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Amazon Inc. may cut Visa and discontinue using it as its credit card partner in the United States. The e-commerce company was said to be mulling on dropping the credit card brand after confirming it will stop accepting Visa credit cards that were issued in the United Kingdom.
According to Reuters, Amazon decided to stop honoring Visa cards in the U.K. due to an escalating dispute over issues on payments. The spokesperson of the company said that they are in talks with some payment companies such as Mastercard Inc., American Express Co., and Visa for the "standard process" of reviewing co-branded credit card agreements.
Prior to cutting UK-issued Visa credit cards, Amazon served surcharges to customers who were using Visa credit cards in Singapore and Australia. The company said the move was due to high fees, and this development has worsened the relationship between Amazon and Visa.
Last month, Visa started charging 1.5 percent for online credit card payment transactions in the U.K. and EU. It also charges 1.15 percent for debit card transactions, and the increases were said to be from 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
On top of these, there is also credit card processing fees ranging from 1.5 percent to 3.5 percent of every transaction, and usually, retailers accept these charges from major credit card firms. But apparently, Amazon finds the charges too high today, so it has stopped honoring UK-issued Visa credit cards, and based on the new reports, it may also drop Visa in the U.S.
"We are disappointed that Amazon is threatening to restrict consumer choice," Visa said in a statement. "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."
It should be noted that customers can still use Visa debit cards on their Amazon transactions. Mastercard, Amex, and Eurocard in the U.K. will still be accepted as well.
Meanwhile, it was on Wednesday, Nov. 17, when it was revealed Amazon will no longer accept payments using UK-issued Visa credit cards starting January 19, 2022. The retail giant cited high fees as the reason for its decision, as per CNBC.
