AMAZON’s ban on Visa credit cards comes into force this week, giving millions of shoppers just two days to swap their payment method.
The US retail giant announced last year that it would block Visa credit card payments from the start of 2022.
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If you use a Visa credit card when shopping online with Amazon, you should add a different payment method before Wednesday, January 19.
Otherwise you could face disruption, such as your Prime membership being paused or cancelled.
You can change your details on the “manage your subscription” page in your Amazon account.
Some customers have been offered a £20 credit incentive to switch to a new card.
The ban will not affect the use of Visa debit and customers are free to continue using that card as a payment option.
Consumers can also still use credit cards issued by other payment firms, like Mastercard or Amex.
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Amazon blamed the decision on the high fees it has to pay to Visa for each transaction.
Visa hiked its interchange fee for online credit card payments to 1.5% last year – up five times from the previous 0.3% rate.
Announcing the ban last year, Amazon said: “As a result of Visa’s continued high cost of payments, we regret that Amazon.co.uk will no longer accept UK-issued Visa credit cards as of January 19, 2022.”
Amazon said that fees “should be going down over time with technological advancements, but instead they continue to stay high or even rise.”
However Visa said the decision would limit consumer choice.
In a previous statement it said: “When consumer choice is limited, nobody wins.
“We have a long-standing relationship with Amazon, and we continue to work toward a resolution, so our cardholders can use their preferred Visa credit cards at Amazon UK without Amazon-imposed restrictions come January 2022.”
Visa cards have been ditched by major banks including Santander and First Direct, with customers sent new Mastercards to replace them.
Earlier this year Paypal introduced new fees for EU orders.
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