News

Wal-Mart Canada cans Visa for 'unacceptably high' fees

June 13, 2016

On Saturday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc announced plans to stop accepting Visa credit cards at its stores in Canada due to fees that the retailer deems "unacceptably high."

Wal-Mart Canada explained the decision in a statement posted on its website:

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.

The company went on to say that Wal-Mart Canada pays more than $100 million in credit card fees annually, and that, "[l]owering costs such as these is necessary for us to be able to keep our prices low and continue saving our customers money."

Is the announcement just a negotiating tactic? Maybe. According to the release, the company remains "optimistic" that it will reach an agreement with Visa on lower fees.

But if not, customers will still be able to pay for purchases with MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Interac debit and, of course, cash.