The Japanese Nintendo eShop and My Nintendo Store will stop accepting card payments and Paypal from foreign accounts next month.
Nintendo made the announcement today, and said the decision had been taken “in order to prevent fraudulent use”.
As of 25th March, overseas customers who wish to continue using the Japanese eShop or My Nintendo Store will need to use an alternative payment method.
“Thank you very much for your continued patronage of our products,” Nintendo wrote in a statement on its customer support website.
“For customers who have previously used overseas-issued credit cards or PayPal accounts opened overseas, we ask that you please use other payment methods, such as credit cards issued in Japan, from now on.”
The removal of foreign cards and Paypal payments makes for a significant barrier for anyone wishing to make purchases from the Japanese eShop – for instance to buy a game not released elsewhere.
Nintendo may be looking to cut down on the number of people with multiple accounts on their console, with the ability to then browse different country’s eShops and compare prices, ahead of the launch of Switch 2.
An easier option than obtaining a Japanese credit card remains the ability to purchase pre-paid Nintendo eShop vouchers – although these will need to also be for use in Japan.
Yesterday, it was reported that Nintendo had failed to stop a supermarket named Super Mario from officially registering its name.
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