Amazon ditches Visa in UK
Amazon has announced that, from 19 January 2022, it will no longer accept Visa as a payment type in the UK, with customers having to register a Mastercard, Amex or Eurocard credit card. It will continue to accept Visa Debit cards.
The move has been prompted by what Amazon claims are “high fees Visa charges for processing credit card transactions.” The move appears to only be targeted at the UK.
“We know this may be inconvenient, and we’re here to help you through this transition so you can continue enjoying Amazon’s low prices and wide selection,” Amazon said in an email to affected customers.
A Visa spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company will continue to communicate with Amazon to avoid the ban: “We are very disappointed that Amazon is threatening to restrict consumer choice in the future. When consumer choice is limited, nobody wins,” they said.
“We have a long-standing relationship with Amazon, and we continue to work toward a resolution.”
The move comes as the retail industry comes under increasing pressure from the cost of card transactions. Retailers in the UK and the EEA now face an estimated £150m a year cost increase to accept cross-border card payments, with British retailers alone shouldering an extra £36.5m, or £100,000 every day.
Research by retail payments advisory firm CMSPI, in conjunction with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and its members, reveals the huge impact of fee changes, which have risen up to 475% in some cases.
Many of the UK’s closest neighbours face rocketing cross-border fees – with retailers in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands forking out over £53 million between them.
