CINCINNATI, OH (WCMH) -- The nation's largest grocery store chain will no longer accept Visa credit cards at one of its subsidiaries and hasn't ruled out a ban at all Kroger locations nationwide.
The dispute is over Visa's high annual swipe fees. Foods Co., a California' subsidiary of the Ohio based grocery chain, says it will no longer accept Visa at its locations starting Aug. 14.
“Visa's rates and fees are among the highest of any credit card brand,” Foods Co. said in a statement Monday. “The savings will be passed along to Foods Co. customers in the form of low everyday prices on the items shoppers purchase most.”
Bloomberg reports Kroger may expand the ban to some of its other 2,779 stores.
“If we have to expand that beyond Foods Co., we’re prepared to take that step,” Kroger CIO Chris Hjelm told Bloomberg. Visa’s card fees are “out of alignment” he said. “We don’t believe we have a choice but to use whatever mechanism possible to get it back in alignment.”
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6 comments:
Great great news!
Way to go Kroger
Fight back against the international bankers and their entire electronic control grid pilfering scheme
American Express is the highest, not Visa.
I am glad Somebody has the clout to expose Visa as a money-greedy ripoff.
So, what are the fees? We've always wondered.
Interchange fees are assessed net of refunds and chargebacks, and most are two parts consisting of a percentage and a transaction fee. For example, 1.51% plus $0.10 is the current Visa interchange fee for a swiped consumer credit card.
But the question is will this store lower it’s prices as it no longer has to pay the fees?
WINCO does not accept credit cards. They have a large sign as you enter their store stating they do not accept credit cards and that is how they keep their prices lower than the competitors. Today just to verify I called the store I used to shop at so I could quote you an accurate price. Milk is 98 cents a gallon for the first two gallons. When is the last time milk was that low on the Eastern Shore? I never saw it over $1.59 in that store. They sell both store brand and name brand products. Families can save lots of money if they pay with cash or debit cards.
If Kroger is brave enough to ban Visa in all of their stores it will be interesting to see if they do in fact pass the savings on to the customers. I personally think they are just trying to get Visa to cave and drop their fees.
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