Kroger stops accepting Visa credit cards at 142 supermarkets in 7 states

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Kroger will no longer accept Visa cards as a form of payment at hundreds of its supermarkets and fuel centers across seven states beginning April 3.

RELATED: Kroger bans Visa at select Foods Co. Supermarket locations

Visa ban may be expanded to other Kroger-owned stores

Smith’s Food & Drug Stores — just one of Kroger’s many supermarket banners — will no longer accept Visa credit cards at 142 supermarket and 108 fuel center locations because of the high swipe fees the chain has to pay to process credit card transactions.

“At Smith’s, Visa’s credit card fees are higher than any other credit card brand that we accept,” says Mike Schlotman, Kroger’s executive vice president and CFO. “Visa’s excessive fees and unfairness cannot continue to go unchecked.”

The ban will impact Smith’s stores in the seven states the chain does business:

  • Arizona
  • Idaho
  • Montana
  • New Mexico
  • Nevada
  • Utah
  • Wyoming

This action follows Kroger’s August 2018 move to stop accepting Visa at Foods Co. Supermarkets in California.

Currently, the ban does not apply to any of the other 2,800 stores across two dozen supermarket chains that Kroger also owns.

However, that may change in the future, so stay tuned.

“Kroger continues to explore options to reduce the cost of accepting credit cards in order to keep prices low for customers,” a press release notes.

More supermarket stories on Clark.com 

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