I won't shop at Walmart so I don't know if they have men's and women's dressing rooms? If they did, perhaps they removed the dressing rooms to avoid getting drawn into a controversy over which gender could use which rooms.

Wow, that's amazing. No Visa? I bet they end up losing a lot of business.

That's interesting since Sam's Club just now started accepting Visa. That's crazy! Who's going to buy clothing there anymore? At one time, I loved shopping at Walmart, but now I hardly ever go there.

That's a big change. Millions of people have Visa. Costco had a change too, cannot remember what it was.

Walmart sued Visa over PIN / Chip security issues. The article is linked below.

Chip and pin security with Visa

In the US, Costco will discontinue the AmEx card as of 6/20 and their new card is a Visa thru Citibank.

Sushi, our Costcos dropped the AmEx at least a year ago. They only accept MasterCard now.

ETA and of course debit and cash.

Remember when we used cash or a personal check for purchases? Back then, I naively thought only rich people had credit cards or store cards, and the rest of us only bought what we could afford to pay for with cash/check. Interestingly enough, I still don't use a credit card and cash works every time I use it at Walmart, which is nearly every Sunday morning @ 6:30 a.m.

When you live out here in the middle of "nowhere", beggars can't be choosers because we don't have a lot of shopping options. The mythical "Mom & Pop Store" never was here for Wal-Mart to "run out of town". When the big box stores moved in, we no longer had to drive 100-200 miles (one way) to "shop". Now that we have these stores, people drive hundreds of miles to "shop" here. :-)

Our Walmart also just charging for bags. Last time we shopped there they tried to put almost every item in its own bag.

Free bags of any kind are forbidden by some governments. City, county, state, whatever. And yes, stores can charge for the bags. The county where we formerly lived banned plastic bags and free paper bags a couple of years ago. Bring your own reusable bags to the store, or buy paper bags, or go without. An exception is that takeout food establishments could still use plastic bags.

California legislature voted to ban plastic bags, but the law was put on hold and there will be a vote on the ballot this November. Watch for the plastic bag industry spend millions for advertising that a ban infringes on our constitutional rights. Yeah, sure....

I shop at Walmart for staples, but if they stop accepting Visa, I'll go elsewhere. And I hope NC doesn't ban plastic bags in the next year. I typically use cloth bags, but we have a very old dog, and need bags for "cleanup, aisle 3".

Jak, I used to be able to count on Walmart when I needed plastic bags. We use cloth all the time, but of course, still use plastic for garbage bags. Now that they charge, it's no fun anymore.

I love Walmart and it is conveniently located for me. I have a Walmart credit card but I would also just pay cash. The Visa issue may be just one more way they are trying to shave costs to remain competitive in their pricing.

I would think here in the U.S. Visa would lower the charge because WalMart seems to be king. I personally am kind of proud that I haven't been in a WalMart in several years and a Target only once in the last year for a registry gift. I am not vehement against WalMart but just get annoyed shopping there.

In Canada do you have debit cards? Forgive my ignorance. I rarely us a credit card but use my Visa debit which takes it right out of my bank account. I use it as "credit" so I don't give out my PIN # but could do debit....I am not sure if there are surcharges for debit.

I'm in Walmart every week--me and my Amazon Visa. I didn't realize Sam's Club had started accepting Visa. That's good news for me; it's annoying to pay a MasterCard bill for one charge. I hope this means Walmart will continue to accept Visa in the U.S.

Our Sam's Club has never had dressing rooms. I rarely buy clothes there--if I do, it's something I can try on over my clothes, like a hoodie. I'm not affected by Walmart's dressing rooms, but I hope Salvation Army doesn't give up theirs!

We fly to Maui on miles accrued on our CC's. I don't understand the value of debit cards. You're paying for your purchases anyway. Why not get something back? Same rules apply: If you can't pay for it, don't buy it! (I do remember my late mother's struggles to get a CC in her own name at Marshall Field's following my parents' divorce in the mid-1940's. One Small Step for Women!)

I seldom visit a Walmart, but they do carry inexpensive items Woolworth's sold decades ago. Last month I found a plastic 4-cup measure I wanted at Walmart. (Long, long walk to get into the store, then through the store and back to the checker for one thing!)

Walmart just initiated (in some areas) unlimited free 2 day shipping. Costs $50/year. I'm thinking of joining.

I rarely shop at Walmart and can't remember the last time I bought myself clothing there (it's all so outdated), other than the odd thing for my grandson (their boy selections are terrible!). When I do shop there, I use my debit card or cash.

chisue, the reason I use my debit card over my cash-back Mastercard is I'm horrible at paying my credit card so that 'cash back' is only paying the interest I accumulate. If I pay with my debit card, I'm done. :)

Hmm.. I hadn't heard about the removal of dressing rooms, though I hardly ever use them anyways. They may say the removal of Visa is to save on fees but I have a feeling it is to boost their registrations/usage for Walmart's own credit cards.

Like Anne, I use my VISA Check card (credit) for overall shopping as well. I carry little cash and rarely need to write a check.

Yes, the day Walmart in the US refuses to accept my check card is the day I begin to shop elsewhere or go back to writing checks. That is, if they even accept personal checks still.

In Canada, Walmart's credit card is with Mastercard.....hardly "their own". I use it everywhere as it earns me rewards...yea...win/win situation.

This is interesting. Sam's Club, Walmart's relative, only took Mastercard and personal checks for a long time. I went in a while back and now they take everything. I think they may have finally discovered that we don't have to shop there and they might better make it easier to spend money there if they want customers. Costco only accepts one credit card. It's been American Express, but changes to Visa next week. We have the cards with cash back so it works for us.

Costco and Sam's Club don't have dressing rooms and that works out just fine for them. I've bought and returned clothes to both with no hassle.

"I think they may have finally discovered that we don't have to shop there and they might better make it easier to spend money there if they want customers."

Or perhaps they successfully negotiated favorable deals with those credit card companies.

The fees associated with Visa are much higher than Master Card which is why WalMart Canada will no longer deal with Visa. But they'll still accept AmEx.

ntt_hou, the problem in Canada is: there is nowhere else to shop! Zellers closed down, which was their next competition. It was replaced by Target who bombed big time in Canada, lasting only a year here. We have Superstore, but they don't carry everything Walmart does. Sears is still kicking, but too expensive. No Woolworth. No Woodwards. No KMarts. Just Walmart. And more Walmarts. They're all over. Walmart knows they have Visa by the you know what's, so Visa will probably strike a deal with Walmart. I don't like to use my credit cards for shopping period. I mainly use it for online purchases.

Also, I can't remember the last time I wrote a cheque. I got 20 cheques from the bank when I bought my house 21 years ago. I still have more than half of them. Nobody here accepts cheques anymore. They're aren't a reliable form of payment anymore. I think you can mail a cheque to pay your power bills and phone bill, but with online banking, I only know of one person who pays their bills by mailing cheques. Our store stopped taking cheques about 12/13 years ago when interact became a way to make a payment.

Walmart store cards have been changing over to Master Card for a while now, just like JCPenney. Same bank too. I have had my Master Card from Walmart, quite a long time now. Its handy, because, it works anywhere. Since most of my shopping (including Walmart) is approximately 30 miles from where I live, I use it for everything when I go shopping. I do not have a debit card. Debit cards here are continually getting hacked and accounts turned up with missing money, in this area. I refuse to use one. It takes up to 2 wks sometimes for people to get their money put back in their account. With a Mastercard or Visa card, that money is credited to account by the next day and a new card with a different number arrives in approximately 3 or 4 days. One friend had to pay her house payment almost 2 wks late, because, her debit card had been hacked and she didnt have any money to put in there until her payday, or the bank put the money back in. For her, she used her paycheck, because her bank didnt get the money back into her account for 21 days.

Wow I will have to go back to check writing if they do that here! I only have a debit card and its visa.

The Walmart closest to me is according to others the worst Walmart in Toronto. Since I went to it once in search of something I tend to agree.

I would be using Visa or Amex if I shopped there - so I guess it would be Amex! I would not be taking out a WM Master Card. Loblaws and its related companies stopped taking Amex in favour of the PC MasterCard (the company will take any MasterCard or Visa) - but not Amex.

I guess it is a good thing that I cancelled our Costco membership before Costco Canada stopped taking Amex.

I shop at Walmart all the time but use a check or cash. I do have a walmart master card that we use for school clothes for our grandson. I personally don't buy clothes there, but my DD did and they seem fine. Not sure about them getting rid of the changing room. A few years back my sisters and I went to a red white and blue store looking for clothes. they didn't have changing rooms, so we knew to go in with a pair of shorts and thin top. Then what we would do is look for a skirt 3 times our size and put it on. That was our changing room. We would try clothes on in the aisleway. A lot of girls did that. We had tons of fun trying on clothes.

I shop at Walmart for some grocery items and cat food when on sale. They have Armstrong cheese often on sale for a good price. But I've never ever seen their produce look appetizing. It's also expensive.

I don't like their clothes,(George brand) when I hold up a t-shirt and I can see through it, I can only imagine what it will look like after washing.

Hubby loved their Penmans long-sleeved shirts and jeans. The shirts are very good quality and last years. They no longer sell Penmans, what a shame.

This is only on debit cards -right? Because my credit cards have no pin # attached to them. Chip cards in Europe don't ask for pins on credit either. In restaurants etc. most of them have hand held charge transmitters so that the credit card never leaves your sight.

Chessey, are you talking about the Visa? This is the Visa credit card. Visa's fees to retailers are more expensive than M/C and AmEx.

Also this change applies to the Canadian Walmarts.

Still - none of my credit cards have a pin # and depending on store if charge is under certain $amt you don't even sign.

"Chip cards in Europe don't ask for pins on credit either. In restaurants etc. most of them have hand held charge transmitters so that the credit card never leaves your sight."

No, that's not right. European credit cards, as well as debit cards, DO have a PIN associated with them. That's why when the store or restaurant person inserts the card into the little machine, the machine is given back to the customer to key in the PIN. I think Canadian CCs have one maybe too?

Our credit cards have chip and PIN.

Our debit cards also have chip and PIN, as well as Tap and Go. For speediness, you can just tap your card on the machine and the transaction is completed. It's good for purchases up to $100. I went to the bank and disabled this feature in case my card got into the wrong hands.

Back when I was in retail AmEx was 2-3 times the fees of other cards which is why so few places took them. I'm surprised Visa is that expensive. Walmart will lose some business, they won't care, they'll try to push Visa who will also lose some money. They'll work out a deal within a year would be my guess.

I just came from Walmart. The Visa sign is still on the doors where it always was. When I went through checkout, I had a chatty clerk, so I asked her. She said, she hadnt heard anything about them not accepting Visa and that they were still good at this Walmart. The Walmart I was at, is an enormous super store. (remodeling at the moment, so nothing is where it should be, lol)

cat_ky, the conversation was about Walmarts in Canada.

eccesntric said, " Loblaws and its related companies stopped taking Amex in favour of the PC MasterCard"

Not true in Calgary. I work for a Loblaws owned company and we take Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

We were merchants for years, Visa and MC were the same price, but Amex had way higher fees.

When debit cards first came out, they were not embossed with "Debit Card", like they are now. The CC companies didn't tell the merchants that they were charging way higher fees. We found out the hard way, when out statement came. We asked how we could tell a debit and cc apart, they said we couldn't. My dh said he was going to ask and then refuse them. CC company said we couldn't do that.

Lucky for us, and probably many other merchants, WalMart filed a class action suit. I believe now they are the same rate as credit cards, and clearly marked debit.

We got a nice check eventually. Walmart has a lot of clout.

joanmn, that was interesting. I never noticed a debit card being marked debit before. I had to get mine and take a look at it and sure enough it does have debit printed (though not embossed) right above the VISA logo. You bought back memories of several people who argued with me that they should get a discount since vendors didn't get charged for debit cards since it came right out of their bank account immediately and therefore wasn't a "charge". Yeah right. Sure run into some, (ahem) "interesting" people when you're in business, don't you!