British shoppers will continue to be able to shop on Amazon with their Visa credit cards.
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Amazon.com will continue to accept Visa credit cards in the U.K., the e-commerce giant said Monday, backtracking on previous plans to halt the use of Visa on its British platform as of Jan. 19.
Visa (ticker: V) stock fell more than 5% in one day in November after Amazon (AMZN) said shoppers in the U.K. wouldn’t be able to use their Visa cards, citing high transaction fees. At the time, Visa said Amazon was “threatening to restrict consumer choice.”
Amazon said in an email to customers Monday that “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, ” read the email, which Amazon shared with Barron’s.
A spokesperson for Visa reiterated to Barron’s that its customers can continue to use their cards on Amazon.co.uk after Jan. 19 “while we work closely together to reach an agreement.”
Neither Amazon nor Visa shares were trading in the U.S. Monday, with markets closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
While it looks like there is a truce between Amazon and Visa for now, at least one analyst ultimately expects concessions from Visa in terms of fees.
“The two sides have not completely backed down but last ditch talks over the weekend appear to have been productive and certainly Amazon is coming across as a lot more conciliatory in tone,” said Susannah Streeter, an analyst at U.K. broker Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Higher fees being charged by Visa remain a bugbear, and it’s likely that a long term solution will involve some movement here,” Streeter added. “This is a niggling headache Visa will want to see lifted as it grapples with competition from start-ups and more established rivals.”
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
