Xbox.com No Longer Allows Purchases Without a Credit Card

It looks like Microsoft has removed the ability to purchase games on Xbox.com without having a credit card added to the account. While previously those attempting to purchase even free items would be able to go through with the purchase, Xbox.com now prompts users to change their payment method. If you don’t have any credit cards or PayPal accounts on file, they can’t make the purchase. This also will disallow members to purchase items using purchased Microsoft points on Xbox.com to purchase items, free or not.

This comes just weeks after Microsoft introduced the switch from Microsoft Points over to local currency for its users, a choice which was much heralded for clearing up some of the confusion that many members faced with the conversion differences between countries. I’m sure that many users would much prefer the ability to make purchases on the internet over a small amount of easier conversion.

Hopefully this is a mistake on Microsoft’s part, as the loss of the ability to purchase items using the online Xbox store will prove to be a huge inconvenience to those picking up Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox One, which will hopefully allow members to queue up downloads and have them ready when they get home. Sony’s PlayStation 4 has this feature, in which users can set an item to download from there computer or smartphone. Their PlayStation 4 will then wake up, download the item, and go back to sleep.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft’s press team for comment and will update if and when we hear back.

Photo courtesy of Amr Sabbagh on Facebook’s Podcast Unlocked group.