MILLIONS of shoppers will no longer be able to buy online from Amazon using a Visa credit card from next week.
The shopping giant announced last year that it plans to block payments from the start of 2022.
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Amazon has said the Visa credit card ban is going ahead from January 19.
Shoppers will still be able to use Visa debit cards and credit cards issued by other payment firms, like Mastercard or Amex.
Anyone currently using a Visa credit card when shopping online with Amazon will have to add a new method of payment.
If you don’t update your payment info you could find your Prime membership is paused or cancelled.
You can change your details on the “manage your subscription” page in your Amazon account.
Some customers were even offered £20 credit for switching to a new card.
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The ban will not affect the use of Visa debit and customers are free to continue using their debit card as a payment option.
Amazon said it’s making the change because of high transaction fees it has to pay to Visa.
Visa hiked its interchange fee for online credit card payments to 1.5% last year- up five times from the previous 0.3% rate.
In a statement released in November, 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.”
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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