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B&N Adds New Payment Options to Nook Store (MS Accounts) No New App Required

Screenshot.24051.1000007[1]When Barnes & Noble announced the launch of Newco (Nook Media) some 8 months ago, many observers expected to see Microsoft’s $300 million investment show up in content, apps, or some type of integration with existing MS services.

It may have taken awhile but that has finally happened.

B&N has just announced a new updated version of the Windows 8 app they released in November 2012. Readers can now use their MS account to create a new account (via the Windows 8 app) in the Nook Store and use their existing payment info to buy ebooks.

What’s even more important is that everyone who does not have the Windows 8 app can still choose to use their existing Microsoft account (with attached credit card) to buy Nook ebooks from B&N.

According to the B&N store-level folks I know, this feature first showed up over the weekend. It is in fact available to anyone and everyone who has an account in the Nook Store and doesn’t actually depend on the Nook Windows 8 app. I just tested it myself, and even though I’m not running Windows 8 I was still able to authenticate the account.

You can add an MS Account to your Nook Store account by going to the B&N website, logging in, and changing your payment options. You can probably also do this from inside the Windows 8 app if you prefer.

 

 

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Comments


fjtorres February 4, 2013 um 4:40 pm

It’s a start.
Nook Media would be wise to fully tie in to XBOX Video and XBOX Music to fill in their media offerings. A quick and cheap way to offer Nook Tablet owners a first-class media experience.
(As of now you can do it via SmartGlass for android but MS gets all the money.)

steve February 4, 2013 um 8:36 pm

"Nook Media would be wise to fully tie in to XBOX Video and XBOX Music to fill in their media offerings. A quick and cheap way to offer Nook Tablet owners a first-class media experience."

I would love to see this happen. Of course, I sort of doubt it. Microsoft management has pushed a Windowscentric strategy, using the Xbox media properties to push the OS. They’ve shown little interest in building the ecosystem for its own sake.

On the other hand, with Sinofsky out, there is a management shakeup in Redmond in the works, so anything could happen.

M

fjtorres February 5, 2013 um 5:57 am

Microsoft already offers a lot of their platform elements to all comers.
Skydrive, Skype, Outlook, and Office are all available to anybody on iOS or Android.
And, as I said, Smartglass lets you access your XBOX Video and Music from Android.

It may be a plan B but MS is not-so-quietly building an online ecosystem that in some ways betters Google and Apple combined. (More focused on productivity services and content, less betaware.)


Fbone February 4, 2013 um 8:56 pm

Does this now mean you no longer need a US credit card and billing address to purchase Nook ebooks?

Nate Hoffelder February 4, 2013 um 9:16 pm

You still need a credit card attached to the MS account. I don’t know if that CC must be a US card.


Fbone February 4, 2013 um 10:16 pm

I don’t believe so. It just has to match your PC location.

This may mean it is possible for anyone anywhere to buy from the Nook store.


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