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Comment by _s | Hacker News Reader

Likely - but here's the thing; this could very likely be permanent if they see no noticeable drop in their revenue / profits; or not enough to offset the money saved by refusing to accept Visa.

More to the point - a lot of banks offer both Visa & Mastercard, so for most folks it'd be just a case of swapping cards if they don't already have one (if they feel inconvenienced by the lack of Visa payments).

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I think you vastly overestimate the need for Walmart in a person's life if you think they will actually switch their credit card to Mastercard with their bank just so they can shop there.

While this article is about Canada, in many Midwest US communities Wal-Mart is the store. Mom and pop grocery stores shutdown years ago after not being able to compete. The nearest Kohl's/JCPenny's could be an hour drive away. Everything you buy on a weekly basis comes from Wal-Mart. A policy change like this in America would drastically affect many Midwesterners lives.

Very much so. I will often drive past the local Walmart at well after midnight and see a nearly full parking lot. The number of people who shop there is huge, and they do it because they are living on narrow margins and saving $0.50 on a jar of peanut butter is something that matters to them.

I think you vastly underestimate both the buying power and brand loyalty shown by people who choose to shop at any retailer, especially discount ones like Walmart.

That's only some of the consumers. Even if there's 5% less business/revenue to Walmart as a result of this decision, that's a huge hit.

Yeah. But that's not the endgame.

Cashiers will almost assuredly offer a Walmart branded MasterCard or Amex if they were trying to buy with visa.

Bingo- Walmart has both eliminated visas Costs and developed a new revenue stream. And I imagine their quants know how many of their visa customers have alternate credit cards or debit capabilities.

As noted elsewhere in the thread, everyone in Canada already has an Interac debit card (if they have a bank account) which is still being accepted.

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