People who have recently purchased prescription medications online might have noticed that in certain instances their Visa card was no longer accepted by the online pharmacy that they were using. That is because Visa, for no apparent reason, has suddenly decided to target pharmacies that are selling certain drugs online. Sure, the average person's first thought is that these targeted drugs are controlled substances like Valium, Xanax or Vicodin. If this were the case then this attack by Visa would be perfectly legit and supported by us as well but unfortunately the credit card company has decided to attack pharmacies that sell Tramadol, Flexeril, Ultracet, Ultram and Carisoprodol (Soma). And yes, these are all classified by the FDA as non-controlled prescription medications which mean that they are perfectly legal to sell online in the United States. Why this sudden attack has occurred is beyond most people's understanding but all the same the problem does exist. The latest statement on the issue that Visa gives is that they are in the process of determining the legality of being able to provide these medications online and the legal ramifications of letting their card holders buy them. So for now the issue is in limbo and most are waiting to see the outcome.
There is however good news for Master Card. Master Card credit card services are standing behind the online pharmacy business and sees no problem with pharmacies that sell non-controlled prescription drugs online. This is even better for Master Card because of the large increase in business that they will most likely see due to people using their card to buy their medications online. And as always, American Express is supportive as well which is a sigh of relief for the business in general. As long as people have a reliable and safe method to purchase non-controlled prescription medicines through the Internet then things should be okay for now. In the mean time, Visa is losing money in an economy where every penny counts. Hopefully Visa will decide in the not too distant future to start allowing its customers to order these particular medicines to make things a little easier on all of us.