Payment networks are the gatekeepers
Visa and Mastercard don't face you directly — they're the clearing networks sitting between you, your bank and the merchant. They classify adult content as high-risk and reserve the right to refuse to process those transactions.
The key point: this is not a government law, it's private company policy — so the same purchase may go through on a different platform or with a different payment method.
What happened in 2025?
In August 2025, under pressure from the anti-pornography group Collective Shout, Visa and Mastercard pushed Steam and Itch.io to delist thousands of adult games.
At the same time, Visa's VAMP program kept tightening its fraud-rate thresholds, dropping to 0.9% from January 2026 — and adult merchants, tagged as high-risk, are hit hardest. The UK government said it would not intervene to make processors handle this content.
Why Japanese platforms use a points system
FANZA (parent company DMM) suspended Mastercard payments back in 2022. Its workaround: you buy DMM Points with a card (the points themselves aren't classed as adult goods), then spend the points on adult content; PayPal is another common alternative.
That's where the points system comes from — a compliant way to route around the card restriction.
What this means for viewers
You'll increasingly see points, PayPal, or fewer card options — this is a platform-level payment issue, not something aimed at you personally. Legitimate platforms usually adapt their payment methods to cope.
One safety note: don't go entering your card details on a sketchy site just to 'bypass' a limit — that's where the real risk lies.
FAQ
Is this illegal?
No. This isn't a government law — it's the internal policy of private companies like Visa and Mastercard. They have the right to decide whether to process a given category of transaction.
Why can't I use Mastercard on FANZA?
DMM (FANZA's parent) suspended Mastercard payments in 2022. Switching to the points system or PayPal is the common alternative.
Will it get stricter?
Visa's VAMP fraud-rate threshold tightens to 0.9% from January 2026, and adult merchants are tagged high-risk, so pressure is genuinely rising. But legitimate platforms typically adapt with points or other payment methods.
Is paying by points safe?
Buying official points on a legitimate platform (such as FANZA) is safe. What you should be wary of is entering card details on an unknown site to bypass a limit — that's where the risk is.