By Amazon halts plan to block UK Visa credit cards
Amazon has dropped plans to block UK Visa credit card payments this week, as both companies try to resolve a dispute over payment fees.
“The expected change regarding the use of Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk will no longer take place on January 19,” the retail giant said.
Last year Amazon said that Visa payment costs were “an obstacle” to providing the best prices for customers.
But Visa accused Amazon of threatening to restrict consumer choice, stating: “When consumer choice is limited, nobody wins”.
Neither company has indicated when the talks might conclude or what the outcome might be.
In an email to customers, Amazon said it was working closely with Visa on “a potential solution that will enable customers to continue using their Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk”.
An EU-enforced cap on fees charged by card issuers is no longer in place in the UK following Brexit.
Both Visa and its rival Mastercard have raised the so-called interchange fee on cross-border transactions between businesses in the UK and the European Union following Brexit.
However, both companies said last year that their dispute had nothing to do with the UK leaving the EU.
Amazon has previously declined to say how much Visa charges the retailer to process transactions made on credit cards.
Visa also declined to comment, though it claimed that on average it takes less than 0.1% of the value of a purchase.
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