High swipe fees have led Walmart Canada to discontinue its acceptance of Visa branded cards.
Walmart Canada has announced that, beginning this summer, the company will no longer accept Visa cards for payment in their stores.
According to a report from USA Today, Walmart Canada stated that the change comes in response to Visa’s “unacceptably high” swipe fees. The company announced that the change will begin to take effect on July 18, and it will then roll out in phases across the company’s more than 400 Canada stores.
USA Today reported that Walmart stated that Visa’s fees make it difficult for Walmart to attain its goal of saving customers money, because in order to do so, business costs must remain low. The company reported that Walmart Canada reported paying over $100 million in fees to accept credit cards each year, but the company did not reveal how much of that goes to Visa.
Walmart Canada stores will still accept MasterCard, Discover and American Express, USA Today reported.
In response to this announcement, Visa has warned that the decision will have adverse effects on Walmart shoppers in Canada. USA Today reported that one Visa spokeswoman, Connie Kim, stated that Visa had offered Walmart Canada one of the lowest rates available to any merchant in Canada, but Walmart chose to move forward with its decision to discontinue acceptance of Visa branded cards.
Walmart has announced that this change does not extend to U.S. stores.