Winners and losers: Peacock lands in the UK and Amazon bans Visa credit cards

It’s time for another weekly edition of Winners and Losers and this week it’s Peacock and Amazon who caught our attention. 

Not a whole lot happened in way of news this week, which is probably wise considering just how early Black Friday came around this year to claim everyone’s attention. 

This week, OnePlus unveiled its glow-in-the-dark Pac-Man Nord 2, Samsung started rolling out One UI 4 on the Galaxy 21, Xbox added 76 more classic games to Game Pass and Fujifilm announced a new hybrid film and digital camera. 

Apple also announced the launch of its self repair service, while Motorola unveiled its new Moto G range and we learnt that Nvidia GeForce Now is coming to LG TVs. 

So, what about our winner and loser? 

Winner: Peacock

This week saw video streaming service Peacock land in the UK. 

The NBCUniversal-owned streaming site initially launched in the US in mid-2020, taking advantage of the fact everyone was stuck at home. Now, Peacock is expanding internationally, with the rollout in the UK and Germany, Intal, Austria and Switzerland set to get the service over the coming months. 

Peacock will be available to Sky TV and Now subscribers at no extra cost here in the UK, with the service being supported by ads rather than asking for an additional fee. 

While US subscribers have already been treated to a wide array of TV and movies, UK viewers can expect to see a slightly different library. 

Currently, this includes Saved by the Bell, Rutherford Falls, Punky Brewster, The Girl in the Woods, Five Bedrooms and Vanderpump Rules, with titles like 30 Rock, The Office (US), Saturday Night Live, Suits and Keeping Up With The Kardashians set to arrive soon, to name just a few. You can find the full list in our news story. 

The launch of Peacock was a huge step for NBCUniversal, allowing the company to host NBC shows, Universal Pictures movies and titles licensed from Lionsgate, Paramount and more on its own platform, instead of making deals with Netflix and Hulu. 

The UK rollout will allow the company to do the same across the pond and should make it easier for Brits to find their favourite US shows and movies through services we’re already subscribed to, making it a win-win. 

Loser: Amazon (and Visa…)

In a true Black Friday plot twist, our loser this week is Amazon. 

Despite being one of the major destinations for Black Friday deals this year (no really, the sale has already started over there), the company broke some bad news to customers this week when it announced that it would no longer be accepting UK Visa credit cards as payment. 

Amazon has warned UK customers that will not be accepting payments from Visa credit cards issued in the UK from January 19. This is due to the “high fees Visa charges for processing credit card transactions”, which it called “an obstacle for businesses striving to provide the best prices for customers”. 

Visa bit back with its own statement, writing that the company is “very disappointed that Amazon is threatening to restrict consumer choice in the future”. 

Thankfully, the Visa ban won’t be enforced until 2022, so this shouldn’t put a dent in our Black Friday plans or Christmas shopping. However, it’s still annoying that the consumers will be the ones feeling the brunt of this dispute, as we’ll be the ones forced to search for a new card or a new place to shop.

Thankfully, Visa has promised that it will continue to work toward a resolution that will allow shoppers to use their Visa credit cards on Amazon past January 2022. We’ll have to wait and see whether the company is successful in convincing Amazon to ditch its plans.