Visa Inc. is expressing disappointment that Best Buy Co. recently decided to stop accepting its contactless payWave cards. But Visa on Jan. 8 noted the retailer continues to accept Visa contactless and traditional payment cards as magnetic-stripe transactions.
While Visa is “disappointed” Best Buy no longer will offer its customers payWave card acceptance, “it’s important for cardholders to know they can continue to use their payWave card with a traditional ‘swipe’ when shopping at Best Buy” and other merchant locations, Visa said in a statement. “Visa values its long-standing relationship with Best Buy, and we look forward to working with the retailer to grow our mutual businesses.”
Best Buy no longer is accepting Visa’s contactless card at its more than 1,000 retail locations because Visa prohibits the use of PINs to authorize the transactions, forcing retailers to accept more-costly signature-based transactions (
Retailers pay roughly double the amount in interchange fees for a signature-based transaction compared with one initiated with a PIN, notes Nick Holland, a senior analyst at Boston-based consulting firm Aite Group LLC.
“Visa takes seriously its responsibility to balance value between issuers and merchants,” states a Visa spokesperson. Most merchants “understand how they benefit from” payment cards, the spokesperson says.
Not all card networks, however, have similarly restrictive policies regarding contactless card transaction authorization. MasterCard Worldwide allows acceptance of its contactless PayPass transactions with signature or PIN authorization at the point of sale, a company spokesperson tells PaymentsSource. “Best Buy continues to accept MasterCard PayPass,” the spokesperson notes.
