On Wednesday, September 16th, 2015, Linden Lab issued a blog post advising people who use a credit (or debit) card to make payments directly to Linden Lab, to update their Second Life payment information.
This is due to the company transitioning to a new payment system. The advice is particularly pertinent for any users who have not recently added or updated their payment method as the post notes:
Second Life is transitioning to a new payments processor for credit cards. If you use a credit card for Second Life payments and have not added or updated your billing information since July 7, 2015, we strongly encourage you to re-enter your information to avoid any potential disruption of services. If you use PayPal or Skrill for Second Life payments, no action is needed.
Updating your payment information is relatively simple:
- Login to your Second Life account at SecondLife.com.
- Click Account and then Billing Information.
- Under How You’re Paying, select the payment method of your choice.
- If you wish to re-use the same credit card already filed directly with the Lab, you will need to Remove it first, and then re-add the details.
- Make sure you also indicate to payments which are to be charged to the card by clicking on the Change option and checking the required check boxes.
When you have updated your payment information, you should see a banner notice at the top of the Billing Information page telling you this is the case.
As noted in the Lab’s blog post, you may notice a small authorisation charge made against the card you register. This is a common means of authenticating billing information, and the charge will be reversed / cancelled by you bank of credit card issuer, so the money is refunded to you.
It is not clear exactly when the transition to the new payment system will take place / be completed (or indeed, if it has already been completed). However, if you do have a credit / debit card registered with the Lab which you have not recently updated, it would be best to do so sooner rather than later to avoid any possible hiccups with payments.
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