Amazon will stop accepting Visa credit cards for payments in the United Kingdom from January. The cost of processing payments on the cards has made it expensive to support them, Amazon said.
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It will continue to accept payments with Visa debit cards, as well as other credit cards from other companies, such as Mastercard and American Express.
The new rules will start on January 19, it said in an email sent to customers.
Amazon said that based on technological advances, payment processing fees should be decreasing and complained that they were actually increasing.
"The cost of accepting card payments continues to be a barrier for businesses trying to provide the best value for customers," the company said in a statement.
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“These costs should be decreasing over time, but instead they continue to remain high or even increase.”
"As a result of Visa's continued high payment costs, we regret that Amazon.co.uk will no longer accept Visa credit cards issued in the UK from 19 January 2022."
"With the rapidly changing payments landscape around the world, we will continue to innovate to add and promote faster, cheaper and more comprehensive payment options in stores around the world."
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A Visa spokesperson said the company is disappointed and hopes to resolve the situation before we reach January 2022.
"During this time and throughout the festive period, UK shoppers can use their Visa debit and credit cards on Amazon UK," the company said.
"We are very disappointed that Amazon is being forced to limit consumer choices. When consumer choices are limited, no one really wins."
“We have a long-standing relationship with Amazon and continue to work to find a solution so that our cardholders can use their preferred Visa credit cards on Amazon UK without the restrictions that will be imposed by Amazon in January 2022,” said the Visa spokesperson.
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