Amazon Prime !!!!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Mastercard actually announced it was increasing its rates to the UK earlier this year,and so far VISA hasn't so there is something more to this. Makes you wonder whether there is a conflict of interest here,as the Amazon issued cards are Mastercard.

I do wonder if it's a sneaky tactic to try and push more people to apply for their card?

This.

 

[Greebo]

Mastercard actually announced it was increasing its rates to the UK earlier this year,and so far VISA hasn't so there is something more to this. Makes you wonder whether there is a conflict of interest here,as the Amazon issued cards are Mastercard.



This.

Their rates for the country don't apply to the likes of Amazon though, Amazon will negotiate directly for their rates. No way will Amazon be paying 1.9% like we do.

Visa had a great year last year., Revenue was up 10% to $24bn and profits were up 16% to $12bn.

Amazon might have a point that they arent passing on the savings made in processing payments from technology gains when they are operating a 50% profit margin. They even managed to buy $9bn of the stock back.

But only somebody as big as Amazon could flex their muscles and refuse to accept Visa in an effort to get them to drop their rates.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Their rates for the country don't apply to the likes of Amazon though, Amazon will negotiate directly for their rates. No way will Amazon be paying 1.9% like we do.

Visa had a great year last year., Revenue was up 10% to $24bn and profits were up 16% to $12bn.

Amazon might have a point that they arent passing on the savings made in processing payments from technology gains when they are operating a 50% profit margin. They even managed to buy $9bn of the stock back.

But only somebody as big as Amazon could flex their muscles and refuse to accept Visa in an effort to get them to drop their rates.

I think this is more Amazon getting greedy - their own credit card is Mastercard,meaning VISA is a competitor,so they are just doing what Amazon does.

Amazon already makes huge amounts of money,and they are trying to muscle out any competitor,or companies which don't partner with them.

No,this is them getting into bed with Mastercard and trying to push people to their own Mastercard issue card. I wonder how long before they target AMEX?

 

[Haggisman]

I think they are fed up with Visa's artificial high processing charges. Amazon introduced a 0.5% surcharge for Visa credit cards in other countries last month, I presume there must be something in UK law which means they cant do that here?

Yeah, there was new legislation a year or 2 ago to stop companies charging a fee for credit card payments.

Except of course instead of stopping companies charging a fee for credit card payments, the actual effect was that a lot of companies simply stopped accepting them at all (e.g. little corner shops which used to charge you 50p for low value card payments)

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Yeah, there was new legislation a year or 2 ago to stop companies charging a fee for credit card payments.

Except of course instead of stopping companies charging a fee for credit card payments, the actual effect was that a lot of companies simply stopped accepting them at all (e.g. little corner shops which used to charge you 50p for low value card payments)

But the fact is the Amazon issued credit card is Mastercard,meaning they have a partnership with Mastercard. So now they are trying to push their biggest competitor out? There is a conflict of interest here - Amazon is trying to push people to using its own credit card,which it profits from. Remember this is Amazon which is known to screw over lots of its own Marketplace sellers.

 

[dlockers]

Yeah, there was new legislation a year or 2 ago to stop companies charging a fee for credit card payments.

Except of course instead of stopping companies charging a fee for credit card payments, the actual effect was that a lot of companies simply stopped accepting them at all (e.g. little corner shops which used to charge you 50p for low value card payments)

That was a silly allergic reaction to the law though. They could still specify a minimum spend before card was allowed.

 

[Fubsy]

No,this is them getting into bed with Mastercard and trying to push people to their own Mastercard issue card. I wonder how long before they target AMEX?

Nah, they partner with AMEX too - on some items I get offered a £50 voucher for signing up for it (Amazon Business Amex Card).

 

[tom_e]

But the fact is the Amazon issued credit card is Mastercard,meaning they have a partnership with Mastercard. So now they are trying to push their biggest competitor out? There is a conflict of interest here - Amazon is trying to push people to using its own credit card,which it profits from. Remember this is Amazon which is known to screw over lots of its own Marketplace sellers.

Or Visa have become unreasonable in their demands and have been told where to go, this seems to follow the trend as all of my cards which were Visa a year or 2 ago have now become Mastercards.

Out of 5 CCs, 2 Current accounts and a Curve account not a single card is Visa anymore.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Nah, they partner with AMEX too - on some items I get offered a £50 voucher for signing up for it.

Or Visa have become unreasonable in their demands and have been told where to go, this seems to follow the trend as all of my cards which were Visa a year or 2 ago have now become Mastercards.

Out of 5 CCs, 2 Current accounts and a Curve account not a single card is Visa anymore.

So let me get this right - they offer financial products using Mastercard and AMEX,but decided to exclude the one company they are not partnered with? So the two companies they are clearly making a cut out of card usage from,are allowed, but not the one who won't work with them.

Wow,that is so unlike Amazon!

Also not my experience - most people I know have VISA still. In fact even looking abroad I still find more VISA and AMEX branded cards from people I know in various countries.

It quiet clear,Amazon are just pushing to use providers it can offer products through.

Oh of course, you'd have to be very naïve not to realise that clearly has something to do with it.

I think a number here are TBH - it seems very shady Amazon are now only use credit card providers who issue Amazon branded cards.

 

[Haggisman]

But the fact is the Amazon issued credit card is Mastercard,meaning they have a partnership with Mastercard. So now they are trying to push their biggest competitor out? There is a conflict of interest here - Amazon is trying to push people to using its own credit card,which it profits from. Remember this is Amazon which is known to screw over lots of its own Marketplace sellers.

Oh of course, you'd have to be very naïve not to realise that clearly has something to do with it.

That was a silly allergic reaction to the law though. They could still specify a minimum spend before card was allowed.

True, although I'm not sure exactly what the fees would be - is there a flat rate fee for having a system in place as well? In which case if the majority of your transactions are below the limit, would it really be worth the cost of having a card machine in place if it's only used a couple of times per day/week/whatever?

 

[MagicBoy]

Or Visa have become unreasonable in their demands and have been told where to go, this seems to follow the trend as all of my cards which were Visa a year or 2 ago have now become Mastercards.

Yeah, Dad's bank just replaced his debit card with a new MasterCard debit. Which I didn't know was a thing. The credit card went from Visa to MasterCard last year.

 

[dlockers]

Oh of course, you'd have to be very naïve not to realise that clearly has something to do with it.



True, although I'm not sure exactly what the fees would be - is there a flat rate fee for having a system in place as well? In which case if the majority of your transactions are below the limit, would it really be worth the cost of having a card machine in place if it's only used a couple of times per day/week/whatever?

Tbh they saw me coming. I've got about 20 pots of chewing gum to ensure I rounded up to hit their minimum spend

 

[robfosters]

Got a new Barclaycard the other day, still Visa, so they’re not jumping ship yet

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Got a new Barclaycard the other day, still Visa, so they’re not jumping ship yet

Nothing to do with the fact Amazon offers branded Mastercard(and now apparently AMEX branded) credit cards! Just like when they got rid of some very well known brands of cables,battery packs,etc which had been well reviewed from sites for years(and I know plenty of people using RAVPower,etc as they made good products). All because they were "dodgy" meaning that you ended up being forced to get Anker or Amazon own branded products.

Amazon has a history of serving its own self interests over customers(and its own workers),but we must take it at face value they are now consumer champions. LMAO.

Remember the time they banned Google products from their store??

 

[dlockers]

Got a new Barclaycard the other day, still Visa, so they’re not jumping ship yet

Matter of time I reckon.

 

[MagicBoy]

Matter of time I reckon.

It's inevitable, given Barclays insatiable greed.

 

[MagicBoy]

Remember the time they banned Google products from their store??

And Apple.

It's saying something when Amazon take unilateral action, and the government that "Took Back Control" has done eff-all.

 

[robfosters]

I don’t care tbh, but my only issue is the MasterCard logo. I find it gaudy and tacky. Totally ruins a nicely designed card by sticking massive red and yellow blotches on it. The visa logo is far more refined.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

And Apple.

It's saying something when Amazon take unilateral action, and the government that "Took Back Control" has done eff-all.

Maybe Amazon bribed them with free Prime memberships?

 

[Greebo]

But the fact is the Amazon issued credit card is Mastercard,meaning they have a partnership with Mastercard. So now they are trying to push their biggest competitor out? There is a conflict of interest here - Amazon is trying to push people to using its own credit card,which it profits from. Remember this is Amazon which is known to screw over lots of its own Marketplace sellers.

Actually on reading up its because the UK is now classed as cross border so visa is charging 1.5% on top of the 0.3% they currently charge Amazon so its actually just a Brexit thing. Visa won't budge on the extra 1.5%, Amazon flexes their muscles. We are talking about Amazon having to pay an extra £150m per year to Visa purely because we arent in the EU anymore. I can see their point as to why they would drop Visa just for the UK.

So let me get this right - they offer financial products using Mastercard and AMEX,but decided to exclude the one company they are not partnered with? So the two companies they are clearly making a cut out of card usage from,are allowed, but not the one who won't work with them.

Wow,that is so unlike Amazon!

Also not my experience - most people I know have VISA still. In fact even looking abroad I still find more VISA and AMEX branded cards from people I know in various countries.

It quiet clear,Amazon are just pushing to use providers it can offer products through.



I think a number here are TBH - it seems very shady Amazon are now only use credit card providers who issue Amazon branded cards.

You might have had a point if this wasnt just a UK thing. You are perfectly fine to keep using Visa credit cards in the EU and several other countries in the world.