Amazon Warns They Are Banning Visa Credit Cards

Amazon has locked heads with financial service corporation Visa over a row on the use of credit cards on their site.

The internet retailer has now said they will not be accepting payments from Visa credit cards that have been issued in the UK, due to soaring charges imposed by Visa.

The changes will come into effect from January next year.

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In an email that was issued to customers, a spokesperson for Amazon explained: “Starting 19 January, 2022, we will unfortunately no longer accept Visa credit cards issued in the UK, due to the high fees Visa charges for processing credit card transactions.

“The cost of accepting card payments continues to be an obstacle for businesses striving to provide the best prices for customers. These costs should be going down over time with technological advancements, but instead they continue to stay high or even rise.”

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Customers are now being urged to update their payment options ahead of the ban being imposed.

Visa has increased its fees last month, shortly after the UK officially left the European Union. The company raised fees for transactions between UK and EU from 0.3 per cent to 1.5 per cent. As Amazon.co.uk operates from Luxembourg, the company has been hit hard by the increase.

Card ‘interchange’ fees charged by companies like Visa and Mastercard were capped under EU rules, but Brexit has since meant this no longer applies to the UK.

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“With the rapidly changing payments landscape around the world, we will continue innovating on behalf of customers to add and promote faster, cheaper, and more inclusive payment options to our stores across the globe,” Amazon said in a statement.

Visa, however, said they were “disappointed” with Amazon’s decision.

“We are very disappointed that Amazon is threatening to restrict consumer choice in the future,” a spokesperson said. “When consumer choice is limited, nobody wins. We have a long-standing relationship with Amazon, and we continue to work toward a resolution.”

Amazon.co.uk have said payments through Mastercard, Amex and Eurocard are still being accepted.

Topics: Amazon, Money, Shopping, News

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley