Nintendo Switch Online Can Be Bought With My Nintendo Gold Points

Tomorrow's the day that Nintendo Switch Online will turn on, offering players a number of new features for their online games, as well as a library of NES classics to play on demand. But for those of you concerned about coming up with money for a membership, we've got some good news.

Along with the seven-day free trial that's being offered when the service goes live tomorrow, Nintendo has confirmed that you have payment options when it comes to membership. Along with being able to pay monthly, once for three months or once for a year, it turns out that you can use your Nintendo Gold Coins in your account to pay towards your membership as well.

As noted in this Nintendo Switch Online Service FAQ, "Gold Points can be used when purchasing a membership in the Nintendo eShop." But it also states that "They cannot be used for auto-renewal," so you'll still need to register a card just in case.

For those unfamiliar with the program, you attain Gold Points in the My Nintendo program by making purchases, including both physical and digital games. You essentially earn five percent of the purchase price with digital, and one percent on physical. It does eventually add up, allowing you to turn the coins around for purchases in the eShop.

Depending on how many coins you have stocked up in the program, you can pay a pretty good amount towards your membership, since a one-month runs $3.99; a three-month goes for $7.99; and a one-year membership goes for $19.99. Again, though, you can take advantage of the one week trial that kicks off tomorrow to see if the service is to your liking before you have to worry about signing up. Once it's over, then you can see how many Gold Points you can put towards your membership.
The page above also runs through other details you might want to look over before hopping on board with the program, including checking in with online NES games, how save data works with cloud backup, special offers and several other features. Never hurts to know what you're in for before you jump in.

Nintendo Switch Online kicks off tomorrow, September 18, for Nintendo Switch.

(Hat tip to IGN for the scoop!)