Amazon no longer accepting Visa credit cards from January 2022 - WTF?

[peanuts87]

AIBU to think this is madness? They're going to inconvenience so many of their customers. Still, it's good incentive to stop using Amazon I suppose!

www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-stop-accepting-visa-credit-cards-issued-uk-bloomberg-news-2021-11-17/

People also need to remember that applying for new credit cards can negatively affect your credit rating, particularly if you've had one recently. Overall they're generally good for your credit (as long as you pay them on time) but definitely need to be aware if planning to apply for a mortgage in the next 6 months.

I've got a Curve debit card (Mastercard). It works as a front for any or all of your debit/credit cards, Visa or Mastercard. You can pre-select which card you use via the app, or even switch a charge from one card to another after the event. I've had no problem with it so far (although I've seen others with problems on Twitter). You get 1% cashback in the first month and can get a further 30 days' 1% cashback for every friend you recommend.

I was just coming on here to suggest a Curve card! You use the curve card to make all purchases but then you choose which credit card the purchase is actually assigned to. I've you buy on Amazon via curve then direct it to your visa card. Problem solved.

Just watched curve video - don’t fully understand it. Seems like yet another card and yet another app ?
Do you still have all of your other cards as well ?

@Hilda40

Natwest changed over from Visa to Mastercard recently I had wondered why.

My Natwest card has been MasterCard for years.

I've just checked and my RBS credit card is a Mastercard. That's the one I use for Amazon. Don't think dh has a Mastercard though

Instead of Amazon bashing, the real question is for all the smaller businesses who will have to stand high Visa charges or decline that business.

@HeronLanyon yes to both..but just use the curve for everything and work out where the payments are directed afterwards. It's good for keeping track of payments.

They’re doing this to support their UK sellers as Visa has used Brexit to significantly increase UK acquiring charges. It’s to pressurise Visa to reduce them.

@PrtScn

MasterCard have already done exactly the same thing as Visa, but no one batted an eye-lid; www.finextra.com/newsarticle/37335/mastercard-hikes-interchange-fees-for-uk-online-purchases-from-the-eu

You can thank Brexit for this, as the EU capped the fees they could charge.

Amazon’s own card uses Mastercard so they must have a deal with them. visa credit dominates the UK market so I think Amazon are just trying to bully Visa into a cheaper deal.

It’s not to do with interchange. Visa raised this at the same time Mastercard did or early. These are other transaction fees that Visa supposedly charges merchants as a kind of service fee. Amazon and online retailers have been vocal that this cost should have decreased as Visa used greater technological solutions to fight fraud etc but instead it has only increased. I personally don’t think it will be long before Amazon, Apple, Google or Facebook enters the arena as an alternative to Visa and MasterCard.

Don't use Amazon for anything. Problem solved!

@TimeFlysWhenYoureHavingRum

Don't use Amazon for anything. Problem solved!

Not have a bank account then because nearly all banks now use amazon cloud services.

Hiya @Rochim20

"It's all well and good if you can have a cc to say that debit cards are no good, but some people don't have that choice. I'm one of them. I don't have the choice of using a cc to buy online. I'm not that fortunate to be able to look down my nose at other people and sneer at their lack of choice."

In the thread I said 'being of sound mind, I'd never use a debit card online' and I'm really sorry if this came across as being sneery or looking down on people who use debit cards.

I really didn't mean it to.

My debit card details were stolen from an online purchase (probably from an ebay transaction, apparently) and it turned into an awful mess. My current account was emptied beyond the overdraft somehow, I couldn't pay my rent or car payment, I remember at one point I literally had no way of getting cash out to pay for food. I was in default for my student loan and they put a debt collection agency onto me. It was a complete nightmare, for nearly a year and this is why I said I'd have to be mad to use a debit card.

I'm really sorry if it came across as sneering at people who don't have access to a credit.

Debit cards are protected in the event of fraud - regulation may be weaker than with credit cards but in practice larger banks and Visa do try to level the field a bit. For transactions below £100 you are better off using your debit card.

I've never seen a Visa credit card before 🤔

Visa need to reduce fees. It wouldn't surprise me if other companies follow their lead.

@MatildaIThink

If you are desperate to use a credit card then use a Mastercard or Amex card, or just use a debit card like the majority of people do.

If you use a credit card it's easier to get your money back if things go wrong.

I’ll have to stop using Amazon it’s completely stupid and unfair. I never use my debit card to pay for things as the protection is weak compared to a credit card. They will also lose a lot of customers this way.

@RelentlessForwardProgress

Hiya *@Rochim20*

"It's all well and good if you can have a cc to say that debit cards are no good, but some people don't have that choice. I'm one of them. I don't have the choice of using a cc to buy online. I'm not that fortunate to be able to look down my nose at other people and sneer at their lack of choice."

In the thread I said 'being of sound mind, I'd never use a debit card online' and I'm really sorry if this came across as being sneery or looking down on people who use debit cards.

I really didn't mean it to.

My debit card details were stolen from an online purchase (probably from an ebay transaction, apparently) and it turned into an awful mess. My current account was emptied beyond the overdraft somehow, I couldn't pay my rent or car payment, I remember at one point I literally had no way of getting cash out to pay for food. I was in default for my student loan and they put a debt collection agency onto me. It was a complete nightmare, for nearly a year and this is why I said I'd have to be mad to use a debit card.

I'm really sorry if it came across as sneering at people who don't have access to a credit.

If a bank don't sort it out within a year then that's on the bank!

@CharlotteRose90

I’ll have to stop using Amazon it’s completely stupid and unfair. I never use my debit card to pay for things as the protection is weak compared to a credit card. They will also lose a lot of customers this way.

Again, only if you spend over £100. Amazon itself does have pretty robust refund procedures and their payments are encrypted end to end- using a debit card is fine. Using it on a lesser known website without the padlock, or for services you cannot guarantee you'll receive then sure.

@sbhydrogen

I've never seen a Visa credit card before 🤔

But it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, I have one, issued by Barclaycard, one of the largest, longest standing, and best known suppliers of credit cards.

In fact, for a long time, they were synonymous with credit cards, like Hoover and vacuum cleaners.

But the lesson here is, whether you use credit cards, or stick to debit cards, is to have at least two, with different banks, and preferably master card and visa, so you can separate online spending from your main current account and also give you a separate payment method in the event of system problems.

Plus credit card availability is a lot wider than what a lot of people seem to think, there are starter cards which can be used as a gateway to a better card. You just need to put some of your normal spending on and pay off in full every month and it's totally free of interest.

@sbhydrogen

I've never seen a Visa credit card before 🤔

Barclaycard is the main one and because it was one of the first and it was always advertised as Barclaycard Visa, it likely has many loyal customers, probably mainly older people, DH is one of them. Whereas I have several credit cards, I use them on different things to get the most rewards back, DH only has Barclaycard, I have often said to him to get another card that does reward points or cashback but no he just seems to have this strange loyalty to Barclaycard. and only has this and his bank card. He has even said but I use Barclaycard as it was some special card so he gets nothing back whereas I have just received £45 in JL gift vouchers for using my card.

He has said now that he will get a MasterCard as we share Prime and he will have to put a card on there but I suspect the Barclaycard will be still used for everything else.

Barclaycard twitter is awash with their loyal customers some who have had their Barclaycards for 30+ years like DH and now won't be able to use them on Amazon

My Barclaycard used to be an Egg card and it was taken over by Barclays a decade or so ago but I've always had cashback from it. I think it started at 1% and now it's 0.5%, which was probably unsustainable, considering that this is higher (I think) than the amount that they are currently allowed to charge merchants for card processing.

Plus I'm one of the majority that use the card for cashback, clear it every month, so never pay a penny in interest.

@NichyNoo

‘Does you do or does you don’t take access?’ I remember singing along to that TV ad in the 80s

Does you does or does you don't take Access?