Walmart no longer accepting Visa due to 'unacceptably high' transaction fees

Retail giant Walmart is no longer accepting Visa card purchases in its Canadian stores. 

The supermarket chain says it pays more than $100m in credit card fees each year, and released the following in a statement: 

"Following an evaluation of credit card transaction fees in Canada and the rest of the world, we have concluded the fees applied to Visa credit card purchases remain unacceptably high. 

"Walmart’s purpose is to save customers money so they can live better. We are committed first and foremost to this purpose, which requires us to keep costs as low as possible. 

"To ensure we are taking care of our customers’ best interests and delivering on our promise of saving customers money, we constantly work to reduce our operating costs, including credit card fees. Unfortunately, Visa and Walmart have been unable to agree on an acceptable fee for Visa transactions. As a result we will no longer accept Visa in our stores across Canada, starting with our stores in Thunder Bay, on July 18, 2016.  This change will then be rolled out in phases across the country.

"To keep prices low we continuously assess opportunities to lower our operating expenses. Walmart Canada pays over $100 million in fees to accept credit cards each and every year. Lowering costs such as these is necessary for us to be able to keep our prices low and continue saving our customers money.

"Customers will continue to be able to use other forms of payment including cash, Interac debit, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. 

"We sincerely regret any impact this will have on our customers who use Visa and remain optimistic that we will reach an agreement with Visa."

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