more convenient than Western Union.
I too used them successfully for several years to send money weekly to Russia. They were much cheaper than wire transfers from a bank. With few exceptions, the money was available almost immediately. The only thing faster and cheaper is for the recipient to have a debit card on your account.
Ikobo is relaunching today. The new improved Ikobo International Visa card will be issued by the Global Bank of Commerce in Antigue. Please tell them that I referred you back to them.
David Myers
President
Transcard International Limited
832.274.5889
“The Cheapest Way to Send Money to Cuba”
Sad ending.
http://vidsonly.blogspot.com
This is why I was skeptic to even use them to begin with.
Yep. that was a nice service
I’ve found moneybookers, but not sure that’ll be that fast to get money
If someone finds something better, please post it my way
Thanks
Vladimir. Websites development
The co-founders (Emeka and Stewart) were removed at some point, no surprise that it has failed after that. Had they not been sacked out of their own company (do you hear me, ‘investors’) it wouldn’t fail FOR SURE.
Rethorical question: has greed been ever rewarded? hehe
The right answer: Nope.
Anyone badmouthing iKobo has got to be on drugs or something. iKobo was the very best remittance service. It was effortless to use, dirt cheap, fast… zero problems unless the site was down for maintenance. The customer service agents were almost over-zealous in how good they were, ie - called to have my limit increased and they gave me twice what I asked for. Called back and had them lower it because I didn’t trust myself lol. Additionally, any time I called with an issue, minor though it may be, they kicked me down with a free transaction. Maybe that’s where the failure occured… too much freebies.
I am literally devistated iKobo is going down. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
They are back!
Agree with Chuck, above. I have been using Ikobo for over a year and apart from the maintenance downtime was indeed a fast cheap and reliable service. Needed to send some money to Canada today and had to use Western Union whose fees are more than twice Ikobo’s plus the fact that money is paid to recipient by check and not cash like Ikobo. RIP Ikobo, you were good while you lasted.
i receive this just in my email inbox:
As of November 7, 2008, Global Bank of Commerce, the issuer of your iKobo Visa Prepaid card, will assume all management of your card services and will be your sole contact of information regarding your iKobo accounts. The company, iKobo, Inc, will no longer be part of your experience.
During the last few days, you may have experienced a temporary interruption in your ability to send money. There is no interruption, however, in your ability to access any funds held on the card. The iKobo card that you currently hold will be supported by Global Bank of Commerce and you may continue to access the funds held on the card via ATM or Point-of-Sale merchant that accepts Visa debit cards. However, some changes will come into effect regarding the ways to contact customer service, and the card loading options.
Global Bank of Commerce will be notifying you on how these changes will improve the Ikobo service to better serve your money transfer needs going forward. The bank expects that your ability to send money will be restored within the next two weeks.
Thank you for trusting iKobo and Global Bank of Commerce for all of your money transfer needs.
I received the same. I see this at wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Commerce_Bank
not sure how I feel about a Chinese bank holding my SSN, an ikobo account requirement
lol…the Chinese REALLY are the US’s bankers!
Global bank of Commerce is a Antigua based bank (not Chinese)
http://www.globalbank.ag
Wrong bank. Global Bank of Commerce is owned by M2 Global and is based in Antigua.
I was under the impression that the cards had been switched to Palm Dessert Bank (a California bank).
Too many actors in the money transfer business and an economical recession : not good for new comers.
good! this was a CRAP service
Put me down for No Complaints about Ikobo. I used them for 4 different recipients in 3 different countries, for almost 3 years. Thousands of dollars transferred, instantly; never a mischarge, never a hassle delivering the original or replacement debit cards, and professional customer service that did what I needed of them quickly after verifying my identity. I’m glad to see that there appears to be a continuation of this service. I will have to read up some more on the Global Bank of Commerce, ensure that the rates don’t change drastically, and see if funding the cards is still as easy and quick as it used to be.
If you have any questions regarding the new Ikobo, feel free to contact me directly.
David Myers
President
Transcard International Limited
832.274.5889
“The Cheapest Way to Send Money to Cuba”
Very bad service seemed very shady at times .What I would send would be less the amount on friends atm card! Good they went out of business I stopped using them months ago because I had no trust in the service.
This service worked beautifully for transfers to family in Venezuela. I would send a text on the cell that the money had been transferred, and they would be able to retrieve it right away. We only had one problem in activating the card, because we did not read the instructions. The prices were great and you would get frequent offers to lower the fee. I used them for 2 years.
As of today, Ikobo should be up and running!
David Myers
President
Transcard International Limited
832.274.5889
“The Cheapest Way to Send Money to Cuba”
I’ve been using Ikobo to send money to Brazil every month for the past 5 years or so. Apart from when they let the recipient take out too much money and then clawed it back on the next transaction, it’s been almost faultless. Hopefully the service will carry on where it left off under the control of Global Bank of Commerce.
I’m just trying Xoom.com (cash pickup or direct-to-bank payments) but if that fails there’s always Paypal’s “withdraw to a Visa card” option, just as long as you don’t need to use it more than 5 times a year and you accept that they’ll probably freeze you account just for the fun of it.
ff
We have used the service for years and have transferred thousands of dollars and have no complaints whatsoever. Fast and easy. Great customer service. I am actually sad to see them go because now we have to find a new way to do it.
It was a great service without an iota of doubt. Did a recce of the internet to search for a suitable substitute, no one even comes near as far as the convenience, pricing and the concept is concerned. A tearful adieus indeed to Ikobo :).
N.B. If it continues as stated in the latest email under the auspices of Global Bank of Commerce, it would be a welcome move indeed.
We offered this service as an affiliate on our web page and also never had any problems, and the referrals we sent as well were always happy ( at least they never complained to us ) We would be happy to add a similar one to our site for referrals is anyone knows of one.
sorry I left the other web page we operate
Wow this is some news! Honestly I think this was for the best. times are changing and I decided to move onto another company that offers much more. Load fees aren’t close to 4 bucks either. They call it the X-Card and I just got my registration and just in time for the holidays. My kids and my wife know we can save lots from this card. its called the Global Xpress Group, Inc (X-Card) umm they have a site you can google it im not going to post the site on here.
Brian, this does not look like such a good deal. It appears that the card send home is an international card which means huge fees for each ATM usage, probably has POS usage charges and an unbelievably bad foreign exchange rate. The site seems to give the impression that the service is free but these guys are not doing this for free - it is only a matter of time until people actually realise how much this “free” transfer is actually costing. Ikobo used to do something similar and people stopped using it when they looked more closely. I prefer to use companies where you know how much the transfer really costs and you know what the FX is and how much my family actually pays to get the cash.
Free transfers!!! Look again more closely this time
I saw someone post a link somewhere here it is
http://www.globalxpresscard.com
apparently free money transfers and building credit.
Ikobo was the best service ever to send money over a long distance and especially overseas. The customer service was very helpful and reliable. I dont discount some hiccups with some customer help but that must have been a bad day. I just hope that they can revive their service quickly coz I am suffering. All in all, I would appreciate if someone recommend to me another comparable service company but not Western Union and Paypal.
Has anyone having trouble getting there refund back from IKOBO?
I used Xoom.com last week for the first time with no problems. It took about 5 days altogether but I paid it into a bank account and the cash pickup option would have been quicker.
By the look of things, it won’t be much longer before the Ikobo service is running again with the new owners…
”
Dear iKobo Customer,
Your trust in us to safely and securely transfer money is our number one priority, and we are excited to announce that iKobo is now part of M2 Global, Ltd., the leader in secure online financial transactions and the world’s most advanced fraud prevention system available. During this transition, we are quickly working to restore your ability to send and receive money and improve the services we provide to you.
Managing Your Account While We Transition to M2 Global, Ltd.
All iKobo cards are now being issued by our trusted financial services partner, Global Bank of Commerce. Please check the name of the bank listed on the back of your card. If the name of the bank listed on your card is Global Bank of Commerce, your Visa® Prepaid Card is active and ready to use. We will very soon restore your ability to add new funds to your account and reload your cards.
For notification on when you can add new funds, email, call or chat with us at:
Ikoboservice@first-pay.com
1-866-800-9825
1-866-800-9826 Fax
Need Assistance? Click “Chat Now” to chat with a Live Operator.
Chat Now No Thanks!
If the name of the bank on the back of your iKobo card is Palm Desert National Bank or MetaBank, your card is no longer active. Soon, you can apply for a new account and we will issue you a new iKobo Visa® Prepaid Card through Global Bank of Commerce. We will be providing to you instructions on how to apply for your new cards.
To receive frequent updates, notification of restored service, and information on how to apply for your new cards, please call us at 1-866-800-9825, fax at 1-866-800-9826 or email us at Ikoboservice@first-pay.com.
For information about your Palm Desert National Bank or MetaBank account, please contact the bank directly at svcard@pdnb.com or 760-674-1498.
We look forward to serving all of your money transfer needs.
iKobo and M2 Global, Ltd.”
It will be interesting to see what M2 does with their technology. This is an exploding market and not the easiest to break into.
http://www.Viamericas.com is one of the largest overseas remittance services that you’ve never heard of. Give it a shot if you’re interested in a service to send money to South America.
I was so excited to find out that IKobo is getting back!
Support restores accounts!
btw does anybody has experience with Epassporte? How is it comparing with IKobo?
Thanks
Vlad Websites development
ePassport has some problems because it is associated with gambling activities and many banks refuse load requests from them. I had to call my bank each time I did a load to ePassport and tell them I was not funding gambling. I never had this issue with Ikobo.
Try http://www.omnexgroup.com. They have recently been acquired and have been massively revamped. I have used them several times and had great luck.
hello my name is saikou.t.jabang i am a boy i was a student b4 but they send me to school,because i dont have money to pay,and my father are poor,and this is my number 002209987407,or we can chat in msn saikou_jabang2006@hotmail.com
My question to to M2 Global LTD is what are you going to do for the US GI in Japan who lost $720 to Ikobo?
i want to know about ikobo
All users must now insist that all money transfer companies join the consumer safe zone. Memebership is free. This zone protects consumers by enabling them to post their reviews based on their customer experiences. The posting is displayed on the company’s website ans serves as a reference either positive por negative. See http://www.consumersafezone.com
IKOBO sucks! I am telling you right now, don’t ever ever waste your money by using this money transfer service. Lets hope IKOBO be gone forever!
iKobo does indeed suck. Depending on who you talk to on any given question, you will get a different answer. And, although they claim fast and customer-oriented service, it is anything but… Transfers often take days longer than they should. Account histories are incomplete. Online support is often not available. Emails go unanswered. I’m trying to get the last transfer I made completed and then will never use their service again. iKobo deserves to be gone.
This is a scam…….
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008.....-it-quits/
http://www.code4gold.com/blog/.....aud-alert/