Originally published by SacBee.com on Aug. 1, 2018

Foods Co. Supermarket shoppers in Northern California who use a Visa credit card to pay for groceries may soon have to choose an alternative payment method.

The grocery chain’s parent company, Kroger Co., has been in an ongoing dispute with Visa over fees and regulations. Should the two companies not come to an agreement, Foods Co. will stop accepting the cards at 21 of its stores beginning Aug. 14.

Four of those Foods Co. locations are in Sacramento.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Visa stated that it wishes to continue working with Kroger to resolve the issue.

According to CNBC, customers will still be able to use Visa debit cards and all other forms of payment accepted by the stores.

Kroger is the nation’s second-largest retailer behind Walmart. American retailers pay billions of dollars in swipe fees each year. Swipe fees are incurred by retailers each time a consumer uses a card. MasterCard and other credit card issuers charge these fees as well.

Kroger announced Monday that if a resolution is not reached, it may stop allowing the use of Visa credit cards across its entire network of 2,778 stores, which include Ralphs and Food 4 Less in Southern California, according to Bloomberg.

This story was also published in the print edition of The Sacramento Bee in the business section on page 5C Aug. 3, 2018