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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

#491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Funny how Europeans consider anything that they have to pay for a "real cost" that's justified. What are your thoughts on ATM fees? Is there a "real cost" to maintaining ATM fees? Should it be passed to the consumer? Or is it an unfriendly consumer practice that Europe has rightfully "banned" (aka not common)? It seems to me they're just charging you another way by selling your data or whatever! How much do Europeans…

> How much do Europeans pay for Whatsapp, by the way?

If I had my way, the 1€/year fee would be back ;)

> What are your thoughts on ATM fees?

I hate them, but I can understand why they exist and are still legal to this date (although it is inconvenient having to find an ATM that has a contract with my bank).

> Also, can you share the European law that bans merchants paying a percentage for financial transactions to the payment processor?

It’s limited to 0.2%, which is why the card companies have been asking customers to pay a monthly cost for the cards instead.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#492
post #428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a shortage here in NL as well, and we're still part of EU, so I am not sure if/how Brexit is related. The job is being paid shit here in NL, and its high stress, especially since Covid-19. Its like blaming the current inflation on Covid-19; well, no, its the gas price which has gone up. And that is because of an artificial shortage by OPEC. I'm not sure why they do that though... I can only guess.

Do you have empty shelves in supermarkets as a result? Closed restaurants? There's a shortage all across Europe, but as far as I have heard it's only in the UK where it's sufficient to cause problems with food distribution. (Natural gas prices have reduced food production in the Netherlands: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-30/your-toma... but would we have seen the result of that yet?)

OP and I were talking about a shortage in healthcare workers...

> The great British public still have their heads in the sand in the wake of lorry driver shortages, nursing staff shortages and doctor shortages.

Restaurants open or closed is a luxury; /care

Some food not available, might be a luxury, but the vids I've seen were quite shocking.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#493
post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> can't be overcharged, can't go below zero In the UK, it's really hard to get a bank account where they'll do that. Instead they'll pay it, call it an "unauthorised overdraft" and then charge you for that. This is their business model - it's how they make sufficient income to operate. There are "basic bank accounts" which don't provide a credit facility, but these only exist because people with poor credit histories…

> In the UK, it's really hard to get a bank account where they'll do that.

I'm pretty sure all of them do, just ring up your bank and ask them to set your overdraft limit to 0

I've certainly done this with HSBC & Santander in the past, and when I got my Monzo account it was 0 by default (You had to sign up for an overdraft if you wanted one).

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#494
post #158

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Oh don't get me started with the EC card shenanigans - I've had so many problems in Munich with shops demanding an EC card as the only form of card accepted. Drives me crazy that in some cases it's either that (which is unavailable to non German residents) or cash....

Ironically, an EC card these days is just a MasterCard. They used to be called EC (EuroCheque) card, but rebranded in 2007 when MasterCard was ousted from the system. MC kept the brand rights and didn't do anything with them for a decade. Meanwhile people kept using the old name. Now, however, MC started using the brand for some debit MasterCards, which can lead to great confusion by unsuspecting merchants. That said…

It's not just a MasterCard. There are still shops that will accept Maestro and not MasterCard. Further, some girocards, like mine, a V-Pay cards, Visa's equivalent, and not co-branded with Maestro.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#495
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?

So you can’t grasp that most other people might do things differently because you’ve done it one way for a long time?

I'd call that a radical interpretation of the text.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#496

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> Never owned a credit card, don't have the slightest wish to do so. I own a credit card, as you get additional consumer protections using a credit card rather than a debit card in the UK. Pay it off in full every month. No problem.

It is an insurance policy then. Have you calculated how much this insurance cost you? Credit card fees, the inevitable 'forgot to pay it off' etc.

The credit card fee is included in the price of the item, whether you use a credit card or a debit card, it's there.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that this special relationship only likely applies to transactions that use the Amazon MasterCard on Amazon.com, and MasterCards issued by other companies still impose full rates. Costco ran into this with American Express, though in retrospect the move to Visa seems like a worse move (more non-Costco Visa cards in circulation).

> Costco ran into this with American Express, though in retrospect the move to Visa seems like a worse move (more non-Costco Visa cards in circulation). Could you expand on it a worse move for Costco? I thought it was great they moved to Visa because majority of Americans does not have Amex for credit card. The only way we can use our Visa card is through debit card only. So by moving to Visa (they have largest cardh…

Costco in Canada moved to Mastercard when they dumped Amex.

They now accept any Mastercard. But most Canadians probably pay with Interac debit anyway.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#498
post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Costco ran into this with American Express, though in retrospect the move to Visa seems like a worse move (more non-Costco Visa cards in circulation). Could you expand on it a worse move for Costco? I thought it was great they moved to Visa because majority of Americans does not have Amex for credit card. The only way we can use our Visa card is through debit card only. So by moving to Visa (they have largest cardh…

Costco in Canada moved to Mastercard when they dumped Amex. They now accept any Mastercard. But most Canadians probably pay with Interac debit anyway.

Seriously? Because here in the US it's visa only, no Mastercard.

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#499
post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco in Canada moved to Mastercard when they dumped Amex. They now accept any Mastercard. But most Canadians probably pay with Interac debit anyway.

Seriously? Because here in the US it's visa only, no Mastercard.

Yup. https://www.costco.ca/capital-one-costco-mastercard.html

Re: Amazon to stop accepting UK Visa credit cards

#500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Never owned a credit card, don't have the slightest wish to do so. Bizarrely, never owning a credit card will negatively impact your credit rating.

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.

Credit "score" isn't exist here in Japan, but higher age and zero credit history is bad because they can't be distinguished to bankruptcy person.
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