Walmart 'unfairly dragging' shoppers into card-fee spat, says Visa

New York

VISA Inc appealed to the public as it responds to Wal-Mart Stores Inc's decision to stop accepting the network's cards in Canada, accusing the retailer of "unfairly dragging" millions of shoppers into private negotiations over card fees.

Walmart's Canada unit said on Saturday that it will reject Visa cards starting from July 18 at certain stores in Ontario, eventually extending the ban to stores across the country. The subsidiary, which pays more than US$100 million in credit-card fees annually, said that it's looking out for shoppers and seeking to save them money.