Unable to purchase subscribtion

[Aries_cz]

TLDR: My 6-month sub did not autorenew, because bank blocked it due to EU regulation.

 

All payments made on SWTOR.com over certain value (I tried the 6m subscription I always had since game started, the one time 60day worked) are getting blocked by EU banks.

Talking to my bank, it seems the problem lies in the new EU regulation that went into effect somewhere around last month or so, that requires banks to use MFA (multi-factor authentication) on all payments above certain level (not sure it exists in US, but it is that little web page popping up when paying online, asking you to confirm payment with an mobile app/code)

Problem is, payments done through SWTOR.com do to use this method, which causes the bank to block it. And there apparently isn't anything they can do about it.

Presumably, the alternative would be to buy through PayPal, though buying through SWTOR.com would be much more preferable, as the site has regional pricing, rather than relying on constantly shifting exchange rates

 

Are the developers aware of this problem, and are there some plans to fix this situation? Probably should be something in the payment processor SWTOR.com is using. @JackieKo@CommunityTeam

Edited December 10, 2022 by Aries_cz

[SteveTheCynic]

27 minutes ago, Aries_cz said:

All payments made on SWTOR.com over certain value (I tried the 6m subscription I always had since game started, the one time 60day worked) are getting blocked by EU banks.

Incorrect.  My last recurring SWTOR payment from my EU bank (I live in France and use a French bank) was in early October and worked like a charm.  It was a six-month subscription renewal.

27 minutes ago, Aries_cz said:

Talking to my bank, it seems the problem lies in the new EU regulation that went into effect somewhere around last month or so, that requires banks to use MFA (multi-factor authentication) on all payments above certain level (not sure it exists in US, but it is that little web page popping up when paying online, asking you to confirm payment with an mobile app/code)

EU now requires MFA for online payments (onelogin.com) says that regulation has existed since 2018 and went into effect at the beginning of 2021, applying to transactions between consumers and merchants where both are in the EEA and/or the UK, so if the problem has only just begun for you, it's something else.  (Payments to SWTOR are made to EA's tentacle in Ireland, I believe.)

[Aries_cz]

The regulation existed for a while, yes, but like with all EU regulations, it took time to come fully to effect.

My bank told me it went into its full effect last month (the prior payment this year went through no problem), so yeah, your October payment would go through.

The bank can literally see why the payment was blocked, and if it says "not MFA verified" in their system, then it is likely that.

[ThanderSnB]

In addition to paypal, Amazon sells 6 month game time codes. I'm not sure it's available where you live, but that might be an option. This won't be auto-renewing though. You have to remember to buy another one and enter the code every 6 months.

[Setta]

6 hours ago, ThanderSnB said:

In addition to paypal, Amazon sells 6 month game time codes. I'm not sure it's available where you live, but that might be an option. This won't be auto-renewing though. You have to remember to buy another one and enter the code every 6 months.

Idk if it's been fixed, but I remember hearing how some of those cards would say they've already been used, when you go to activate them, creating the hassle of having to contact and deal with customer support. I would think that since it seems like he got the 60 day one for now, hopefully the issue will get resolved by the time he has to resub again. Fingers crossed anyways.

[ThanderSnB]

22 minutes ago, Setta said:

Idk if it's been fixed, but I remember hearing how some of those cards would say they've already been used, when you go to activate them, creating the hassle of having to contact and deal with customer support. I would think that since it seems like he got the 60 day one for now, hopefully the issue will get resolved by the time he has to resub again. Fingers crossed anyways.

I haven't used one since 2018, but they were working then. I don't know if there's any problems now.

[SteveTheCynic]

21 hours ago, Aries_cz said:

The regulation existed for a while, yes, but like with all EU regulations, it took time to come fully to effect.

My bank told me it went into its full effect last month (the prior payment this year went through no problem), so yeah, your October payment would go through.

The bank can literally see why the payment was blocked, and if it says "not MFA verified" in their system, then it is likely that.

My bank has been asking me for 2FA verification in one form or another for a while now, and early 2021 sounds definitely feasible.  I suppose it might also be a difference between national regulations in France versus your country (from the "cz" in your username, I'd guess that's the Czech Republic?).  As usual for EU regulations, they don't apply directly, but serve as frameworks for national regulations.

[Placidi]

From France, subscription always worked well until december, for some reason it didn't resub, I can't see my payment history, and when I try to resub it just tells me : There is an issue with your Electronic Arts account which will prevent SWTOR purchases until resolved...

[SteveTheCynic]

7 hours ago, Placidi said:

From France, subscription always worked well until december, for some reason it didn't resub, I can't see my payment history, and when I try to resub it just tells me : There is an issue with your Electronic Arts account which will prevent SWTOR purchases until resolved...

Hmm.  OK.  Well, we'll see what happens to me in April, I guess.

[Aries_cz]

On 12/11/2022 at 3:34 PM, Placidi said:

From France, subscription always worked well until december, for some reason it didn't resub, I can't see my payment history, and when I try to resub it just tells me : There is an issue with your Electronic Arts account which will prevent SWTOR purchases until resolved...

Just to confirm (or debunk) what I said (payment getting blocked due to EU regulation demanding MFA going into effect sometime around November), can you try calling your bank and inquire why the payment did not go through?

[OwenBrooks]

On 12/12/2022 at 12:34 AM, Placidi said:

From France, subscription always worked well until december, for some reason it didn't resub, I can't see my payment history, and when I try to resub it just tells me : There is an issue with your Electronic Arts account which will prevent SWTOR purchases until resolved...

Your account is disabled for purchasing , call swtor support when the lines are open they can assist you to resolve the issue

[OwenBrooks]

On 12/10/2022 at 8:57 PM, Aries_cz said:

TLDR: My 6-month sub did not autorenew, because bank blocked it due to EU regulation.

Are the developers aware of this problem, and are there some plans to fix this situation? Probably should be something in the payment processor SWTOR.com is using

there is a known issue with cards from Denmark if that is relevant to you 
See https://answers.ea.com/t5/General-Discussion-Technical/Can-t-Subscribe/m-p/11839052/

Edited December 12, 2022 by OwenBrooks

[Placidi]

On 12/11/2022 at 3:34 PM, Placidi said:

From France, subscription always worked well until december, for some reason it didn't resub, I can't see my payment history, and when I try to resub it just tells me : There is an issue with your Electronic Arts account which will prevent SWTOR purchases until resolved...

Ok, so I had to change my EA password... not the one for SWTOR, the one you use for Origin or the EA website... Don't ask why, but now it works

[Aries_cz]

On 12/13/2022 at 12:10 AM, OwenBrooks said:

there is a known issue with cards from Denmark if that is relevant to you 
See https://answers.ea.com/t5/General-Discussion-Technical/Can-t-Subscribe/m-p/11839052/

That looks like the problem, SWTOR not using 3DSecure payments, which is what I was told by my bank (MFA and 3DSecure are the same thing I believe)

I am aware of other possibilities of payment (for now, I am on the one-time 60 day sub, which went through, probably because it does not high enough price tag), but I really do like paying through SWTOR.com because it charges me directly in my currency not in Euros (and the amount has been stable, regardless of exchange rates shifts), so I would really welcome SWTOR website team to enable it in whatever payment processor they are using (EA has it in other purchases, and it pretty much is industry standard these days)

[SteveTheCynic]

15 minutes ago, Aries_cz said:

That looks like the problem, SWTOR not using 3DSecure payments, which is what I was told by my bank (MFA and 3DSecure are the same thing I believe)

3DSecure is one form of MFA.  My bank used to send me a code by SMS to type into the merchant website, and now they have their own app where I simply approve the transaction.

[Sullimike]

I'm from the US, and I recently got a new debit card, so I assumed that my payment for my subscription wouldn't go through because of that. But then I tried my regular credit card, and even THAT didn't go through. I even tried linking a paypal account and that didn't work either. Can someone tell me what's going on here?

[AmrasValteri]

Payment issues with certain cards / in certain regions (mostly Europe it would seem) have been around since early October, see: https://forums.swtor.com/topic/925332-subscription-purchase-issues/#comment-9723363. JackieKo posted in that thread multiple times so the devs have been aware of this issue for a couple of months now. Sadly nothing but silence at the moment. Any news about the status of the problem would be nice, even if it's just to let people know that it's still being worked on.

I'm still not able to use my credit card for payments. As has been said multiple times PayPal is an alternative that seems to be working for most people, although not for everyone judging by Sullimike's post on December 19th. Hard to say if that's the same issue or completely unrelated though.

Either way, it's disappointing that after more than 2 months there have been no updates / has still been no fix for this. Being able to pay with all the methods offered on SWTOR.com is something that EA should be committed to facilitate at all times. I'm not noticing that commitment from the complete lack of official communication / updates about this issue.

Edited December 29, 2022 by AmrasValteri

[ronin_chi_lao]

PayPal has been taken off the site for some time now in the US. I just looked again on my account near the top.

Switched to Amex for a little while but...

I had to switch to my debit card because the site and my Amex card seemed to be fighting each other. Too many transactions maybe when it was enabled in game? 

The in game purchases would be ok for a while on the Amex but eventually the card was not working and I had to remove it and put it back multiple times on the account just to make smaller in game cc purchases. 

Right now I'm not even seeing the box to check to enable in game purchases so I've been only able to through the site. 

I think this might have something to do with the changes coming for the game.

Edited December 29, 2022 by ronin_chi_lao

[xordevoreaux]

I pay my recurring sub through Steam, get a steam thank you notice for my purchase. Zero hassles, zero involvement on my part to make it happen. If it's within your personal parameters for doing so, and I do not know (nor need to know) your financial situation, but consider going month to month recurring, and then you'll be below the transactional threshold for multi-factor authentication (and Steam has proven, at least for me, to be a very clean and no-fuss transactional platform).

Edited December 29, 2022 by xordevoreaux

[Aries_cz]

On 12/29/2022 at 9:16 AM, xordevoreaux said:

I pay my recurring sub through Steam, get a steam thank you notice for my purchase. Zero hassles, zero involvement on my part to make it happen. If it's within your personal parameters for doing so, and I do not know (nor need to know) your financial situation, but consider going month to month recurring, and then you'll be below the transactional threshold for multi-factor authentication (and Steam has proven, at least for me, to be a very clean and no-fuss transactional platform).

Yeah, Steam would be alternative, I guess, but I kinda liked giving all the money to EA (foolish notion, I know, it is not like all the money goes back into the game anyway), not having Steam shave off their 30% (plus SWTOR has payment is my currency, Steam has it in Euros)

[Deaconik]

Yes, depending on the bank your payment will be blocked as SWTOR.com doesn't use the latest security updates. e.g. Unicredit Serbia blocked all payments for a friend of mine with the reason, that these are unsecured and if he wishes, he can add swtor on the whitelist(which they didn't recommend).

Edit> BTW this is much longer issue than since October, I've been unable to pay since February and the Unicredit incident happened in April IIRC

Edited January 3, 2023 by Deaconik

[Azreail]

So glad I found this - my sub was on autorenew for three months and failed to renew today. Changed my payment card, no luck at all. Just says it fails and try again later. Been going bonkers trying to figure out what's wrong! Now I know to at least try a shorter sub period to reduce the transaction value and see if that makes a difference. Will be rather sucky if that is it so we have to pay the higher 30 day rolling cost, so maybe I will look into doing it through Steam instead.

 

Edit: Just tried buying a single month sub and can't do that on either card either, one gives me a "this failed, try later", other gives me a "delay in processing due to high volume", so I still can't renew my sub.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Azreail
Additional info

[AmrasValteri]

Quick update: a friend of mine (also from the Netherlands) who had to renew his subscription around the same time I did, was also unable to do so since October. He just let me know that he finally succeeded in doing so with a Credit Card transaction. So there seems to be some progress.

So fingers crossed that the problem might soon be resolved for others as well

Edited January 5, 2023 by AmrasValteri