Amazon UK will allow customers to continue buying products using Visa credit cards after January 19, according to Yahoo! Finance. It comes after a decision in November by Amazon to stop allowing Visa credit cards to be used on its website because of the high fees it believes Visa charges.
In an email to customers today, Amazon is quoted as having said:
“Should we make any changes related to Visa credit cards, we will give you advance notice. Until then, you can continue to use Visa credit cards, debit cards, Mastercard, American Express, and Eurocard as you do today.”
While talks between Amazon and Visa have led to a reprieve for Visa credit cards, the message sent out to consumers makes it sound as though Amazon is not fully satisfied and could remove support for Visa credit cards further down the line. Should Visa credit cards ever be banned, customers will either have to shop elsewhere or use another type of card such as a debit card or a Mastercard credit card.
According to Yahoo! Finance, the decision in November by Amazon was prompted by Visa upping its interchange feeds in mid-October for credit cards from 0.3% to 1.5%. Amazon thought this was too big an increase and said it didn’t want to support those cards anymore. For the time being, though, Visa credit card users do not need to find a new payment method.