US Market
LONDON (AP) — Customers are caught in the middle of a growing dispute between Amazon and Visa over transaction fees.
The online retail giant moved this week to stop shoppers from using Visa credit cards issued in the United Kingdom starting next year, the latest salvo in a battle between payment networks and retailers.
Amazon blamed “high fees” for its decision, marking an escalation from the action it has taken in Singapore and Australia, where it has started charging 0.5% extra for using credit cards from the payment juggernaut.
Seattle-based Amazon and San Francisco-based Visa are two of the biggest forces in retail, and their showdown over fees marks an inflection point in the payment industry, said Laura Hoy, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Historically, Visa's been able to charge whatever it sees fit because of its huge network of card users — not accepting Visa meant cutting out a huge pool of potential customers,” Hoy said.