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Comment by BlackJack | Hacker News Reader

"To keep prices low we continuously assess opportunities to lower our operating expenses...

Customers will continue to be able to use...American Express."

Thought this was funny given that Amex must have the highest interchange & fees. Their statement still makes sense because Walmart is saying Visa fees in Canada are too high compared to their rates in other markets.

Maybe Target will win some market share, but I doubt it. I think customers will switch cards or go cash. Walmart is too good at what they do.

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Target Canada went spectacularly bankrupt last year: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/the-last-days-of-target-cana...

AMEX could negotiate their transaction fees down, right? Walmart is very well known for playing hardball with suppliers, so maybe they give credit card companies "take it or leave it" offers as well.

Costco Canada dropped Amex two years ago [1] and I was stuck with an Amex card which is not as widely accepted as Visa or Mastercard. Amex tried/are trying all kind of tricks to not have these cards closed. The best one yet was zero percent for one year - I had colleagues max the card and put that money in their savings account just for the one year interest.

You bet that Walmart negotiated an excellent rate with Amex.

[1] http://www.moneysense.ca/spend/credit-cards/costco-american-...

>I had colleagues max the card and put that money in their savings account just for the one year interest.

I'm skeptical, since "cash advance" usually has its own stipulations regarding interest rates, and is capped below your credit limit. All for, what, $150 annually per $10,000 in arbitrage? That's an hour of work for many people here.

Before the housing crash and subsequent credit tightening and lower interest rates, you could get 5% on a standard savings account. That, coupled with negotiating no fees on a 0% balance transfer check could was more lucrative. I can't imagine it being worth the hassle and short-term credit hit for the paltry savings rates today.

Right, and AMEX already has a relationship with Walmart including a co-branded financial product offered in-store.

I had the same thought, but perhaps it is just a matter of being a huge retailer means being in a position to negotiate a sweetheart deal from AmEx vs the rest of us.

>Maybe Target will win some market share

There's no Target in Canada.

>Amex must have the highest interchange & fees.

Seems to vary. e.g. My local coffee shop puts a surcharge on all card transactions...except Amex. And thats in freakin europe...so there are definitely case by case deals going on.

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