Regarding the removal of the SEPA (ELV) payment method

Dear Square-Enix,

as of April 23, 2024 it is no longer possible for players in the EU in general and Germany in particular to use SEPA (ELV) as a payment method in the Square-Enix Store, Final Fantasy XIV Store, and Mogstation.

SEPA / ELV is the one dominating payment method in Germany. It is widely accepted in Germany and in the EU, and is used for everything that doesn't involve cash, from paying in local stores and bakeries to online payments, either directly or through a host of intermediate payment services like PayPal.

Please understand that by removing SEPA / ELV from the available payment methods, you do not simply create a slight inconvenience for German players; you make it outright impossible for a good amount of us to pay you and keep our subscriptions running.

To back this up, I will run you through the remaining available payment methods and why they are unacceptable from a purely German point of view.

With your changes, you let us know the following.

| [...] for now you will need to choose from the available payment methods:
|
| Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and Paysafecard
|
| Unfortunately, we will not be able to accept JCB, Carte Bleue, SEPA (ELV). [...]

The problem with credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover)

Due to the dominance of SEPA / ELV in Germany it is very rare for a private person in Germany to own a credit card. Owning a credit card costs fees, and if you don't need it in your daily life or for a very important reason you do not want to pay extra for it. As you might be able to imagine, paying a game subscription is not a sufficiently important reason to own a credit card and pay the extra fees along with it. Next to nobody will pick up a credit card only because you, Square-Enix, do not accept the most available online payment method in the entire EU.

The problem with PayPal

As of today, PayPal is not available as a direct means of payment. You have to buy the store-exclusive currency Crysta through PayPal first, and only after that you can use Crysta as a payment method. The problem with this is that it is very inconvenient. You can easily run into situations where payments for recurring subscriptions cannot be carried out if you forget to recharge sufficient Crysta before the renewal happens. Since you, Square-Enix, have a track record of banning player accounts over such payment issues, I don't believe I would want to risk that happening. In addition to that the use of store-exclusive currency is generally frowned upon since it is considered an at least partially predatory practice in the EU and thus has low appeal and acceptance with customers.

The problem with Amazon Pay

In order to use Amazon Pay, you, Square-Enix, make the restriction to require an Amazon account from amazon.co.uk. amazon.de or other european Amazon stores are not an option. While it is generally possible to open an account on amazon.co.uk from anywhere in the world, the first problem is that this requires you to make at least some false statements during the account creation process. Amazon technically requires you to be a citizen of the UK to register an account, and since the UK is not part of the EU you have to fake that. The second problem is that you are relaying the payment method issue to Amazon, since even if you have an account you have to find a way to get amazon.co.uk to accept payment methods from inside the EU. The third problem is that your fake account runs the constant chance of being found out and terminated by Amazon. The point here is not that it is impossible, technically you can do that. But as a customer you shouldn't have to jump through all those hoops to pay for a game, and I personally believe that you, Square-Enix, shouldn't force this onto your players and customers.

The problem with Paysafecard

This one is short, having a Paysafecard account costs a monthly fee from the second month on. This is essentially a digital credit card, so the reason why this is not acceptable is the same as for credit cards.

So. All in all, what is a German player to do? How do I get my money to you, Square-Enix, if all you give me is bad options that I don't really want to deal with?

I sincerely hope that you understand the predicament you have created with this one-sided, unthoughtful, and short-sighted course of action.

Regards

Honestly, this payment update is a ticking time bomb. If I understood well, some people won't see they're affected until they actually take a break, since it seem the old system is still applied to continued players. but for the next 3 weeks some part of player base from the supposedly accepted zones will realise their payment method doesn't work anymore, and hell's gonna break loose (I expect a big commotion when people using visa debt - a lot of cards in EU) will stop working . Asking people to use a third party system is not acceptable from such a company (Especially with the issues noted by Egnasia : the irony in forcing people to lie about where they're from so SE can do an identity verification is just to good a joke to not be noted).

I've used a prepaid mastercard for the past 4 years with no problem, and I'm really glad I waited to buy DT, because I really fear my upcoming payment. Because being cut off from a game you already paid just before its release is not gonna go well. Honestly FFXIV didn't need another fiasco before DT, but I can see this becoming one. I was not ok with the Benchmark state, but honestly, this is a far bigger problem than that, and there is zero official communication about it. Dealing with "smaller" problems and getting praised for that while ignoring the elephant in the room seems to be the way they go (I know, it's different teams, and both can be done at the same time, but this deserve official communication more than benchmark 2.0).

[edit]
It seems they acknoledge the Visa Debit problem in a lodestone message this night. That one should at least be fixed.

This new system is simply such a joke and trash lol I feel bad for my friends who can't play anymore cause of said reason since it's complete garbo

German here, ive used SEPA ever since I first created my account and now have the issue that the payment failed cause I simply didnt see the announcement. I'm currently busy with RL stuff and enjoy my break from the game until DT release. I fully agree with the OP here and it's honestly not acceptible to cut out payment options without giving atleast some options that the broader playerbase can use. I have also been playing WoW for years and pay my sub via PayPal. Why cant i go straight through Paypal on the Mogstation instead of having to buy Crysta first? You already give us the option to use Paypal! I currently have 2 additional Retainers added to my subscription, meaning my total amount to pay for my sub is roundabout 16€. Crysta however can only be added in 5€ Steps as the smallest.

WHY DO I HAVE TO CHARGE 20€ TO MY ACCOUNT TO PAY A 16€ BILL? This is not just annoying, this is, like OP said, predatory practice as I have to overcharge for the same service ive used for nearly 10 years now, for the same price I've been paying for years. One could argue that it will even itself out at some point in the very far future, however that is not the point. The point is I have to spent more money on the sub PER MONTH than needed which i honestly dont want to do. And it is spent money in the sense that i am buying a currency with it, i cant just use XYZ amount of Crysta and turn the rest back into €!

What other options do I ( personally ) have available? I dont own a credit card for the reasons mentioned by OP , which currently is the only other option together with Paysafe I am able to add on the Mogstation for whatever reason ( If I didnt see the option to add sth else please send me that way but besides Paysafe and Crysta i dont see any other options ). I could go back to buying Prepaid Gametime cards, however ( again if I'm mistaken please correct me ) those only pay for my sub and if I want to keep my additional retainers i would have to go through Crysta/Paysafe or Credit Card again which i can't/don't want to for said reasons

TLDR: Making people overcharge on their sub is a very shitty practice, please give us other options FAST

You can add between 500 Crysta (minimum) and 10,000 (maximum), if you look at the page where you select 500, 1000, 1500 and so forth, below is a box for a custom amount.

Simply enter in 1600 or whatever you need, even 1589 works, etc.

*Might be slightly differently displayed for your region, I used the USA format (500 Crysta = 5 US Dollars).

In France, we use Carte Bleue (an equivalent to SEPA), 2/3 of our country uses it on a daily basis. And even if you got a Visa or MasterCard, your card is both Carte Bleue and Visa/MasterCard. And because it wouldn't be "fun" otherwise, your card isn't recognized by their new payment processor.

My credit card is getting renewed this month, so these are probably my last moments with the game. And I pre-purchased DT before their announcement, I already made a ticket to their support to ask about a potential refund in case Square Enix never intends to make it work again.

In general, I never participate in any kind of online exchange outside of a game. But this is a crisis, that I can't ignore.

I sincerely hope that they revert or fix all this mess.

Just received an answer. In short, your payment method is ont supported anymore. Use another one (only PayPal will work in France...) and/or go "share your thoughts on our forums"...

Well, I guess we are getting it Deep into our Dungeon...
I've lost all hope and faith in them, it was a short but pleasant journey...

They have actually done this before, they used to use Click and Buy, which was a huge mess in 2010.

And then they changed again, and after doing so, some forms of payment were removed just as they are now, but later got re-added.

That maybe the case here, in time more options will be added.

I'm glad that I swapped to the Steam version (I use the Wallet feature and it can be topped up with a ton of different payment options) as it completely ignores the Square Enix payment processor altogether.

Greetings Egnasya,

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this recent payment update. Unfortunately, the issue you are describing is something we are not able to assist with in the Technical Support Forums. Seeing as this is feedback regarding this recent change, this thread will be moved to the "Website/Companion App Feedback & Suggestions" thread.

I can't suscribe anymore. My card is not supported anymore, i used VISA (Carte bleu) as i'm in France, whatever card i'll got will be Carte Bleu, so i can't suscribe anymore.
I never ever saw something like this in ANY game i played, and i played a lot. Square Enix don't like moneys it seems, i'm a player since ARR, i did'nt pre ordre DT yet, but i can't anymore, this idea is wrong at every level, omg i'm so pissed right now.
Is that even legal ?

Honestly this needs a lot more visibility cause not everyone is going to read some random lodestone message...
Best to either have a pop up message warning ingame where you have to checkbox confirm, another important e-mail, a live letter announcement.

This is going to kick out a lot of German and French players out of the game ngl, myself probably included

Lots of new player will see this and just quit the game too, even for buying stuff in online store we have to buy it with crystas (crysta have 2 years lifetime btw).
I agree that this need to gain visibility, let's ping some streamers !

I just tried a few minutes ago, my new card is blocked (yaaay...).

I'll see you guys in 2 years, when the next expansion will be around the corner.
I'll (exceptionally) buy some crysta for a month and leave the game for good if this shit show hasn't been dealt with.

Farewell (this will probably be my last message, unless they changed their mind).