SANTA MONICA—A month and change after its Visa privileges were suspended, ePassporte has reportedly posted a message to its website announcing that the company is closed, effective immediately. Account holders say the message appears immediately after they log in to their account.
The news comes mere days after an announcement by its banking partner in the West Indies, St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank (SKNANB), that "the vast majority of cardholders will be able to access the funds in their ePassporte Visa account using their existing card, without providing SKNANB further information, on Oct. 6."
The message to account holders was, in full:
IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING YOUR EPASSPORTE ACCOUNT
Dear ePassporte Account Holders,
It is with great regret we inform you that ePassporte must close its doors due to a lack of revenue and circumstances beyond our control.
Effective immediately, the call center, ePassporte's sales and marketing team and risk management staff will no longer be available. A small group will remain to organize wallet requests and help disburse funds. On the ePassporte website, in the near future, wallet holders will be provided further information on what is needed to obtain your funds. This will mainly be a process to protect wallet holder funds from fraud. We expect this will be a simplified process, and as we receive the necessary information, our small remaining staff will process requests as quickly as they can. Please direct your wallet questions, concerns and requests to [email protected].
For those of you with funds on your Visa Accounts, we are informed that St. Kitts Bank is working on a plan to provide everyone with full access to their funds through their Visa Electron Cards or by bank wire transfers and will inform you accordingly.
We appreciate your support for the ePassporte program over the past 7 years and deeply regret we must close our doors at this difficult time.
Sincerely,
ePassporte.com
