Yet another service involved in erotica is coming under scrutiny from foreign payment platforms.
Fantia, the Japanese creator support platform, announced that it will “temporarily suspend” the use of Visa and Mastercard credit cards, without disclosing any particular reason for this decision.
On the official website, Fantia recommends using JCB, American Express, Diners, and bank transfers instead.
This announcement comes less than two weeks after the Japanese video hosting platform Niconico suspended payments from Visa, even though it does not host adult content.
Visa and Mastercard have previously exerted their monopolized influence over DLSite, the largest provider of digital eroge, resulting in the platform to alter various “problematic” search terms in an attempt to retain their business.
Ultimately, DLSite had no choice but to suspend Visa and Mastercard payments entirely.
Pixiv have blocked 18+ content for users whose accounts are set in the United States and the United Kingdom back in April, while another platform similar to Fantia, Gumroad recently recorded record sales following a drastic decision to prohibit content creators who produce pornographic material from using its service the very next day, likely due to VISA and or Mastercard demanding such content be removed to retain their services.
Needless to say, VISA and Mastercard really hate the idea of you spending your own money on content or services they don’t want you to purchase, such as pornographic material.
Fantia, operated by the Toranoana group, which also runs doujinshi stores and online shops, is a support platform, essentially designed similarly to the likes of Patreon featuring a diverse range of creators. These include illustrators, manga artists, cosplayers, game developers, and VTubers.
Fantia allows content creators and artists can freely monetize the content they produce to subscribers or perhaps orchestrate polls / commissions. The service had also been a savior of sorts to western creators who’ve been rejected from the likes of Gumroad or other platforms.
During the fiscal year of 2023, Fantia saw its total transaction volume reach ¥16 billion yen ($102.21M USD), marking a remarkable 130% increase from the previous year.
By March 2024, the platform had surpassed 13 million registered users, indicating a substantial international user presence both in terms of domestic Japanese creators but also those abroad.
They issued an apology, stating they sincerely apologize for the sudden announcement, but this offers little consolation. It’s disheartening to see content creators increasingly regulated or pushed out entirely.
Despite the OnlyFans epidemic, which remains questionably unaffected, artists who depend on payment platforms like PayPal, VISA, American Express, and Mastercard have been snubbed by Patreon, Gumroad, Pixiv FANBOX, and now Fantia.
The scrutiny by Western payment processors on erotic content, especially Japanese-produced erotica, is pushing Japanese users to adopt JCB at an accelerated rate. Meanwhile, foreigners have few alternatives outside of Subscribe Star, but it may only be a matter of time before it too falls victim to VISA and Mastercard’s restrictions as well.
Considering Fantia is a Japanese-based platform, Japanese content creators and subscribers seemingly have it much easier, with various payment options available or simply opening a JCB account as the most ideal solution. This situation predominantly affects Westerners and those exclusively reliant on VISA and Mastercard.
