Amazon won’t accept Visa cards due to high fees.

Online retailer Amazon announced today that starting in January, they will no longer accept payment on their platform with Visa credit cards specifically in the United Kingdom. According to the official statement, the reason for this is high processing fees incurred from Visa every time one of their credit cards is used to make a payment.

“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,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Amazon says it will stop accepting UK-issued Visa credit cards on January 19th https://t.co/1Z6Hne6Foi pic.twitter.com/DmAXprnoH3

— Engadget (@engadget) November 17, 2021

To clarify, this restriction is only on Visa credit cards, not debit cards, and only in the United Kingdom. Customers can still use Visa credit cards elsewhere, as well as Mastercard, Amex, and Eurocard credit cards.

In response to Amazon’s announcement, a Visa spokesperson voiced the company’s disapproval. “Amazon is threatening to restrict consumer choice in the future,” they wrote. “When consumer choice is limited, nobody wins.”

💳Amazon customers will be blocked from using Visa cards in the UK.

❌The dispute relates to transaction fees charged by the credit card brand

Thread 👇https://t.co/tXJeXkmImH pic.twitter.com/2NbujUk1xq

— Telegraph Money (@MoneyTelegraph) November 17, 2021

Visa will be engaging in negotiations with Amazon to ensure that UK-based Visa credit card holders will still be able to use their cards on the platform “without Amazon-imposed restrictions come January 2022.”