Re: My email wasn't blank...
"Such a move against one of the card schemes would have been unthinkable even a few years ago"
Erm, many of us old codgers will remember the 'No Amex/Diners Club' signs in shop like Woolworths, C&A and MFI for exactly the same reason... high transaction fees.
As pointed out in the story, it's not just Amazon, it's also banks switching away from Visa. My brand new Santander debit card is MC (which I still need to sort out as 'ready to use' turned out to mean 'declined' Monday!)
I switched from Visa credit card when they introduced the annual fee. When I complained they pointed out they did 'points' but I hadn't earned enough to splash out on on a salt and pepper set. They also pointed out they did 'free insurance', much in the same way that insurance companies give you free insurance for an annual fee