Sony is halting card and PayPal payments on the PS3 and Vita stores later this month

Earlier this year, there was a furore over the PS Store for PlayStation 3 and Vita being taken offline that eventually resulted in Sony opting to keep the platform's digital storefronts alive... for the time being.

But good things cannot last forever, and even though the digital stores are still active, Sony is making some rather large changes to them later this month.

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In a message over on the UK PlayStation support site, Sony noted that as of October 27, customers will no longer be able to use a credit/debit card or PayPal to buy digital products or top up their digital wallets for use on PS3 and Vita.

Instead, you will need to make use of a use a desktop computer, mobile device, or PS4 or PS5 console in order to top up your wallet, then use the same account to buy your desired item from the PS3/Vita stores.

This means, if you want to – say – grab DLC for Street Fighter 4 via the in-game menus, you'll have to have money already in your account. New funds cannot be added via PS3 or Vita directly, at all, from the date listed above.

Bear this in mind if you want to buy PSP games via the PS Vita store, too (the only way you can buy PSP games, these days).

"[...]It’s clear that we made the wrong decision [when we said PlayStation Store for PS3 and PS Vita devices was planned to end this summer]," Sony's Jim Ryan said earlier this year. "So today I’m happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices."

Removing native payment functionality suggests that, at some point, time will be up for the stores, though, right? Just make sure to purchase all the games you'd like to continue playing on legacy hardware sooner rather than later.