Mr. QQ Says: No More Chargeback Bans?

Mr. QQ Says is a column detailing information on FFXI technical issues, server issues and other minor SE issues.

It looks like SE has changed their policy to deal with the chargebacks they have been getting (presumably by RMT people that never intending to pay in the first place) that have accidentally gotten a few people banned. There are two statements recently released. The first one is a notification that SE is going to use the verification provided by Visa and Mastercard for the next payment cycle. The second one was just an outline of the new POL rules governing this.

What does this mean? If you already bank online then probably nothing, and if you have a decent CC or bank card or whatever, again probably nothing. My bank makes this process part of online banking automatically. If you are using your parents card or someone else's card you should check with them and make sure they have updated it. If you can't do anything else at all, you should call SE. I know, what a wonderful experience, but at least they have thought ahead to allow some kind of recourse for those that just don't have the option to do this verification.

Check below the cut for the full POL details of both SE announcements.

The first post:

We would like to take this opportunity to inform you that we will soon implement a security feature for your protection known as The Payer Authentication Service (3-D Secure). This will be implemented on July 29 at around 2:00 (PDT) after the scheduled registration server maintenance. You can activate these services now at the below URLs:

Visa customers: www.VerifiedByVisa.com
MasterCard customers: www.SecureCode.com

All customers are encouraged to activate the appropriate service beforehand to avoid any issues once the services are implemented. Anyone updating their payment information after July 29 will need to register with the appropriate service before the change can be made.

* Please be sure to check with your credit card company if you are not sure if this service is supported.

* If you are a current PlayOnline member and your credit card company does not support this service, please contact the Information Center for further assistance. Be sure to have the payment method ready when you contact the Information Center.

If you have any questions about these new services, we encourage you to visit the above URLs. Also, the PlayOnline Information Center can be contacted at the below times for further assistance.

We hope you will find additional peace of mind with these security features.

PlayOnline Information Center
https://secure.playonline.com/supportus/index.html
Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time

The second post:

Changes to PlayOnline Member Agreement

The following section will be added to the PlayOnline Member Agreement under Article 5 "User Responsibilities" and will take effect as of Jul. 29, 2009:

5.2(e) Credit Card Authentication.
For your protection, SEI now requires that all new credit cards used for Fees be registered with either Verified by Visa(R) or MasterCard SecureCode(R). Please go to www.verifiedbyvisa.com or www.securecode.com to register your credit cards. If you do not register your cards on one of these sites, or if your credit card issuing bank has not signed up with either service, you will not be able to access the PlayOnline services. In such case, please contact your place of purchase for return, refund, or exchange subject to the return and exchange policy of the retailer. If:
(1) your place of purchase is unwilling to accept returns or exchanges of opened software AND
(2) you are unable or unwilling to register with Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCard AND
(3) it has been less than 30 days since you purchased the software, AND
(4) you are located in the United States or Canada, THEN you may contact PlayOnline Information Center at (858) 790-PLAY (7529) and request a full refund of your purchase price for the Licensed Software, not including shipping and handling charges. Please note that any refund is discretionary and will be contingent upon SEI's receipt of the complete Licensed Software package and confirmation that your credit card is not compatible with either system.

The PlayOnline Member Agreement can be found under "Rules & Policies" on the FINAL FANTASY XI official website or from "Rules & Policies" within "Service & Support" on the PlayOnline Viewer. Please read them carefully and make sure you understand them before you play the game.