Innovation in payment methods

Credit cards are a very American thing. The USA has more than 10 credit cards per household, while in the UK there are "only" 1.5 credit card per household, and continental Europe has even less. Which means that many European households don't have a credit card at all. Unfortunately many MMORPG need a credit card for opening an account, even if later payments can be made with a game time card. Thus some Europeans are excluded from playing, because they don't have a credit card.

Now Codemasters announced that from now on you can pay for Dungeons & Dragons Online without a credit card, using an online micropayment system named Click&Buy. Quote:

From 16th June players from the following countries will be able to use the Click&Buy payment solution; Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, UK and US.

Click&Buy offers a wide variety of alternative payment methods such as direct debit, ELV for German customers, as well as online bank transfers for other countries too.

Good idea, that. In the long term the number of credit cards in Europe is on the rise, but for the moment it is still a barrier of entry which is worth removing.