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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

#381

Post by r_c_a_d »

zh3 wrote: post #327
barrkel wrote: post #2

I cannot believe that Visa transaction overhead would be higher than Amex - there's something going on behind the scenes here. I don't think this is the end of it either, it smells like a negotiation threat. Visa have a larger market share overall (80%, including debit cards [1]) but Mastercard leads in credit cards. Amex has always been fairly niche because it's not accepted everywhere. [1] https://www.statista.com/…

FWIW, as a UK Amazon buyer with a Visa Credit card, I received an email this morning with Subject line "Visa credit cards will not be accepted, starting 19 Jan, 2022" and nothing but my name in the body. A very, very basic email - interesting 'From' address though. Received: from a0-156.smtp-out.eu-west-1.amazonses.com (a0-156.smtp-out.eu-west-1.amazonses.com [54.240.0.156]) From: "Amazon.co.uk" Subject: Visa credit…

Yes, I got one too and thought it was spam.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#382

Post by vel0city »

ahoka wrote: post #288
pittmajp wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about all the free money you're leaving off the table in miles and cash back? I've had a credit card for about 3 years, and while it isn't much, I've never paid a dime in interest and I'm up roughly $800.

Big corporations giving people free money sound kinda unbelievable, don't you think? They must actually make money on card holders for this to be profitable. The obvious way is that some people will overdraw sooner or later, the other is that people with credit cards simply tend to spend more (some say about 10-15%). The average credit card debt in the USA is more that 6000$.

The "average credit card debt" is a bit difficult to really measure. That isn't necessarily the amount of interest bearing credit card debt which IMO is the real concern.

I've have some credit card debt, none of it carries any interest. When I buy appliances or furniture I usually take the interest free financing despite having the ability to pay. Why pay a few grand today when you can spread that out interest free for 2 years and let that value appreciate? I would have lost out on tons of money if I had sold investments up front to buy those goods. So instead of getting rid of all that money a year ago, I got 30% gains in the market.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#383

Post by stronglikedan »

PeterisP wrote: post #360
youngtaff wrote: post #337

There's a huge piece of information missing from that article and much of the reporting of Amazon's decision Visa have put up UK-EU interchange fees (as post Brexit they're not covered by the cap) But it affects Amazon because when you buy something from Amazon UK, you're billed by Amazon Luxembourg and Amazon UK then fulfil Amazon's tax avoidance strategy is part of the reason the charge has increased for them. If t…

Brexit is the gift that keeps on giving!

The path to the better destination is sometimes the bumpier path.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#384

Post by red_trumpet »

youngtaff wrote: post #337

There's a huge piece of information missing from that article and much of the reporting of Amazon's decision Visa have put up UK-EU interchange fees (as post Brexit they're not covered by the cap) But it affects Amazon because when you buy something from Amazon UK, you're billed by Amazon Luxembourg and Amazon UK then fulfil Amazon's tax avoidance strategy is part of the reason the charge has increased for them. If t…

According to the BBC article[1], Mastercard also raised a fee for UK-EU transactions. But Mastercard has no problem here?

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59306200

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#385

Post by whylo »

zh3 wrote: post #327
barrkel wrote: post #2

I cannot believe that Visa transaction overhead would be higher than Amex - there's something going on behind the scenes here. I don't think this is the end of it either, it smells like a negotiation threat. Visa have a larger market share overall (80%, including debit cards [1]) but Mastercard leads in credit cards. Amex has always been fairly niche because it's not accepted everywhere. [1] https://www.statista.com/…

FWIW, as a UK Amazon buyer with a Visa Credit card, I received an email this morning with Subject line "Visa credit cards will not be accepted, starting 19 Jan, 2022" and nothing but my name in the body. A very, very basic email - interesting 'From' address though. Received: from a0-156.smtp-out.eu-west-1.amazonses.com (a0-156.smtp-out.eu-west-1.amazonses.com [54.240.0.156]) From: "Amazon.co.uk" Subject: Visa credit…

I've just checked my copy of the email and you're right, the text/plain part only has my name in. The text/html part has the full message though.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#388

Post by GoodbyeMrChips »

tigershark wrote: post #335
socialdemocrat wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this is a thing in the US, but in Norway where I am from it doesn’t matter. Nobody gets a credit card here improve credit rating. I doubt people do they in most of Europe. When somebody does a credit check on you they don’t get a score, only a remark on whether that person has done any negative with respect to their credit worthiness. Thus there is really only the negatives which count.

In U.K. it definitely helps your credit score.

Except we don't have a "credit score" in the UK.

Credit reference agencies instead report credit history.

The difference is a subtle but very important one, as it allows companies to assess your individual circumstances, rather than base decisions on an arbitrary score.

The above misunderstanding is so commonplace that the Redit UKPersoanlFinace sub had (has?) a bot explaining this on every UK post mentioning 'credit score'. Here "credit scores" are instead a marketing gimmick launched by credit reference agencies to get consumers to subscribe to monitoring services. The 'score' they give is meaningless.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2021/06/martin-lewis-cred...

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#389

Post by scaryclam »

stuaxo wrote: post #217
tazjin wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's really true outside of the US.

No, it's true in the UK. I had this issue, and had to get a credit card and buy stuff on it for a year... basically without using credit you may not have a credit rating. I always lose my cards and have to get them replaced, so have been back on just a debit card for a few years now.

The issue isn't not having a credit card, it's never having used any credit to create a good credit history. Setting up a few direct debits should work in lieu of getting a credit card.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#390

Post by scaryclam »

b112 wrote: post #311
chanc3e wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can second this. I had to get a credit card as mortgage got denied because my credit record didn't exist. Three months after the card, I got approved. This is despite me earning an extravagant wage relative to my age for over a decade and never missing rent/utilities/council tax. Bad system.

I think this is being misstated by GP. It isn't that a lack of credit card hurts your credit rating, but that a lack of any credit hurts your credit rating in Canada or the US. There are other ways to get an initial credit rating than a credit card, although I agree that this is the path most easy, and chosen by many to get that first rating. The method I employed, was to buy a car and had a parent cosign. I made all…

Not only this, but getting a credit card and not using it can cause an issue for your credit, so it's better to setup direct debits and other forms of credit than it is to get a card you never use.
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