Doujinshi manga/anime chain announces moratorium on Visa/Mastercard credit card payments

Melonbooks is one of Japan’s largest sellers of doujinshi, independently produced manga/anime art. However, as of next month customers will no longer be able to pay for their Melonbooks purchases with two of the world’s most major credit cards.

On November 8, Melonbooks announced a moratorium on payments with Visa or Mastercard, with statements both on Melonbooks’ official website and through its official Twitter account.

“We are deeply sorry for this, but it has come about that Visa and Mastercard credit card payment [options] will be suspended as of December 19,” says Melonbooks. “We apologize for being unable to prevent inconvenience our customers.”

No reason for the discontinuation of Visa and Mastercard payments is given, but the most probable explanation has to do with the sort of products Melonbooks deals in. Though doujinshi are not synonymous with pornography, many, and arguably the majority, of the most prolific and popular doujin artists specialize in adult material. In recent years, a number of credit card companies have become more cautious about involving themselves in transactions for purchasing content that could be considered pornographic, and it’s likely that Visa and Mastercard’s policies have shifted such that they’re no longer as comfortable rendering payments to Melonbooks as they once were.

However, Melonbooks appears to have hope that it can salvage its relationship with Visa and Mastercard. While Melonbooks’ statement emphasizes that the moratorium is permanent in regards to online sales, it says that it is working to reinstate Visa and Mastercard payment options at physical Melonbooks branches, with some locations possibly being able to once again accept payment through the cards in “late December.” This seems to further suggest that adult content is the sticking point, as in-person transactions allow for more reliable customer age verifications than online sales.

At the current time, though, there’s no timetable for reinstating in-store Visa/Mastercard payments, and even customers who’ve already placed orders with Melonbooks could find themselves jammed up. In the case of orders that include items yet to be released, Melonbooks waits until all items are in stock before shipping them. In the case of customers who’ve paid using Visa or Mastercard for an order that won’t ship until after December 19, a payment error may trigger and prevent shipping.

There are a number of workarounds, though, such as placing Melonbooks orders as cash-on-delivery, or rendering payment in cash at convenience stores. The company is also planning to establish a new “Melobo Store Payment” system, under which cash payment can be made at Melonbooks physical branches for online orders.

For shoppers who do prefer to pay with a credit card and not face-to-face, Melonbooks will be continuing to accept payment by American Express and JCB, Japan’s largest domestic credit card company, for online orders.

Perhaps to encourage their customer base to obtain/use those cards, Melonbooks is also running a special promotion until the end of November giving 30 percent of purchase prices back to shoppers as store credit for orders paid for by American Express or JCB.

Source: Melonbook via Hachima Kiko via Anime News Network/Joanna Cayanan

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