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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
World
Beth Cruse

Amazon halts plan to block UK Visa credit cards at the last minute

Amazon has halted a plan to stop customers using UK Visa credit cards on their website, two days before it was meant to come into force.

The online retail giant announced the proposed ban in November, citing the "high fees Visa charges for processing credit card transactions".

But in an email sent to customers today (Monday, January 17) Amazon said the change will "no longer take place" on January 19, and that it is working with Visa on a "potential solution."

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Last year Amazon said that Visa payment costs were "an obstacle" to providing the best prices for their customers.

But Visa accused Amazon of threatening to restrict consumer choice, saying "when consumer choice is limited, nobody wins".

Amazon wrote to its customers today advising: "The expected change regarding the use of Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk will no longer take place on January 19.

"We are working closely with Visa on a potential solution that will enable customers to continue using their Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk.

"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."

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Visa - which is the biggest issuer of debit cards in the UK – faced backlash from Amazon after it confirmed plans to increase interchange fees in March.

This saw its rate shoot up from 0.3 percent to 1.5 percent for online credit card payments, and for debit card transactions, the rate rose from 0.2 percent to 1.15 percent.

Data experts from OnePoll had previously warned how Amazon could face losing nearly £1.4billion from UK shoppers if it blocked Visa credit card payments.

In a statement released this morning, Visa said: "Amazon customers can continue to use Visa cards on Amazon.co.uk after January 19 while we work closely together to reach an agreement."

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