Steam - Billing Information?

[Black Panther]

So for xmas my brother's going to have internet access from the pc in his own room, so I'll be creating a Steam account for him. Now I have Steam myself, but I registered nearly 4 years ago so I don't remember much, and well... google didn't really help me with this.

- Is it a prerequisite to include billing information while creating a Steam account?

- Does that mean the steam account owner (ie my bro) has to have a credit card to open it? (I don't guess so since players as young as 13 can have an account?)

As I said, I don't remember what info I gave when I registered myself - I only know that if I want a Steam game I just click to buy it and the amount is deducted from my credit card without any other verifications (like asking for the 3-digit number etc). That won't be good for my bro, since he doesn't have a card himself and my dad won't be registering his own card like I did, for obvious reasons...)

 

[erocker]

No, it is not a prerequisite. If you are getting something saying that it is, it's some sort of scam.

 

[Black Panther]

No, it is not a prerequisite. If you are getting something saying that it is, it's some sort of scam.

So I can just leave the field empty.
I haven't tried it yet actually, I just wanted to make sure it was all ok before promising him (don't want to disappoint him )

 

[erocker]

I don't understand why the field is there in the first place? Yeah, leave it blank. Are you sure you are actually signing up for Steam and not some fraudulent thing made to look like Steam?

 

[scaminatrix]

I thought "Billing Information" just means your address, etc. (where to invoice you if applicable)

 

[erocker]

Okay, I just made a new Steam member ID. Not once did it ask for any of that information. All it needed was a Steam ID name, a password, email, and answer to secret question. Whatever you are using to sign up isn't legit.

 

[copenhagen69]

Okay, I just made a new Steam member ID. Not once did it ask for any of that information. All it needed was a Steam ID name, a password, email, and answer to secret question. Whatever you are using to sign up isn't legit.

this ... the only time you have to enter that info is if you buy something through Steam

 

[Black Panther]

I don't understand why the field is there in the first place? Yeah, leave it blank. Are you sure you are actually signing up for Steam and not some fraudulent thing made to look like Steam?

Thanks, but don't worry I haven't yet even tried to create an account for him so I don't really know whether I would have that field or not. I was doing some research and reading the Steam support wiki and wondered whether billing information was a prerequisite or not - it isn't that clear in the wiki whether it is or not, so I thought better safe than sorry and ask over here

Edit:

this ... the only time you have to enter that info is if you buy something through Steam

thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know

 

[erocker]

Thanks, but don't worry I haven't yet even tried to create an account for him so I don't really know whether I would have that field or not. I was doing some research and reading the Steam support wiki and wondered whether billing information was a prerequisite or not - it isn't that clear in the wiki whether it is or not, so I thought better safe than sorry and ask over here

Make sure you are setting up the account through the Steam program and not through some browser.

 

[Crap Daddy]

go to steampowered.com, install steam, create an account and then spend some money. Christmas is comming and they always have great discounts on selected titles. I might add that Steam services are great, our account got hijacked a whle ago (I was very pissed and dissapointed that this thing could happen) but they restored it back to us in less than three days. So it's OK.

 

[Solaris17]

Okay, I just made a new Steam member ID. Not once did it ask for any of that information. All it needed was a Steam ID name, a password, email, and answer to secret question. Whatever you are using to sign up isn't legit.

Agreed steam doesnt ask me for any of this. I dont even have billing information entered into my current account because i just click the paypal button. billing info is in no way necissary.

 

[Robert-The-Rambler]

Steam is a free service

The games are not free. Think of it this way. Steam is a store and an arcade. You only pay when you want to try new games.

 

[Arel3]

I'm in tune with all of the other replies. If you really question it submit a support ticket to steam. They would be able to give you the absolute answer that you won't be able to doubt, because it came from them. I second Crap Daddy's comment that steam is an incredible service. The few times I had issues, or just simply asked a question, my issue was resolved or my question was fully answered by a support agent in a very satisfactory amount of time.

I actually have access to 3 or 4 steam accounts. Not all my own, I only actually own one, but a crew of my friends and I share the accounts for different reasons. You can have different steam accounts on the same IP/same household and they will only rarely interfere with each other.

"Rarely interfere with each other": When you're both playing the same game you might see a message in the game saying something to the effect of the game thinks you and your brother, since you're both coming from the same IP address, are ghosting or cloning. And it won't treat it as a big deal, won't kick either of you out of the game. It will just be a message you *might* see periodically if you're both playing the same game at the same time on the same server.