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Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

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Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#251

Post by kuschku »

drstewart wrote: post #231
larschdk wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Denmark has a standardized national debit card. Physical stores are not allowed to charge a fee, but online stores are (typically DKK1.50/$0.25). Works great, but obviously only for stores in Denmark. They are almost always combined with a Visa debit card on the same card for a yearly fee (typically DKK150/$25).

Danes have to pay a fee in order to get payment cards? I thought consumer protection was big there.

Why? There's a real cost associated with running the cards. In the US, that's paid by selling your data, by the percentages the merchants pay (which in turn is paid by everyone, even those customers paying cash) and by the extreme fees for not paying your bill on time.

If all these consumer-unfriendly practices are banned, you see the real cost of such cards. Same happens for many customers in Germany: pay 10€/month for a bank account with included VISA/MasterCard, pay 30€-60€/year for such a card, or use only a national card.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#252

Post by andrewshadura »

cameronh90 wrote: post #238
mrec wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people buying stuff on Amazon would be using a debit card, folks only really use credit cards for large purchases Huh? I'm in the UK, have been an Amazon customer for over 20 years and have always used a credit card for everything. I didn't even know you could use a debit card, and can't see any reason you'd want to. Paid off in full every month, better consumer protection, what's not to like?

"I didn't even know you could use a debit card," Is there ever a situation that you can use a credit card but not a debit card? There are occasionally places that only accept debit cards, but I think the only time I've had a debit card refused was when hiring a car.

At some point Uber only accepted credit cards, but not debit cards.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#253

Post by mjul »

TekMol wrote: post #103

How much does Visa charge when someone pays, say, $100 to Amazon via a credit card? And if that is a substantial amount - how will the Lightning Network not drive Visa out of business?

You are probably thinking about the interchange fees.

[1] https://www.visa.co.uk/about-visa/visa-in-europe/fees-and-in...

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#254

Post by 88 »

gambiting wrote: post #208
88 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using a credit card in this way could be negatively impacting your credit rating. You can be dinged both for having credit and not using it in a given month, as well as exceeding a certain threshold (~10%?) of your credit limit.

I have two credit cards, one of them I haven't used in 5 years at all, the other I use as described, and according to Credit Karma my credit rating is 690 our of 700. We just remortgaged the house too without any issue. So yeah, I don't think I care too much about my credit rating at all, it doesn't seem to be affected by this in the sligtest.

Fair enough if it doesn’t impact your day to day, but it will definitely impact others.

Also worth noting Credit Karma uses TransUnion which is only one of the big three rating agencies, and arguably the least important compared to Equifax and Experian.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#255

Post by ryanlol »

input_sh wrote: post #79
mrec wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people buying stuff on Amazon would be using a debit card, folks only really use credit cards for large purchases Huh? I'm in the UK, have been an Amazon customer for over 20 years and have always used a credit card for everything. I didn't even know you could use a debit card, and can't see any reason you'd want to. Paid off in full every month, better consumer protection, what's not to like?

Here's why: two debit cards, one for receiving money, one for spending money. Automated payment from the 1st one to the 2nd one once a month with a fixed amount you expect to spend in a month. Nothing to pay off, you're spending your own money, can't be overcharged, can't go below zero, if someone leaks your spending card they can't touch the majority of your money, no scummy business practices. Never owned a credit…

> you're spending your own money

I can’t even begin to imagine how you could see this as an advantage. It’s really not.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#256

Post by andrewshadura »

gambiting wrote: post #225
sparks1970 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UK here, I use credit card for almost everything: 1. (As everyone says) consumer protection. I can dispute a charge to a CC and am not standing out the cash (unlike debit) 2. Debit transactions don't have any inherent limit. The bank might flag a very large transaction but once a debit transaction is underway it can't be stopped. I had > £10k stolen from my online account via a debit transaction and though the bank m…

Just to address those points. 1) I've been able to dispute payments on my debit cards without any issue, they were always reversed instantly by the bank. Maybe I've been lucky, I don't know. And for the "bank is liable for your purchases" thing - that doesn't apply to anything under £100 either. 2) That is a stupid limitation of UK banks, not debit cards in general. I have a bank account in Poland and for the debit c…

I was going to comment "mBank, isn't it?" but then realised that in such a competitive market as you have in Poland probably every bank's implemented this already.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#257

Post by aysfrm11 »

input_sh wrote: post #79
mrec wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people buying stuff on Amazon would be using a debit card, folks only really use credit cards for large purchases Huh? I'm in the UK, have been an Amazon customer for over 20 years and have always used a credit card for everything. I didn't even know you could use a debit card, and can't see any reason you'd want to. Paid off in full every month, better consumer protection, what's not to like?

Here's why: two debit cards, one for receiving money, one for spending money. Automated payment from the 1st one to the 2nd one once a month with a fixed amount you expect to spend in a month. Nothing to pay off, you're spending your own money, can't be overcharged, can't go below zero, if someone leaks your spending card they can't touch the majority of your money, no scummy business practices. Never owned a credit…

In Europe just using debit cards is perfectly viable in 99% of the cases, however when it comes to car rentals you are still in some locations forced to provide a 'real' credit card.

I write 'real' since most of the FinTechs like Revolut, N26 etc often issue debit cards that may fail in exactly that situation. It doesn't help if your account is flush with 10k USD and a car rental could easily block 2k for claims on your debit card, some will just not accept Revolut & co. Thus I am always forced to carry an emergency backup credit card from a major bank just to be on the safe side...

Very much looking forward to the day some other means of international payment (crypto?) will be generally accepted.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#258

Post by Nextgrid »

billyruffian wrote: post #235
dazc wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Status symbol?

I had my wallet nicked in Padstow on the last day of a trip there and was just about take the 3.5 hour drive home. Problem was I didn't have enough fuel to make it. My CC providers took ages to even answer the phone and cancel the cards. Amex dealt with it a just a few mins, arranged to courier a replacement card to me by the next day and authorised a fuelling stop for me on my way home. I'll never be without one, ev…

Out of curiosity, how did they manage to get you money without you having a physical card?

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#259

Post by andrewshadura »

kuschku wrote: post #244
KptMarchewa wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't make sense with 0.3% EU costs.

It does make sense because Girocard and some variations of Maestro only charge 0.125%

Well, Maestro is going away next year or so, so not for long.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#260

Post by hackeraccount »

sildur wrote: post #221
dustinmoris wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> can't be overcharged, can't go below zero, ...and can't get a mortgage and buy a house because you have no credit score.

That only applies to the US.

It's wildly overstated in the US. Having a CC and not paying it off in a timely manner definitely affect your score but the difference between having a card and not having one isn't as big as people make out.

If you have proof of income you're going 90% of the distance.

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