Nintendo is blocking foreign cards and PayPal purchases on the Japanese Switch eShop
Nintendo has announced that players will no longer be able to purchase products on the Japanese Switch eShop using non-Japanese cards and PayPal accounts to “prevent fraudulent use.”
The details:
According to the company's support site, non-Japanese players will be unable to purchase games and other content on the eShop using foreign credit cards or PayPal accounts beginning March 25. "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," Nintendo wrote.
The company claims that the decision to block overseas payments is intended to prevent "fraudulent use." While it is unconfirmed what it means by this, it is most likely referring to non-Japanese players creating Japanese accounts in order to access games that are not yet available in their region or because some titles are less expensive in yen compared to their local currency.
However, the block does not completely prevent players from purchasing games from the Japanese eShop. As Nintendo stated, "other payment methods" such as purchasing prepaid cards will continue to work, as long as the card can be used in the region's store. These can be purchased from online retailers, but often at a higher cost than their actual value.
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