Walmart drops Visa credit card, proving Bitcoin’s low-fee potential

When Bitcoin supporters praise their favorite currency, they compare it to other credit cards such as MasterCard or Visa. One of the attributes that everyone discusses is the low fees of the Bitcoin network. Now that Walmart stores in Australia have stopped accepting Visa credit cards due to high fees, this may be an opportunity for Bitcoin.

Walmart and many companies could save millions of dollars

Many merchants around the world, cryptocurrency supporters, will really like to see Walmart adopt Bitcoin.

Bitcoin transaction fees are very low, typically less than 1% of the transaction, whether it is a transaction of a few dollars or millions of dollars.

The average fee for credit card payments can be as high as 1.95% to 5%, and the fee for online transactions is about 3%. This cost estimate does not include annual membership fees and other hidden fees.

Walmart, which has 405 stores in Australia, said the move was a huge blow to Visa. A spokeswoman for the retail store said:

"We are continually trying to reduce our transaction costs, including credit card fees. Unfortunately, Walmart and Visa were unable to reach an agreement on transaction fees."

If Walmart could accept Bitcoin, it would be a huge opportunity for them and they could save millions of dollars.

Another powerful attribute that cryptocurrencies can offer companies is reducing the financial stress from chargebacks, which are extremely difficult to do when using the Bitcoin network. 70% of fraud comes from chargeback services, costing merchants $11.2 billion in 2015.

Using Bitcoin could solve these intolerable frauds and save companies revenue. Cryptocurrency supporters have been saying this for years, and they believe that big companies like Walmart and Target will invest in technologies that will benefit them.

"We are disappointed that Walmart is focusing only on its own financial interests and ignoring the choices of its customers," a Visa spokesman said.

According to a report by Nelson, there are 50.6 million Visa credit cards in circulation, and the transaction amount reached $232 billion last year. This means that merchants around the world have to pay millions of dollars in fees to third parties, and this number may be even higher.

Most likely, Walmart will not accept Bitcoin in the future. But if it does, Walmart will have to consider the millions of dollars and refunds that are now flying out of its windows.