Saison card verification moves to EMV 3-D Secure

The operator of the official Japanese sports lottery site, toto-dream.com, will change how it verifies the identity of customers paying with Saison card from Thursday, March 26, 2026¹. The change affects Saison cards issued under the VISA, Mastercard and JCB brands, and replaces the existing Net Answer authentication method with EMV 3-D Secure¹.

The operator said the move is intended to improve the security of credit card payments on the site¹. The affected brands are listed as VISA, Mastercard and JCB¹.

The notice states that under EMV 3-D Secure, the additional identity confirmation screen, such as an ID and password prompt, may not appear at all, depending on the risk assessment carried out by the card company¹. That means some cardholders will complete a payment without being asked for a separate password or ID step, while others may still be prompted¹.

The operator directs customers with questions about the identity verification service to contact the card issuer whose details are printed on the back of their card¹. No further detail on the change, including any effect on other card brands or payment methods, has been reported¹.

What it means for players

For anyone using a Saison card to buy sports lottery tickets on the official site, the payment step changes on March 26, 2026¹. Instead of the Net Answer flow, the card company runs its own risk check under EMV 3-D Secure¹. The practical effect is that the extra ID and password screen may not appear, because the card issuer decides whether to request it¹. Players who normally expect a password prompt should not assume the payment has failed if no prompt appears¹.

Because the check is run by the card company rather than the lottery site, questions about why a verification screen did or did not appear go to the card issuer, using the contact details on the back of the card¹. The notice covers only Saison cards under the three named brands, and does not describe how other cards or payment methods are verified¹. General background on how card and other payment methods work for gambling in the region is set out in Gambling Payments in Asia, and the specific question of proving a card belongs to you is covered in Payment Method Verification. For the wider legal picture in the country, see Can I Gamble in Japan?.

What happens next

The change takes effect on March 26, 2026¹. No further steps, deadlines or follow-up announcements have been reported¹.