In a stealth update to its website, Nintendo has now added the option to pay for My Nintendo Store purchases with money from your Nintendo Account Balance. For those unsure of what that means, your Nintendo Account is the profile used to buy digital games on the Switch or Switch 2. Signing into the My Nintendo Store website required the same account, but would then necessitate adding a separate payment method for checkout (even if it was the same credit/debit card).
Why this is such a big deal is that you can finally use eShop gift cards to buy things off of Nintendo’s website. While it makes sense that those cards would only be applicable to the eShop, it did create scenarios where a better deal might be available on My Nintendo, but not the console itself. You can also find eShop cards at retailers for cheaper than their listed denomination, essentially giving you “free” money. It’s, overall, a big win.
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To help along with things, Nintendo has even increased the balance limit you can have on an individual Nintendo Account. Previously, the limit was capped at $250, but it has now been raised to $800. So far, this functionality only applies to North America, but it will likely make its way to other regional eShops in the coming days.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
