Retailer to stop taking some debit cards

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Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2003 | 9:18 a.m.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said it will stop accepting MasterCard International Inc.'s signature debit cards beginning Feb. 1 because the cost of processing the transactions is too high.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer will still accept MasterCard debit cards that are authenticated with a personal identification number, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa Berryhill said. Wal-Mart is in discussions with Visa International Inc. about its debit cards, she said.

Retailers including Wal-Mart reached a $3 billion settlement with Visa and MasterCard, the two biggest credit card companies in the United States, earlier this year that allows them to choose which cards customers can use for purchases. Merchants had complained that debit cards requiring signatures can cost as much as 10 times more to process than those that use PINs.