FOSTER CITY, Calif.—The fight between Visa and Walmart has escalated, with Visa filing a lawsuit against the retailer claiming the store secretly began testing a protocol that eliminated the need for signature verifications for transactions paid for with a Visa debit card, Reuters reported.
The lawsuit comes about a month after Walmart had sued Visa saying the payments network operator was resisting the use of personal identification numbers by customers for purchases made on debit cards at Walmart stores.
According to Reuters, citing a filing in a New York court, Visa said Walmart did not disclose the PIN-only policy to Visa and noted a significant drop in debit card transactions at Walmart stores as well as customer complaints on their inability to use their debit cards at Walmart stores without a PIN.
"Instead of complying with the terms of the commercial agreement that the two companies negotiated and agreed to in 2015, Walmart is attempting to avoid its obligation to provide a signature option for their customers when paying with a Visa debit card," Visa told the news outlet.
Walmart, however, holds a different opinion.
"We have rightfully insisted on the use of PINs for debit card transactions in our stores, while Visa has continued to demand the more fraud-prone signature verification which is more profitable to them," Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove told Reuters.
Visa’s position has been that customers should have a choice between signatures or PINs. Walmart, on the other hand, contends that signature verification is more fraud-prone and that Visa only prefers it because of profits.