Another Japanese content creators’ platform loses Visa/Mastercard support 

Fantia announced yesterday that Visa and Mastercard payments on the Japanese content platform have been suspended. This follows on from similar suspensions faced by other Japanese sites that host adult-oriented content such as Skeb, Niconico, DMM and DLsite. 

Functioning like Patreon, Fantia allows users to support and interact with amateur creators including cosplayers, manga artists and voice actors.  Although it features a suitable for “All Ages” category, Fantia leans towards adult-oriented content as can be seen in their “For Men” and “For Women” sections.  

In their announcement, Fantia apologized for the sudden temporary suspension of Visa and Mastercard payments on the site, explaining that card users on Fantia’s monthly subscription plans would have to change their payment method. Tora coin, a virtual currency that can be redeemed on Fantia, is also no longer purchasable with Visa and Mastercard (source: ITmedia). 

At the time of writing, American Express, Diners and JCB credit cards are still usable on Fantia, as well as domestic bank account transfers, convenience store payments and other e-money platforms.  

These suspensions have been made by Mastercard and Visa due to the credit card companies tightening their regulations, especially after the Pornhub child pornography lawsuit back in 2022, to avoid situations in which their money transfer networks are used in the monetization of illegally-produced sexual content or content depicting sexual acts involving minors. Fantia has age verification measures in place regarding performers of live action adult content on the platform. A 2021 post on Fantia’s commitment to safety was recently posted on their site in English on April 26- suggesting that they were trying to show credit card providers and international users that they do have a system of safety checks in place. 

Back in April, Visa and Mastercard payment methods were removed from major doujinshi and game platform DLsite, but not before Dlsite unsuccessfully tried to outsmart them by hiding adult content using euphemisms.