Amazon and Visa resolve dispute over credit card fees

Amazon will continue to accept Visa credit card payments across its sites after the companies struck a new global deal.

The move comes months after the online retailer threatened to stop the use of UK-issued Visa credit cards because of the fees charged to process payments.

However, the two businesses have since reached an agreement, ending weeks of negotiations, including an agreement last month to postpone the ban for UK users.

Amazon customers in Australia and Singapore previously had to pay a surcharge when purchasing items using a Visa credit card. This has also been removed.

The furore followed the removal of an EU cap on fees charged by card issuers in the UK after Brexit.

Visa increased the charge of the value of a transaction for credit card payments made online between the UK and the EU to 1.5%, from a previous charge of 0.3%. The companies have not disclosed how much Amazon pays for processing.

The consumer group Which? welcomed the news that UK customers could continue to use Visa credit cards on the site.

Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium said companies faced an estimated £150m increase in the cost of accepting cross-border card payments. British retailers were subject to an extra £36.5m in fees, equivalent to £100,000 every day.