Greetings everyone. There is a new kid on the payment processor/e-currency block, and its called AlterGold. By the look of their WHOIS DNS record AlterGold went operational in August, 2007 so they’re very fresh participants in the payment processor industry. Still, I think they deserve a change to prove themselves, and hopefully they will stick around long enough to prove of value to customers like me and you.
So without further ado, let get started with the AlterGold review.
About AlterGold:
AlterGold is a subsidiary of Digital Group Inc. a registered legal corporate entity in the Republic of Panama in Central America. I like the fact that they’re located in the very popular offshore jurisdiction of Panama. This can bring certain benefits but also some disadvantages as well. However, these are out of the scope of this review.
Everyone is welcome to confirm their corporate registration details using the following information in government records:
Government Document ID: 1277070
Data Card: 599519
How does AlterGold work?
AlterGold is essentially an e-currency backed 100% by US Dollars. So each unit of AlterGold is valued at $1. It pretty much works like e-bullion e-currency, Liberty Reserve USD, and other such USD backed e-currencies. AlterGold units can be exchanged for any other e-currency or be withdraw to an ATM card or bank account.
In spite of the “Gold” in its name, AlterGold is NOT backed by gold. Also AlterGold should not be misconstrued to be a bank – it does not provide banking services!
I should also mention that AlterGold all payment are FINAL. AlterGold is a 100% irrevocable payment system and digital currency.
Account Types:
AlterGold offers two account types – Personal and Business.
| Account Holding | Personal | Business |
| New Account | FREE | FREE |
| Minimum Spend Amount | $0.01 USD | $0.01 USD |
| Spend Funds | FREE | FREE |
| Receive Funds Fee | 1% | 1.5% |
| Maintenance Fee * | FREE | $2.95 Per month. Charged if balance is $100.00 or more. |
| Shopping Cart Interface (SCI) | Yes | Yes |
| Automated Spends | DISABLED | Yes |
| Limited User Passwords | DISABLED | Yes |
| Currencies Supported | 22 | 22 |
| Maximum Balance | $1,000 | Unlimited |
How can I add funds ?
You may add funds into your AlterGold account using E-gold, LibertyReserve, Virtual Money Card (VMI), SpeedyWallet, Western Union and MoneyGram.
How can I withdraw funds ?
Funds can be withdraw from your AlterGold account to LibertyReserve, E-gold , VMI Card, SpeedyWallet ATM Card, Western Union , Money Gram and bank account.
AlterGold Debit Card
You can also buy a debit card that is supposedly accepted at over 900,000 ATM machines around the World. This card can be paid for and funded anytime with your AlterGold balance. You can withdraw up to $3,000.00 daily with your Debit card.
Worries and Concerns (don’t skip this)
On the surface AlterGold looks okay, but there was one thing that worries me, and I think you should take notice. It seems that AlterGold uses a free DNS hosting service:
ns1.dns-diy.net
ns2.dns-diy.net
Diy.net is a free dns hosting provider
You would think they could at the very least afford to host the domain on their own server(s) or with their own hosting company.
I also recommend you checkout their WHOIS record over here:
http://whois.domaintools.com/altergold.com
I just hope that AlterGold is not a fly by night operations. I guess only time will tell.
I’ve read nearly all the forums and reviews of AlterGold, but I honestly can’t make up my mind as to whether AlterGold is for real or is just another cleverly done scam.
UPDATE: See the links at the bottom of this post. Having read those two postings I now feel strongly that AlterGold is yet another elaborate scam.
Can some of you folks bring some input on this? Join me in a discussion on my forum:
http://www.moneyguruforum.com/other-e-currencies/13362-altergold.html
That about does it for this review. When I have more info or experience with this new payment processor I will make sure to post it either here or on the above forum thread.
UPDATE: See these e-commerce journal articles about AlterGold before you decide to join.