Walmart To Stop Accepting Visa Credit Cards – Will You Still Shop There?

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walmart not accepting visa credit cards

Walmart is making a bold move in their fight against what they see as unacceptably high costs associated with using Visa cards and will stop accepting them in-stores across Canada this year.

We will see the change start in Thunder Bay stores in a month with the policy change rolling out across the country after that.  Since stores like to roll policy changes into one date, watch for those long rumoured price-match and coupon policy changes happening this summer too.

Walmart claims that it spends $100 million in credit card fees per year.  Considering that Visa is a bit more popular in Canada, that is a large portion of people who will have to use debit, cash or an alternative credit card at Walmart.  The fees will also be a large loss to Visa so it will be interesting to see if they give into Walmart’s demand for a lower rate which can be quite high for reward cards.

Will this change how often you shop with Walmart?  Many Canadians are used to this policy with No Frills also refusing Visa cards, but it seems easier to accept it from them when they claim they get lower costs by offering a Mastercard and only accepting it.  Walmart also offers online shopping which does not give you the choice to pay with cash or many debit cards, an issue No Frills does not have to worry about.


20 responses to “Walmart To Stop Accepting Visa Credit Cards – Will You Still Shop There?”

  1. Leslie says:

    Profits definitely going down for WalMart. They aren’t cutting the customer’s throats, they’re cutting their own.

  2. Jason says:

    And they still accept AMEX cards ? American Express has way more fees than both MC or Visa. WM has horrible CS, horrible produce and the prices are not that great either. Just shop at low priced Canadian retailers like No Frills, Freschco, Food Basics etc.

    • FallenPixels says:

      Visa’s fees are an issue for many businesses because it depends on the type of visa card where they know what they are paying with AMEX. AMEX also tends to give flat rate/lower cost for large businesses. A VISA Rewards card, especially cashback ones have horrible rates for businesses, sometimes double a regular VISA card

  3. Freefinger says:

    Why do people freak out over this? Seriously, if Visa are trying to up their fees then this means that it will fall back into the prices that we buy has customers. So if they make a stand and remove Visa from their stores, then good. Good for us.. I know this is more Wal-Mart looking into their own pockets, but at the same time they know that if they have to up the prices, then they will lose more customers.

    Costco doesn’t have Visa or Amex, they have Mastercard and now Wal-Mart won’t have Visa. This may make Visa look into their own pockets and see that they will lose big if they aren’t in Wal-Marts and come back down.

    Oh, and don’t worry about Visa, they make enough profits every year. Every time a product’s price goes up, their fees actually go up since they get percentages off the receipt. So them upping the fees on the card swipes makes them 100 time more vultures than the Wal-Mart company.

  4. Charles says:

    Walmart is squeezing the billion dollar Visa company for better rates. I feel zero sympathy for Visa. If Visa is willing to let millions of dollars in purchases and all the interest they earn of of customers pass by , then so be it. MasterCard will happily take all that business. Realistically if you own a Visa, you either have a MasterCard as well or would have no issue qualifying for one so losing Visa or keeping Visa means nothing in the end. If you shop at Costco, you probably already got a MasterCard for there. Clearly MasterCard is willing to deal with the big boys and Visa is more interested in getting exclusive sporting events rights.

  5. Leah says:

    I hope Walmart goes bankrupt the produce is horrible and the customer service is the worst. I have no sympathy for Walmart what a stupid idea. I hope it will close

  6. moe says:

    WOW, All great points and right on the money as this is just two huge, rich American corporations fighting over the need for ever increasing profits that only 1% of North Americans will ever see in their pockets.

    Its also Wal-Mart worried, do to falling profits and multiple recent retail failures and thus drawing a line in the sand, as we have all seen national retail corporations going Bust at an ever increasing rate here in Canada.

    We Canadians have learned we really do and can control what happens simply by not shopping at a particular retail chain!

    It certainly is a great time to be supporting Canadians BY simply shopping for items made or imported by Canucks

  7. purplebunny89 says:

    Well Walmart in Barrie recently started charging $1 to use their carts about a month ago and customers were furious. Personally didn’t understand the big deal as you get your loonie back but whatever.

    Then two weeks ago they finally started charging five cents for each bag and loads of customers were livid about that as well.

    Now they won’t be accepting VISA. LOL. It might have been a better idea to just space things out a bit so customers have some time to acclimate to the new rules.

    Personally I don’t care about the changes because I recently got the PC MC back in February and use that exclusively now. My Visa is only used for online purchases and I only keep it because its got such a high credit limit otherwise I would have cancelled it.

  8. Lynda says:

    I won’t be shopping online or instore at Walmart.
    Maybe when Visa (they sure can’t be hard up for money.) Realizing people will be cancelling their visa cards they will give stores and customers a break on the interest rate they charge.

  9. BHL says:

    Rest-assured Walmart has considered this very carefully. As I posted in the news forum thread on the same topic: For those who say “I’ll just shop else-where” i ask “where else where you shop?” – Many people clothe their families from Walmart when the other clothing-centric dept stores are much more expensive. The Christmas season will see people who left, flocking back. And then it’s the store-count, the vast inventory, the competitive price strategies, return policies, etc that keeps people coming Walmart… the payment option is an after-thought for most. — And for those who DO rely on Visa for shopping, watch how (I predict) Walmart guarantees approval for their branded MC to those with a Visa card… The loss of business will amount to a pin prick in the arm of the retail giant.

  10. torontogal12 says:

    People are complaining that Visa is taking advantage of Walmart but they forget that Walmart is the bigge$t retailer in the world. Visa said it gave Walmart one of the lowest rates in Canada http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/walmart-canada-visa-1.3630956

    And remember that Walmart has its own Mastercard and its in their interest to promote it this way

  11. Here in Quebec it seems that most financial institutions offer MasterCard as their main credit card offering. I remember around the turn of the century jumping through hoops to get a Visa card seeing as but two small retailers I knew would ONLY accept Visa, whereas all other retailers seemed to accept both. This day and age I regularly use my MasterCards and am therefore unaffected by this shift in policy. Still, a bold move for the definitive retail giant.

  12. Joanne says:

    I’m OK with this as my main credit card is a Mastercard. I rather Wal-Mart do this to cut costs rather than passing the cost to the consumers. I’m sure many have other forms of payment other than VISA, so it’s barely causing any inconvenience on us.

  13. Garrison says:

    First they increased their online free shipping minimum, now this. I will vote with my wallet and take my business elsewhere. Walmart sadly has a virtual monopoly with the demise of Zellers and the failure of Target, and they’ll only squeeze the consumer more and more.

  14. Christopher says:

    Why are some of you feeling sorry for Wal-Mart, they are a Multi-Billion dollar company with family members in the wealthiest billionaires in the world ? Visa probably is no exception.

    RCSS now in Toronto is going to start what has begun outside of Toronto in terms of Price Matching and quantity. This is happening not because people are hoarding, this is greed, plan and simple.

    Same for Wal-Mart, they didn’t eat up Loblaws Grocery Shares after over 10 years in Canada, if this trend continues, they could, like Target, leave Canada, not the first and won’t be the last to leave this Country.

  15. MissMaggs says:

    I recently cancelled my Visa card. I wasn’t using it and I found more and more places weren’t accepting it so down the shredder it went.

    With the economy the way it is, I’d much rather have Walmart cut ties with Visa than have those costs passed on to the customers. I get that Walmart in general can be hit and miss for groceries and produce and while I’m not a fan of their produce quality or even their meat, I will admit I only shop at Walmart because my local store currently price matches Ontario wide and it allows me to save HUGE on my grocery bills. Once they pull the plug on the Ontario Wide price matching they will be seeing much less of me also and I might have to start driving out of my way which also doesn’t make me happy.

  16. Jonathan says:

    Doesn’t affect me. I cancelled my TD Visa Aeroplan card last month before the $120 annual fee kicked in. I remain loyal to my MBNA CashBack Mastercard (8 years and counting).

  17. adora says:

    Walmart has made the right decision.

    Visa was trying to force Walmart to pay more using their leverage as the larger credit card company. The fee would have been passed on us – not only on Visa users, but on everyone. This decision keeps them competitive, and ensures we get lower prices.

    Besides, many Visa users like myself would also have Mastercard and Amex.

    • FallenPixels says:

      Visa has said they offered them the lowest rate of any retailer based on their volume. The issue seems to be not knowing what rate you will pay. Five of us could go through with different VISA cards and the rate could be double for one card because of its rewards

  18. Jess says:

    Very sad. Debit cards have a maximum limit, which means some purchases will not be made. If you choose to still shop here you have to carry more cash then you probably should with you or just go somewhere else.


















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