Visa and MasterCard Now Target the Sale of Doujins for Women
In recent years, platforms that sell adult works in Japan have faced a rise in cases of payment suspensions via credit cards. Recently, the impact of these restrictions has begun to expand to services targeting female audiences!
Visa and MasterCard Now Target the Sale of Doujins for Women
On December 9, Pocket Drama CD, a voice drama distribution service operated by Animate, announced the suspension of credit card payments for works categorized as “adult female-oriented.”
The platform now recommends using Animate Pay or PayPay as alternatives but has not disclosed the reason behind the decision. Only adult content has been affected, while BL (Boys’ Love) works and general content remain available for purchase via credit cards.
The following day, another restriction drew attention: pictSPACE, a popular platform for selling doujinshi and related products, announced that VISA and MasterCard credit cards will no longer be usable for payments starting January 1, 2025. The company suggested using other methods such as JCB, AMEX, Diners Club, Paidy, and bank transfers.
These repeated actions by Visa and MasterCard have once again left creators and users concerned. Similar issues have already occurred on major platforms like DLsite and Niconico. Now, the debate has intensified as these restrictions appear to be extending to the female-oriented market. In the case of pictSPACE, the company revealed that the decision was made based on a notification from its payment processing partner.
The Responsibility Behind Payment Suspensions
The responsibility for these decisions remains a topic of debate. Generally, companies offering credit card payment options sign contracts with intermediaries that manage the processes with card brands like VISA and MasterCard. As a result, decisions like this do not originate directly from the card operators.
Japanese lawmaker Taro Yamada conducted an investigation into the matter and contacted VISA’s headquarters. According to Yamada, the company stated that it had not issued instructions to prohibit the use of cards for specific content and that it does not make value judgments on legal materials.
However, a few months later, during an event, the CEO of Visa in Japan, when asked why Visa was blocking payments for certain websites, stated that such actions were necessary to “protect the brand,” effectively contradicting the earlier statement.
Let’s see if anything changes or if Visa and MasterCard will simply silence everyone as they seem to be doing already.
Source > Voce Sabia Anime