Amazon to ditch UK-issued Visa credit cards
Amazon has said it will stop accepting Visa credit cards issued in the UK from next year due to high transaction fees.
A spokesperson for the e-commerce giant says: “As a result of Visa’s continued high cost of payments, we regret that Amazon.co.uk will no longer accept UK-issued Visa credit cards as of 19 January 2022.”
In a note to customers, the company pointed out that Visa debit cards and Mastercard and Amex credit cards will still be accepted.
A Visa spokesperson says in a statement: “We are very disappointed that Amazon is threatening to restrict consumer choice in the future. 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.”
This is the latest step in an ongoing battle between Amazon and Visa. The retailer is offering users £20 off their next purchase if they set a debit or non-Visa credit card as their payment default. In Singapore and Australia, Amazon has already imposed a surcharge for those using Visa credit cards.
In the UK, an EU-enforced cap on fees charged by card issuers is no longer in place following Brexit. Both Visa and Mastercard have increased some fees as a result. Both also intend to increase fees in the US, albeit with this postponed until April 2022 due to Covid.
Amazon has a 25% share of the UK’s e-commerce market, according to Euromonitor, representing $29 billion in volume, or 0.26% of Visa’s total.