Unable to use Visa debit (north American)

[Emitans]

I got excited when they released that update about online payments... only for it to be them adding taxes. I still can't pay with my card and have to buy Crysta with paypal instead.

[LianaThorne]

Can someone provide the facts of what's going on? I'm someone who wasn't affected so I don't know what criteria specifically enables someone to have issues with payments.

[Enkidoh]

Well, there are several aspects of the situation with multiple factors at play. The long and short of it is though that Square Enix changed the third-party company that is responsible for processing debit and credit card subscription and billing for not just the game, but Mogstation services like Retainers, purchases on the Online Store, and even the Square Enix Store which sells the game itself. The reason for this is, apparently, to help reduce the spiralling incidents of account and card fraud, but unfortunately it's caused major issues. Connected to this is SE has also brought in a requirement for all players to verify their billing address before payment can even be processed (apparently this is due to a change in law in several US states requiring sales tax to be paid on online service subscriptions for residents of that state, hence SE is legally required to check this).

Unfortunately, this has proven to be a massive problem, as multiple issues have occurred that all interplay with each other. The ones I'm aware of are below:

Address verification not working/correct address not being recognized

As mentioned, part of the change to the new payment processor is all players (or more accurately, everyone who has a Square Enix Account, whether you play FFXIV or FFXI) have to verify their address for billing purposes before payment can be processed to satisfy legal requirements in the US - specifically, tax - even if that player is not a US citizen (to determine who is legally required to pay this tax, namely, a player who a resident of that US state for tax purposes). Unfortunately it appears the online form for doing so is programmed very rigidly and only accepts addresses written in a certain way and is throwing up errors or stating the address is invalid if it's not written a certain way, presumedly because it's checking an online database to actually verify it. Apparently a way around this is to use an online address matching service like those used by postal services in each country, but I haven't checked this. And unfortunately this has to be verified before any kind of payment can be processed by the SE Account Management System, hence the dillema. This also leads into another issue:

Address invalid due to player moving country/international region from where they originally created their account from

This is something that SE has never supported - creating the account/using one region's version of the game but then moving to another country/region, (such as NA to EU), but generally did not enforce it until now, and unfortunately players are getting caught out by this if they happen to move to another country, try entering their curent address, and the system is registering it as invalid because it doesn't match where the account was created. I've heard using a fake (but real) address can help bypass this, but this would be a violation of the ToS so I don't reccomend it.

'That Card is Unavailable' error/debit cards not working or not being accepted as valid

This is the big issue that is causing the most issue - cards that formerly worked fine for payment under the old system, are being registered as 'Unavailable' when a player tries to make a purchase. As noted offically by SE, Visa debit cards specifically are being classed as invalid when they should be working due to a bug apparently, but other cards (such as Mastercard debit cards) have also been affected. My suspiscion is it is simply an oversight by the new payment vendor (who apparently only thought Visa and Mastercard meant credit cards), but I have no proof for that. Apparently Visa and Mastercard credit cards still work however. And unfortunately, although SE stated they're working to address this, no further information has been released about a possible timeframe for when it will be fixed, so it's still under a cloud at the moment. And this issue just doesn't affect subscriptions and the Online Store, ancedotal evidence suggests that this even affects the purchase of Dawntrail itself - players who have preordered it have suddennly found their preorders cancelled with a 'payment invalid' error. I haven't seen any conclusive proof for that though.

European-specific payment methods/cards no longer being accepted

This is actually seperate from the Visa debit issue above - where many European players have suddennly found their payment methods no longer valid or working. These are specific special debit cards only available in Europe which formerly were supported by the SE Account Management System, as a payment method, but the new payment processor does not support them. SE actually announced this earlier in the year and just before the changeover however, but this mostly went under the radar of players until it was too late sadly. Unfortunately this was working as intended and sadly nothing can be done about it, although SE did state that there is a possibility of new payment methods being offered in the future, but nothing is known for sure.

I have also heard about some players even being unable to get alternative payment methods such as Amazon Pay or time cards to work, but I suspect the cause of that is the address verification thing rearing it's ugly head.

That's pretty much the long and short of it.

[Minali]

snip

That is a very thorough summary, thanks for this! Regarding address check I'd like to add there are many countries who are not registered as existing in Square Enix' account management system, especially many countries in South East Asia and South America, and possibly Africa. Players from half the world never had the option to enter their actual address to begin with and had to google a valid one in whatever region they plan to play, same as the people moving regions. Of course their own payment service isn't registered to some Starbucks in New York as well, so they get an error. Technically they are breaking the rules and the error is valid, but due to SE's system being stuck in the last century, excluding half the globe from following the rules in the first place is on them. And regarding Amazon Pay, Crysta or Paysafecard as workaround, many of them aren't supported in these regions either, so they are not an option.

However, as a player from EU, I'd like to add some details to this:

European-specific payment methods/cards no longer being accepted

This didn't went "under the radar", our Visa Card system is just different and apparently SE can't handle that. Many EU countries all used to have their own regional systems and many of them were simply expanded by Visa Debit Card functions because eventually banks had to admit international online trading exists and maybe they should offer an option to do so. (The SEPA system is also used for bank transfers of that sort, but it's not supported by SE anymore, so.. well.) So in some countries you get a normal Visa Debit Card, but especially in France the no longer supported "Carte Bleue" is their Visa Debit Card from what I understood, or it should serve as such just like a normal one. So saying Carte Bleue doesn't work anymore but Visa Debit does makes it basically Schroedingers card and so far the payment service from SE says "nope" to dealing with that oxymoron. And asking French players to get a normal Visa Debit when they already have a de facto Visa Debit is ridiculous.

Meanwhile in my country in Germany having a pure Debit or Credit card is a very rare thing to begin with. Our local semi-debit card (Girokarte/Maestro Card) works just fine for our daily things, allows us to get cash at more places without paying an extra fee (depending on the bank) and online we can use SEPA most of the time, and sometimes Paypal (that also supports SEPA if one chooses to do so, so it's basically still this just with a middleman). There is also a risk of fraud that seems higher with credit card data (although I don't know statistics), so people tend to be wary. There is a law ordering banks to replace our regional cards with Visa Debit, but according to my bank there is no enddate for this transition yet and because Visa Debit has more limited functions at the moment, they only offer this as an optional thing for which you have to pay a fee. (15 Euro per year in my case. Not a super big deal, so I ordered it specifically for FFXIV, but it's essentially a piece of plastic I will barely use for anything until Girocards expire for good because there is simply no need, and I doubt many other people would do this. No clue if it will work or not though, haven't touched my automatically renewing sub so far, not until many players report the issue with visa debit payment is solved.)

Regarding credit cards specifically: Getting a credit card is also not super easy here depending on the bank and the personal circumstances and local offers. They are connected to certain requirements. The ones from my bank includes being 18 (FFXIV is for 12+ years) and having a stable income (usually takes a few years into adulthood to get there and e.g. working freelance might not suffice if you have a certain fluctuation. Same as being inbetween jobs in general.) Not everyone fulfills these requirements, so no credit card for many people. I'm sure in the US or other countries where credit cards are the main payment method this is a lot easier, so it might not be on their radar other countries might have different habits and standards.

We can still use Paysafecard or Crysta, no clue about Amazon Pay, but of course this means not purchasing the amount of money you need but something vaguely in that area, so you end up overpaying. I actually used Paysafecard for a long time, always got some at my local kiosk, and at a point learned they also expire, in the sense that Paysafecard starts taking some of your money booked on that money ticket until nothing is left. It also doesn't allow a renewing subscription. (Not sure if the online part of their service does, but when I tried registering there they asked for extremely private data, partially illegal to enter, so I noped out.)

Tl;dr: It's unnecessarily complicated yet again and some alternatives are not even accessible to everyone. We didn't collectively ignore the changes, we just didn't expect SE to be so stupid and denying us payment options that should work and are very much standard here. I even sent them a support message after the very first announcement, explaining them the importance of SEPA, and they just said they're forwarding the info but can't promise anything or so. Thanks for nothing.

[DES_VII]

They are a BUISNESS PEROID. What does a BUISNESS want? MONEY. Apparently on Sqaure Enix's todo list is not getting money. Let alone they are having mass lay offs now...
Well make it easier for us to give you money, WITH OUT QUESTION. This SHOULDN'T be a issue. We ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS trying to give you MONEY/CASH because we love the game but make it impossible you'll lose more in your company. Or alot of NA/EU. If you want to divide your customer base then that shows your business structure/practice. KEEP in mind RIGHT BEFORE a EXPANSION. REALLY??!! Right now? Put all efforts in fixing the issues. Giving you money should never be one regardless JP/NA/EU/SEA.

[Arua]

Address invalid due to player moving country/international region from where they originally created their account from

This is something that SE has never supported - creating the account/using one region's version of the game but then moving to another country/region, (such as NA to EU), but generally did not enforce it until now, and unfortunately players are getting caught out by this if they happen to move to another country, try entering their curent address, and the system is registering it as invalid because it doesn't match where the account was created. I've heard using a fake (but real) address can help bypass this, but this would be a violation of the ToS so I don't reccomend it.

I'm curious if anyone in EU has ever try to ask for a country modification under the GDPR law that give the right to rectification our information, since if they do not respect that, they can be fine for either 10€ millions or 2% of their global turnover, whichever is the higher amount.

European-specific payment methods/cards no longer being accepted

This is actually seperate from the Visa debit issue above - where many European players have suddennly found their payment methods no longer valid or working. These are specific special debit cards only available in Europe which formerly were supported by the SE Account Management System, as a payment method, but the new payment processor does not support them. SE actually announced this earlier in the year and just before the changeover however, but this mostly went under the radar of players until it was too late sadly. Unfortunately this was working as intended and sadly nothing can be done about it, although SE did state that there is a possibility of new payment methods being offered in the future, but nothing is known for sure.

The CB thing in France is actually quite often a co-badged card with both the national CB system and either MasterCard or Visa which when a customer use it and the payment processor support both, allow the consumer to choose one or the other system.
With SE not supporting anymore the CB schema should have had no impact for peoples having a co-badged CC since they should be able to use the other schema MasterCard or Visa but for whatever reason the third party system that SE is using does not seem to correctly recognize that.
There is also an EU regulation on co-badged card (2015/751), but I'm not that much verse in all that legals terms to know if this is also an other mater on which SE is not compliant.

[Enkidoh]

Well, SE has just recently posted this at the top of this forum:

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...05#post6469205

[EU] Payment Processor Update (May 30)

Following up on the feedback from our customers, we are pleased to announce that we will be implementing adjustments to our payment options which will once again enable CB Visa/Mastercard as an option for our French customers.
The adjustments are currently targeted for release in July 2024, and we will provide a more specific date as we move closer to implementation.

In the meantime, we would like to take this opportunity to remind customers that other payment options are available, such as Crysta (which can be purchased via Amazon Pay or PayPal), Amazon Pay (for online store purchases), or game time codes available from various online retailers, including the Square Enix Store.

We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this issue has caused and appreciate your patience as the teams work to test and implement the required adjustments.

No mention about normal Visa and Mastercard debit cards, but... I am at least hopeful this is a step in the right direction.

EDIT: and they've just updated about debit card transactions - that too is due to be fixed by July now it seems:

[NA] An Issue with Visa Debit Card Transactions (May 1): Follow-up

Following our investigation into the inability to use Visa Debit cards after the payment processor switch in April 2024, we are pleased to announce that we will be implementing adjustments which will once again enable Visa Debit as a payment option for customers in North America.
The adjustments are currently targeted for release in July 2024, and we will provide a more specific date as we move closer to implementation.

In the meantime, we would like to take this opportunity to remind customers that other payment options are available, such as Crysta (which can be purchased via Amazon Pay or PayPal), Amazon Pay (for online store purchases), or game time codes available from various online retailers, including the Square Enix Store.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this issue has caused and appreciate your patience as the teams work to test and implement the required adjustments.

So, by July it seems... just in time for my new debit card to arrive (my current one expires in August). So, good news at least finally.

[Darkstride]

My debit card is expiring and my bank already sent the replacement, which I had to activate. The number is the same, it's just an updated expiration date and security code.

It doesn't allow me to simply update my existing card on my subscription, and instead I had to deleted my old payment and add a new one. Now it won't accept any of my cards. Awesome. I have a legacy account with a discounted sub, and now I'll have to purchase game time cards until this is fixed.

Side note, is Crysta the only way to now pay for additional content like Retainers?

[vonRavenstein]

So Visa Debit issues are meant to be getting fixed for NA but still nothing regarding fixing it for EU players?

[Musky_Husky]

Is it really this common for NA players to not have several methods of payment? I have VISA Debit/Credit, MC Debit/Credit, Discover Debit/Credit, AMEX Debit/Credit, Paypal, access to time cards, and all of these are available at a grocery store less than 5 minutes from my house in Colorado. If you’re locked out of all of these methods you might have larger issues than an XIV sub.

Edit: Paysafe and Amazon too.