Why has Amazon banned Visa credit cards?

The world's largest online retailer Amazon is now in a bitter battle with the world's largest credit card provider Visa. Amazon has said it would stop accepting Visa credit cards in the U.K. and that it was considering ending its partnership with Visa on a co-branded card in the U.S as well.

Amazon users were informed by the company saying that from Jan. 2022 “we will no longer accept Visa credit cards issued in the U.K.” due to the high fees charged to process transaction.

An Amazon spokesperson said “the cost of accepting card payments continues to be an obstacle for businesses striving to provide the best prices for customers.”

Visa however said it expects to resolve its disputes with Amazon. “Clearly, we’re in a challenging negotiation,” Visa CEO Al Kelly told the Financial Times (FT), the media outlet reported Saturday (Nov. 20). “What’s different here is that Amazon unfortunately decided to take the negotiation challenges that we’re having public and oddly has chosen to threaten to punish consumers.”

UK is not the only place where Visa card holders are being 'punished', Amazon has already imposed a surcharge for those using Visa credit cards in Singapore and Australia.