Nintendo Account gets PayPal support for Nintendo eShop purchases (Switch, web eShop)
If you want to buy contents on the Nintendo eShop, there are not that many options available to you. While Nintendo have been adding additional options since it first launched on Nintendo 3DS (such as NFC payments on Wii U and New Nintendo 3DS), one extremely popular option still remains unavailable… PayPal. Fortunately, it’s no longer the case, as your Nintendo Account now has a PayPal option.
Basically, you can link a PayPal account to your Nintendo Account, which allows you to do the following:
- Nintendo Switch: adds funds to your Nintendo Account, buy games from the Nintendo eShop
- Web eShop: buy games for Nintendo Switch, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS
Here’s what you have to do to link a PayPal account to your Nintendo Account:
- Select “PayPal” as the payment method when adding funds or purchasing software (not available in all countries, and only adult (+18 years old) can select that option. Also, if you have sufficient funds to complete the purchase, the option will not appear).
- Select “Send E-mail,” then select “OK.” (this option does not appear if your Nintendo Account is already tied to a PayPal account)
- A confirmation e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address associated to your Nintendo Account. When the e-mail arrives, click the link provided in the e-mail.The e-mail should arrive within a few minutes.
- Sign in to your Nintendo Account.
- Click “Link a PayPal account.”
- Log in to your PayPal account or create a new PayPal account.
- Review the PayPal Policies and click “Agree & Continue” to complete the link.
- You can now use the “PayPal” option in the Nintendo Switch eShop and online Game Store to complete your digital purchase.
If you want to unlink a PayPal account, there’s two ways to do so, depending on whether you want to do so from a web browser or your Nintendo Switch:
- from a Nintendo Switch
- Select “Nintendo eShop” on the HOME Menu to launch the Nintendo eShop.
- Select the Nintendo Account with the PayPal account that you want to unlink.
- Select the picture of your icon in the upper-right corner to access your Account Information.
- Part of the e-mail address associated to the PayPal account will appear in the “PayPal” section. Click “Unlink.”
- Click “Unlink” again to confirm.
- from a web browser
- Visit http://accounts.nintendo.com and sign in to your Nintendo Account.
- Click “Nintendo Account” in the upper-left corner of the screen to access your account settings.
- Select “Shop Menu.”
- Part of the e-mail address associated to the PayPal account will appear in the “PayPal” section. Click “Unlink.”If a PayPal account has not been linked to the Nintendo Account, the PayPal area will say “Not set.”
- Click “Unlink” again to confirm.
To check details details related to your PayPal account, you can do the following:
- Visit http://accounts.nintendo.com and sign in to your Nintendo Account.
- Click “Nintendo Account” in the upper-left corner of the screen to access your account settings.
- Select “Shop Menu.”
- Part of the e-mail address associated to the PayPal account will appear in the “PayPal” section. There, you can see if an account is linked.
Important notice: you cannot use a PayPal account of a different region than your Nintendo Account. For example, if you live in Europe, and try to use your PayPal account on Nintendo’s website in North America (and vice-versa), you will get an error message.
Hopefully, Nintendo keeps adding payment options to Nintendo Accounts moving forward… starting with NFC payment support on Nintendo Switch, which has been missing since launch.