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.

Visa says it is working towards a resolution

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.