Chase announced on Thursday (Sept. 22) that it has expanded its relationship with Walmart to process payments on ChaseNet.
ChaseNet is the bank’s closed-loop network. Chase will process payments on ChaseNet at Walmart’s more than 5,000 stores and its Sam’s Club locations in the U.S. ChaseNet will also be used with Sam’s Club eCommerce. With ChaseNet, businesses get guaranteed, fixed-rate pricing for Chase Visa credit and debit payments for the term of the contract. The company noted it already processes payments for Walmart’s eCommerce channel.
“Engaging Chase with a direct processing relationship has been a priority for Walmart for some time,” said Mike Cook, SVP and assistant treasurer at Walmart, in a press release. “Walmart is always looking for innovative ways to improve the payment experience for our customers, while also creating competition in the payments industry. We are excited to work with Chase to help our customers save time and money.”
The move on the part of Walmart and Chase comes at a time when Walmart is fighting with Visa over credit card fees. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart will stop accepting cards from Visa in 16 stores in the Canadian providence of Manitoba later next month. According to the report, the move will happen on Oct. 24 and is the latest escalation in a fight that started in the summer. In July, Walmart said it would stop accepting Visa credit cards at its three stores in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and said then it would do the same with all of its stores across Canada, due to a disagreement about Visa’s fees. The controversy first became headline fodder when Walmart announced that it had been unable to come to an agreement with Visa on an “acceptable” fee. At the time, it threatened to oust Visa unless it could get a “better deal.” Without a deal in hand, Walmart followed through on its threat.