Exclusive Visa’s main money officer expects to solve cost row with Amazon

NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Visa (V.N) expects to take care of its credit card payment dispute with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) in Britain and hopes to continue on its co-branded credit rating card partnership with the e-commerce large in the United States, its Main Financial Officer told Reuters.

Amazon said on Wednesday that it would end using payments from Visa credit score playing cards in Britain from mid-January next yr.

“We have settled these factors in the past and I consider we will resolve them in the long term,” Vasant Prabhu stated in an interview on Friday, including: “It is our expectation that there will be a resolution so that United kingdom individuals are not impacted.”

Shares in Visa pared losses immediately after Reuters noted Prabhu’s comments, shifting from 1.4% decreased on the working day to .5% decrease. The shares then gave again individuals gains and have been past investing down 1.4%.

Amazon said in its Wednesday assertion that credit history card fees need to be “likely down more than time with technological enhancements, but as an alternative they proceed to stay high or even rise.”

Analysts have instructed its stance may be a negotiating tactic. In the past, other major suppliers have settled payment disputes with Visa immediately after announcing they were being going to quit having its credit rating playing cards in narrow segments of their organizations.

Walmart Inc’s (WMT.N) device in Canada, for case in point, said in 2016 it would prevent accepting Visa credit score cards just after currently being unable to access an agreement on service fees. Seven months afterwards the businesses stated they experienced settled the subject.

Prabhu said stories on Wednesday suggesting the dispute was the result of an EU-enforced cap on charges no more time making use of in the United kingdom immediately after Brexit had been “entirely inaccurate.”

That rule used to cross-border transactions concerning the EU and British isles, whereas the dispute relates to domestic transactions, he stated.

In recent months, Amazon has also launched surcharges on buyers utilizing Visa credit playing cards in Singapore and Australia, citing large costs, as the marriage amongst the two companies appeared to deteriorate.

Some analysts experienced expressed concern Amazon’s go in the United kingdom could be a precursor to the retailer dropping Visa’s credit history card in other territories, a little something Prabhu said he hoped would not materialize.

“Limiting consumer preference will not support merchants both,” reported Prabhu. “If a merchant tells me I won’t be able to use my most popular card that is not useful to me as a purchaser.”

Amazon also mentioned it is considering dropping Visa as partner on its U.S. co-branded credit history card and is in conversations about this with each with Mastercard and Visa.

Visa explained it stays in discussions about continuing its partnership with Amazon and is hopeful that it will carry on.

“We hope to get to the issue wherever our relationship with Amazon goes back again to being what it was,” Prabhu said.

Reporting by Matt Scuffham Modifying by Chris Reese, Alexander Smith and Nick Zieminski

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