In exactly 15 days, American e-commerce giant Amazon will impose impose The Straits Times Amazon to introduce 0.5% surcharge for Visa credit card transactions in Singapore from Sept 15 Read more a 0.5% surcharge on all Visa credit transactions on its Singapore site, Amazon.sg. Shoppers on Amazon will suddenly be expected to pony up the extra dough to use Visa at checkout. And as Amazon claims, Singapore is the only country in the world where this surcharge will be applied.
Visa-free payments
Why Amazon is giving Visa a tough time in Singapore
Amazon has fired the first shot. It recently put a surcharge on Visa credit card transactions in the city-state—the only place where Amazon has some presence in Southeast Asia. The balance of payments power shifting away from Visa could go a long way in Amazon's favour
Amazon has fired a warning shot across Visa’s bow with a 0.5% surcharge on all Visa credit card transactions in Singapore, the first and only market to do so
The city state, despite being Amazon’s smallest market, has the right conditions for maximum public impact on Visa, while not substantially hurting either company
Throwing its weight around, Amazon’s move is symptomatic of the shifting power dynamics between merchants and credit card companies
Visa and other credit card companies aren’t standing still, and are diversifying beyond the card business, but their halcyon days might just be over
