Sep 10, 2016
In June 2016 Walmart Canada announced that they believe interchange fees charged by Visa are too high, so, starting with their three stores in Thunder Bay Ontario, they would no longer accept Visa cards at their stores in Canada. As of September, 2016 Walmart has not implemented this policy outside of Thunder Bay, presumably so they can continue to negotiate with Visa for lower fees.
On this edition of Debt Free in 30 we answer the question: what's the real reason that Walmart doesn't want to accept Visa credit cards at their stores?
The answer is not as simple as "Visa's fees are too high". Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, so with their bargaining power they are probably paying the lowest Visa fees of any retailer. They already have a cost advantage over every other retailer, so are high fees the true explanation for Walmart's "anti-Visa" stance? Tune in for the answer.