The ecommerce giant is banning Visa cards in the United Kingdom from 19 January 2022.
A dispute over “interchange” fees – levies charged by card issuers to merchant’s bank for each transaction – has led Amazon to block Visa credit cards in the UK. However, consumers would still be able to make payments via Visa debit cards, MasterCard, American Express and others.
With the UK leaving the EU, Visa has increased its interchange feed by up to 1.5%. Though MasterCard has also made an identical increase to its interchange fees, before Visa, it has not been blocked by Amazon yet. Though it is still unclear why the ecommerce giant has banned only Visa credit cards, a company statement said, “The cost of accepting card payments continues to be an obstacle for businesses striving to provide the best prices for customers.”
In response to Amazon’s latest announcement, a spokesperson from Visa said, “We have a long-standing relationship with Amazon, and we continue to work toward a resolution, so our cardholders can use their preferred Visa credit cards at Amazon UK without Amazon-imposed restrictions come January 2022.”
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