Amazon is to stop accepting Visa credit cards in the UK and people are blaming Brexit

Amazon will stop accepting Visa credit cards in the UK next year and people are just so grateful for Brexit (not).

The retail giant said they would stop them from 19 January due to high credit card transaction fees. Personal finance expert Martin Lewis said Visa have been able to increase fees because an EU cap no longer applies to the UK.

Indeed, a recent report from the British Retail Consortium and retail payments advisory firm CMS Payments Intelligence found that new rules after Brexit have increased credit and debit card costs by £150 million a year and last month it was reported that Visa was one of the companies to increase its fees made between European customers and British businesses from 0.3 per cent to 1.5 per cent, as well as vice versa.

In an email to UK customers, Amazon said: “Starting 19 January, 2022, we will unfortunately no longer accept Visa credit cards issued in the UK, due to the high fees Visa charges for processing credit card transactions.

“You can still use debit cards (including Visa debit cards) and non-Visa credit cards like Mastercard, Amex, and Eurocard to make purchases.”

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“The cost of accepting card payments continues to be an obstacle for businesses striving to provide the best prices for customers,” the company added in a statement.

Meanwhile, a Visa spokesperson said: “UK shoppers can use their Visa debit and credit cards at Amazon UK today and throughout the holiday season.

“We are very disappointed that Amazon is threatening to restrict consumer choice in the future. 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.”

Reacting to the news, people rolled their eyes at yet another apparent consequence of Brexit:

Ah well, at least our blue passports are gorgeous.

Indy100 has contacted Visa and Amazon to comment on this story.