Visa news and archive

American Express, Visa and Mastercard suspend operations in Russia

Visa, Mastercard and American Express have all suspended operations in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. In a statement, Stephen J. Squeri, chairman and chief executive at American Express, said: “In light of Russia’s ongoing, unjustified attack on the people of Ukraine, we are suspending all operations in Russia. “As a result,...

Retail

Amazon will not ban Visa from its UK payment options

Fashion brands and retailers selling on Amazon will be pleased the online giant has scrapped plans to ban Visa cards from its UK payment options. In an ongoing dispute between the credit card company and retailer, Visa was to be frozen out until an agreement was reached. “The expected change regarding the use of Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk...

Retail

UK consumer spending sees first rise in clothing and footwear in two years

Consumer spending on clothing and footwear rose in 3.6 percent in July, the first increase in three years, according to Visa and HIS Markit’s monthly consumer spending index. Household expenditure rose +2.4 percent on the year in July, after -6.5 percent decline in June. E-commerce spending soared at record pace, up 16.2 percent as consumers...

Retail

Visa and Mastercard face paying back billions to retailers for unfair competition

When it comes to how much a retailer must pay a credit card company per transaction is complicated. The card issuer, credit card company and processor all benefit from a per transaction fee and retailers pay different rates based on how the card is processed. However complicated the process is, the UK Supreme Court, Britain’s highest court, has...

Retail

Visa & Mastercard to cut fees on payments made with foreign credit cards in Europe

The European Commission has accepted an offer by Visa and Mastercard to significantly reduce the fee European retailers need to pay to the cardholder’s bank when a tourist or online shopper makes a payment using a credit card issued outside the bloc. Known as Inter-regional interchange fees or inter-regional MIFs, these fees will now be reduced...

RetailFeatured

UK consumer spending falls at fastest rate in eight months

Consumer spending dropped by 1 percent in December 2018, with the run-up to Christmas hitting the sector particularly hard, new data shows. Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index, compiled by IHS Markit, revealed that overall expenditure continued to decline at the end of last year - with December’s -1.0 percent year-on-year reduction the fastest...

Retail

Consumer spending in 2017 hits lowest level in five years

Last year was the first annual decline in consumer spending since 2012, as December sales reported lower than expected, according to data from Visa and IHS Markit. December saw household expenditure fall by 1 percent, following the similar 0.9 percent decrease in spending in November. The lower than expected festive spending has led to a 0.3...

Retail

September sees decline in UK shopping expenditure

UK consumers continue to be cautious as overall spending in September dropped 0.3 percent according to the latest report by Visa, the biggest drop since 2013. A small growth in online spending of 2.3 percent last month failed to make up for the 3.2 percent decline in consumers making purchases in bricks and mortar stores. Spending dropped in...

Retail

UK fashion sales suffered in June

Various states of uncertainty negatively affect consumer confidence, as was evident in Visa UK's Consumer Spending Index figures released this week. Spending dropped in the second quarter to its lowest growth in nearly four years, and even the good amount of sunshine didn't prevent consumers from watching their pennies. According to the report,...

Retail

Visa opens new innovation centre

Visa has opened a new innovation centre at its European headquarters in London to act as an “immersive environment” where the payments firm can work side-by-side with financial institutions, merchants and other partners to develop the next generation of payment solutions. The 10,764 square foot space will enable Visa to host partners and clients...

Retail

Consumer spending growth slows to five-month low

British consumers spending increased by just 0.4 percent year-on-year in January, according to the latest UK Consumer Spending Index by Visa, which indicates that consumer spending is starting to lose momentum. January’s slow growth of 0.4 percent marks not only a decrease on December’s 2.5 percent growth, but also a five-month low and aside...

BusinessFeatured

Brits favour experiences over clothing at Christmas

As spending figures from the festive period from the major credit card companies is revealed, the predicted outcome is consumers are spending their cash on experiences, rather than clothing. According to Visa's UK Spending Index, consumer spending is up 2.6 percent on the year in December, with spending growth solid in e-commerce categories, up...