Pokémon Company weighs My Number ID for TCG sales and tournaments

The Pokémon Company is proposing to require Japan’s My Number ID for access to certain priority product lotteries, specified sales on Pokémon Center Online and entry to selected official tournaments held in Japan. Authentication would be completed by scanning a My Number Card with a smartphone through an external verification service. The company described a possible rollout beginning in August.

Company officials described the proposal as an effort to limit third-party resellers who buy trading cards and resell them at higher prices. They pointed to strong demand for Pokémon Trading Card Game releases and a sizable resale market for limited cards and boxes.

Under the plan, Trainer Club accounts would be validated by matching a scanned My Number Card to the account. The Pokémon Company indicated the system would not collect or retain users’ My Number identification numbers; an external service would perform the identity validation.

The requirement would apply only to designated product lotteries, specific items sold through Pokémon Center Online and selected tournaments and events inside Japan. The company indicated it does not intend to apply the verification to all sales and that a final list of covered items and events has not been set.

“We will not acquire or store people’s personal ID numbers in the process,” the company stated.

The proposal remains under consideration and the company has not released full technical specifications or a detailed timeline. If approved, parts of the verification system could begin to be implemented in August.