Visa once again accepted at Thunder Bay Walmart stores

Thunder Bay's Walmart stores will once again Visa cards starting this morning.

The world's largest retailer and the world's biggest credit card company reached an agreement that would see stores in Thunder Bay, Ont., once again accept the cards.

"I thought they were trying to make a point of trying to get rid of Visa, so it's kind of funny that Visa's back," said Rebecca Taddeo as she loaded groceries from her shopping cart into her car.

"I honestly use debit most of the time, I try not to use credit. But, I do have a Visa and I did find it quite inconvenient when they didn't offer it. I mean, it didn't stop me from coming here, but we do get a lot of rewards and points with our Visa."

At the heart of the dispute were the fees charged by Visa to retailers like Walmart. The big box store said Visa's fees were too high. Visa told Walmart that the 'interchange fees' charged to the retailer were some of the lowest on all its cards.

"It was kind of a silly idea I guess for them to drop it, I try not to use mine as much as I can," said Brian Neureuther. "But, I'm sure there's a lot of people that have only have a Visa or use it a lot for groceries and stuff."

The impact of the spat between Walmart and Visa is difficult to quantify, but the credit card giant took out ads in local newspapers, as well as many billboards around Thunder Bay to promote the card.

"I noticed there's lots of signs all around Thunder Bay saying 'we accept visa, use your visa,' or even at Toys R' Us they were offering extra bonus bucks if you used your Visa."