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PayPal No Longer Available for Steam Purchases Outside Major Currency Zones (rockpapershotgun.com) 87

Posted by msmash from the payment-gateway-has-left-the-chat dept.
PayPal payment processing has been unavailable for Steam purchases in most countries since early July 2025, Valve has confirmed, with functionality limited to transactions in U.S. dollars, Euros, British Pounds, Japanese Yen, Australian dollars, and Canadian dollars. In a statement to RockPaperShotgun, the company said one of PayPal's acquiring banks terminated all Steam transaction processing. Valve linked the bank's decision to previous Mastercard-related content restrictions. The disruption began in early July 2025 when PayPal notified Valve of the immediate termination, leaving millions of users in affected regions without PayPal access and no certain timeline for resolution.
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PayPal No Longer Available for Steam Purchases Outside Major Currency Zones More

PayPal No Longer Available for Steam Purchases Outside Major Currency Zones

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  • Credit card content restrictions (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 14, 2025 @04:32PM (#65590544)

    I don't know how to feel about that. If it's for Things I Don't Like, then I support it because it's about damn time; if it's for Things I Do Like, then it's an egregious misuse of power by what should be a public utility. I'm a Universalist, btw.

  • Why isn't PP being investigated? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Their job is to process payments not be concerned if someone might see a nipple in a Steam game.

    • Re:Why isn't PP being investigated? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Xenx ( 2211586 ) on Thursday August 14, 2025 @05:31PM (#65590650)
      I just want to clarify. While this is a Paypal issue, it's not immediately Paypal's fault. The issue is with one of Paypal's acquiring banks. In context, the acquiring bank would be the bank that processes payments to Paypal that use the affected currencies. That acquiring bank doesn't want to risk getting on Mastercard's bad side and is preventing .

      I don't know if Paypal is looking for a new acquiring bank for those currencies. I don't know if they're working with that bank to restore processing. I don't want to defend Paypal outright, but in this instance it's only their fault if they're not trying to find a solution.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Xenx ( 2211586 )

        That acquiring bank doesn't want to risk getting on Mastercard's bad side and is preventing .

        Work interrupted me, and I forgot I wasn't finished with the sentence. the acquiring bank is preventing Paypal from processing those payments with regards to Steam.

      • I don't know if Paypal is looking for a new acquiring bank for those currencies. I don't know if they're working with that bank to restore processing. I don't want to defend Paypal outright, but in this instance it's only their fault if they're not trying to find a solution.

        Paypal works with a network of different banks across the locations and currencies and transaction types it operates with. In some locations (and/or currencies and/or transaction types) there may not be many options. Since Paypal only makes money if you can spend money, I suspect they would really like to find a solution and would be working on it. That does not mean they can actually find a solution, or can implement one quickly.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Xenx ( 2211586 )

          Since Paypal only makes money if you can spend money, I suspect they would really like to find a solution and would be working on it.

          You would think things would be that simple. I'm not claiming otherwise for Paypal, but there are limits to that assumption. One only needs to look at the fact that payment processors are the driving factor for this whole mess.

          That does not mean they can actually find a solution, or can implement one quickly.

          I totally agree there. That was my point. The customer base should not expect/ask for anything more than a sincere attempt to resolve the problem. Paypal ultimately has no control over whether there will be a solution, short of something like lobbying for laws.

          • short of something like lobbying for laws.

            Trump already made a law fixing this a few days ago. [whitehouse.gov]
            Banks have 180 days from then to fix their own mess.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Xenx ( 2211586 )
              Just to be clear, this particular issue is about payments being made using some foreign currencies. I think it's safe to assume that the people affected are most likely not in the US. I am not privy to the acquiring bank causing a problem in this case, so I'm not sure whether they would be subject to US law. However, given that the a lot of the pressure stems from Visa/Mastercard it could still impact the decisions of processors outside of the US.

              Further, based on my reading of the EO, it appears to only p

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Kisai ( 213879 )

        No this is a PayPal issue from the beginning as PP applies censorship with a much heavier shotgun approach than Mastercard and VISA do alone.

        For example, if you even mention the thing you're selling is art, your account gets canned.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Xenx ( 2211586 )
          No, this is very clearly an issue with PayPal's acquiring bank. I did say that I'm not looking to defend PayPal outright. I'm only defending them in this very specific instance where the decision wasn't one they made for themselves, but was made for them.

    • Their job is to run their business as they see fit, within the bounds of the law.

    • There's no requirement to neutrally process every payment. If there was none of this shit would have started in the first place.

      • theirs like 4 trade laws that say otherwise. what there doing is twisting the risk wording in one to basically use as we will do whatever they want.
  • As a user the Paypal seems horrible to me although it still has its place for making certain person to person transactions. I much prefer something like a Stripe enabled checkout for almost all websites. And still as for person to person transactions, I would also always prefer Cash App, Apple Pay, or Venmo (which is owned by Paypal). It just seems like Paypal should be put out to pasture.

  • Payment Processing is clearly an oligopoly... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ffkom ( 3519199 ) on Thursday August 14, 2025 @04:41PM (#65590560)
    ... which needs to be replaced and regulated. Just like the printing of cash, it should not be left as a playground for companies and their arbitrary opinions on what should or should not be payable.

    • The problem here isn't payment processing (Score:5, Insightful)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday August 14, 2025 @04:47PM (#65590572)
      The problem here is even MasterCard and Visa are afraid of the Republican party's religious crusade.

      I can tell you right now but as long as they're not getting a lot of disputed transactions visa and MasterCard could care less about what you buy. And I seriously doubt there's been an increase in steam game disputes because valve just bans your account if you dispute a transaction, taking all your steam games with it.

      The reason this is coming up is the same reason we have all those shitty laws where you have to prove your identity and give your personal information to a company that pinky swears they aren't going to track you and what you do online, the Republican party wants it. Or whatever your local right-wing party is I'm American so here that's Republican.

      For the non-americans here, those who give up essential Liberty to gain temporary security deserve neither.

      honestly I think people still deserve Liberty even if they're being dumbasses but either way you ain't going to get it. Every country on the planet Earth is speed running fascism. Seriously if you know literally anything about history you know that every single thing going on in this world right now is just one checkbox on the path to fascism and world war III after another.

      Of course this time we've got nukes so there is that.

      • Re:The problem here isn't payment processing (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Burdell ( 228580 ) on Thursday August 14, 2025 @05:00PM (#65590592)

        VISA/MC got a lot more restrictive after VISA was sued in 2022 for handling payments for Pornhub and a judge wouldn't dismiss the suit. It looks like VISA got the claims against them dismissed a few months ago, but even the fact that they had to deal with it for 3 years has left them pointing at that as justification.

        • But I doubt even that was an issue. They got the claims dismissed after all. And porn isn't the same as video games even risque video games. It's about chargebacks more than anything else. Basically if you call your credit card company and dispute a charge that costs them money and they don't like that.

          They have lawyers on retainer. A small army of them. They don't care about having a case in court for 3 years. That's like breathing to them.

          This is absolutely about right wing and conservative politi

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

            They got the claims dismissed after all.

            That just made the legal suit go away. They still incurred costs that they didn't get reimbursed for - like say, their lawyers. They had to deal with the courts, a lawyer had to draft a response and deal with all the paperwork.

            And this dragged on for 3 years. So that's 3 years worth of some lawyer's labor in handling the issue.

            So just because it got dismissed means that everyone is right back where they started - I doubt Visa got reimbursed for their expenses and law

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rujiel ( 1632063 )
        Collective Shout set the ball rolling this time, but rest assured that the credit card companies (and entire whole financial world) don't give a shit what christian loons think. This is all to prevent what services people can buy, and to even prevent the news people have access to "for their protection" unless they can prove they're adults by opting into digital ID
        • Are in charge of the US government then yeah you bet your ass they care.

          Those Christian loons form a powerful voting block that put Donald Trump in the white house. Trump is happy to let those fuckers shit all over your hobby and your fun in exchange for their votes and for their kids going off to fight his wars eventually.

          Moral panics are incredibly useful and the Republican party wouldn't be in charge right now without them.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Rujiel ( 1632063 )
            By christian loons I mean the public. The political apparatus are all zionists, in many cases christian zionists, and these preventions from the financial world, arriving by no coincidence alongside forced private sector age verification, are to protect Israel!

          • Those Christian loons form a powerful voting block that put Donald Trump in the white house. Trump is happy to let those fuckers shit all over your hobby and your fun in exchange for their votes and for their kids going off to fight his wars eventually.

            Interesting unhinged rant...
            But Trump's already on it. Banks have 180 days to fix the mess [whitehouse.gov]

      • Paypal's actions have absolutely nothing to do with Republicans or even religion, your biases are showing. Trump literally just signed an very broad executive order just last week that guarantee's fair banking, where banks cannot de-bank for reputational risks and that being precisely worded as saying they cannot de-bank for "customer’s political or religious beliefs, or on the basis of the customer’s or potential customer’s lawful business activities that the financial service provider di

      • The problem here is even MasterCard and Visa are afraid of the Republican party's religious crusade.

        'cuz Tipper Gore, Janet Reno, Hillary Clinton were republicans. This is a truly a bi-partisan effort! Aren't you happy knowing that both of your parties think of the children (the way of Epstein's guests)?

        And it affects all the world that Visa and MasterCard are allowed to operate in. But don't worry, in the remaining countries (Russia, Iran, Best Korea) the Party saves you from the trauma of seeing a nipple.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

          • Yes, both sides. Putin is far right (fashist), Kim is far left (stalinist); Iran is far not-something-western -- so there's even more than two sides.

            And, pray tell, how could I be suggesting that Tipper Gore, active in the 80's, did ban Paypal, which did not even exist until 2000? They created the legal framework that forced financial companies to do the banning -- and because of your shit country, the rest of us suffer.

            Specifically:
            * in the 80's, Tipper Gore formed the PMRC which got a bunch of laws pass

            • Comment removed based on user account deletion

              • You're a disengenious lying nutter.

                Now you're projecting.

                • Comment removed based on user account deletion

                  • No reply about your lying bullshit? You admit you're lying trump-loving sack of shit! Nice. Thanks, bud.

                    What lying bullshit? Now I'm genuinely confused. Care to point out a bit of untruth I said?

                    And the way you're slinging insults, I doubt there's a point debating you. First of, I'm not lying (you didn't even say what you accuse me of falsifying). Second, I'm not even a Hamburgerstanian, and my country just elected a far-right fraudster, liar, document forger, pimp and hooligan. I'm not in a love of Trump. But, I'm not in love with any other lying censorship pusher either.

      • The problem here is even MasterCard and Visa are afraid of the Republican party's religious crusade.

        The group that is taking credit for this is founded by a person who subscribes to extremism from both sides of the political spectrum. Most of the center-right circles I lurk in have been extremely critical of the payment processors for their role in this fiasco. As a matter of fact, in all of the diverse communities I lurk, I haven't seen anyone on either side of the political spectrum defend the payment

      • The problem here is even MasterCard and Visa are afraid of the Republican party's religious crusade.

        Horseshit. MasterCard / Visa ARE the religious crusade. Always have been. They have a long history of doing this. And I remind you the last time they did this publicly to a major company it was the democrats who were in power.

    • Sounds like a job for cryptocurrency.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ffkom ( 3519199 )
        The currency is not the problem here, and crypto-currencies are usually controlled by far shadier (and not elected) tiny groups that set up rules as they please. And I for one would not like to perform daily payments using a mechanism that allows transfers to fraudsters that cannot possibly be reversed, even if there is enough evidence against the fraudsters for winning a case in court.

    • Hard pass.

      Thanks.

  • In a statement to RockPaperShotgun, the company said one of PayPal's acquiring banks terminated all Steam transaction processing

    Name the bank

  • I was a paypal user in the past. At some point they started not requiring me to sign-in every time, they started using cookies or some kind of browser fingerprint to decide it was okay to spend my money. I used an expletive with paypal support and paypal banned me. I never looked back and do not miss it.

    Seriously, Fuck You Paypal. Fuck You for reducing security on my account. Fuck You for not fixing your broken security when I asked nicely the first time.

    • In 1999 I banned paypal forever because they put a temporary freeze on my account for no reason whatsoever. I understand they did this to a lot of people, many of whom continued using it, or even running businesses on it. Not me. At that time I didn't even know what dipshits the founders were, but it was clear that the company as a whole was just a nest of greedy, slimy dipshits. I mean, to a greater extent than mainstream banks, which also fit the description but not completely unfettered like that.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        In 1999 I banned paypal forever because they put a temporary freeze on my account for no reason whatsoever. I understand they did this to a lot of people, many of whom continued using it, or even running businesses on it. Not me. At that time I didn't even know what dipshits the founders were, but it was clear that the company as a whole was just a nest of greedy, slimy dipshits. I mean, to a greater extent than mainstream banks, which also fit the description but not completely unfettered like that.

        Not that year, but they caused headaches for a giant group buy from a Chinese audio gear company that I was involved in. After a lot of wrangling and somebody knowing one of PayPal's vice presidents, they eventually got the funds released, but not before it made me decide never to trust PayPal again. I have not used them since then. No company should have that much power to arbitrarily restrict the flow of commerce.

        • Come to think of it, it wasn't that year either for me, but Slashdot doesn't support editing posts. But well before they went public.

  • Long history (Score:5, Informative)

    by djb ( 19374 ) on Thursday August 14, 2025 @05:09PM (#65590602) Homepage
    PayPal has a long history of cutting of accounts without warning. Steam are luck that they are not holding on to funds for six months like the tried to do with a festival I used to run.

    • This has nothing to do with cutting accounts, and critically how you interact with Paypal has nothing to do with how a large major company interacts with paypal.

      This should serve a reminder to all of Slashdot, when we're talking about two companies who have problems with each other any of your own anecdotes are not remotely relevant - unless you are in fact Gabe Newell or have similar amount of money to him.

  • They are trying to get Steam to remove their "adult" games.
  • Especially when years ago, you were forced to use PayPal to buy something on Ebay and couldn't use my own CC ! EBay was the only place to use PayPal. Why should I have to use PayPal....

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