What Credit Cards Does Costco Accept – A Thorough Guide Known for its customer and employee-friendly policies, Costco is the world’s fifth-largest retailer of an extensive range of merchandise and household goods.
Though Costco is well-known for its membership benefits and rewards on purchases, there are still some exceptions when it comes to its payment policy. There’s always confusion about what credit cards does Costco take, as they don’t accept certain types of credit cards as their payment mode for Kia Finance pay bill and more.
To know about how Costco works and what credit cards can be used at Costco read along.
What is Costco? Costco is an American multinational corporation known for its warehouse clubs, where goods are sold in bulk and at a heavy discount to its members.
Costco has supermarkets as well as an online shopping site. They provide a long range of grocery items, furniture, appliances, electronics, etc. The brand is known for its high-quality products at reasonable prices.
With 848 warehouses across 14 countries worldwide, Costco ranks 11 on the Fortune 500 of the biggest U.S. Corporations by total revenue. Not only the warehouses but Costco’s gas stations are equally renowned as they provide high-quality fuel at the lowest prices to its members.
The drawback of Costco is consumers can only purchase goods in bulk, as the options for single items are limited.
What Credit Cards Does Costco Accept? Costco, the members-only warehouse club, has some different deals in accepting payments. There are several types of cards not taken at Costco. If you’re wondering what credit cards or other payment methods can be utilized at Costco, read along.
At Warehouses If you are a member of Costco, you must have already known that Costco, at their stores, accepts only one type of credit card, i.e., all Visa cards like verizon , Costco Anywhere Visa cards by Citi, and Costco Anywhere Visa Business cards by Citi. However, you can pay via cash, debit/ATM card, checks, Traveler’s checks, Electronic Benefits Transfer, mobile payment applications, or Costco shop cards.
At Gas Stations At the Costco Gasoline gas stations too, debit/ATM cards, Costco shop cards, Costco Anywhere Visa cards by Citi, and all Visa cards are accepted.
At Costco.com If you are purchasing goods from Costco’s website, all pin-operated debit/ATM cards, Visa credit cards, Mastercard, Discover card (including JCB and Diners Club), Costco Anywhere Visa card by Citi, and shop cards are accepted.
Now you must be wondering if Costco accepts various cards and questions like “Does Costco take Amex”, and “Does Costco take Discover”, and others must be popping up in your head, so let’s move ahead and find out the Costco credit cards accepted list.
What Credit Cards Does Costco Not Accept? Though the payment approach of Costco is malleable, there are specific types of Credit cards not accepted as a payment medium at Costco. Read ahead to know what types of cards you won’t need to carry while shopping at Costco.
Does Costco Take American Express Credit Cards? Unfortunately, Costco and American Express ended their partnership back in 2016. Costco no longer accepts American Express as their payment-receiving mode.
Since 1999, AmEx and Costco were in a tie-up, and AmEx cards were the only credit cards accepted at Costco. Now, an Amex card is not accepted even at Costco’s online shopping website.
Does Costco Accept Mastercard? Master cards like Destiny credit cards are sadly not accepted at Costco stores or Costco gas stations, although they can still be used at Costco’s online shopping website.
Does Costco Accept Discover Cards? Discover cards, too, can be used at Costco.com; however, not at the stores or gas stations as Costco switched to Visa cards a long time back and restricted all the Mastercard, Discover, and AmEx cards.
Why Did Costco Switch to Visa Cards? In 2016, when the partnership of Costco and AmEx ended, in the same year on 1st April 2016, Costco made the same deal with Citigroup. Now, customers can use only one type of credit card at Costco stores, and that is a Visa credit card. But why did Costco switch to Visa cards? To understand this clearly, read the points below –
With each card transaction by a customer, the merchant has to pay a percentage of the amount to the payment network as an interchange fee. Payment networks or card providers usually charge 2 – 3% on each amount transacted. Costco made a deal with Visa to lower its interchange fee to 0.5%. The users of Visa in the U.S. are around 180 million, and AmEx had only 23.3 million users in 2016. Costco technically negotiated a partnership agreement with Visa in exchange for a single payment network similar to the partnership of AmEx.
How Does Costco and Visa Partnership Benefits Consumers? Costco is particularly known for its reasonable prices and smaller profit margin as they sell goods close to wholesale prices. The company aims to save from every possible bit of expense and provide benefits to its employees and customers.
Best Credit Cards to Pay at Costco Costco is not only famous for its reasonable prices but also for providing the best offers and rewards on cards and purchases. To make your membership cost worth it, save the list of credit cards for your next shopping at Costco.
The Anywhere Visa card provides rewards like 3% cash back on restaurant and travel purchases, 2% cash back on Costco in-store or online purchases, and 1% cash back on all other purchases. Also, it gives 4% cash back on any gas stations on up to $7,000 purchases in a year at a $0 annual fee.
However, being a Costco member is a must; you can go for their Gold Star membership at just $60 per year or high-tier executive membership at $120 per year.
With no annual fee, you get 1.5% cash back on everything you buy in your first year, 5% cash back on travel purchases, 3% cash back at restaurants, and 3% cash back on drug store purchases. Also, you get 1.5x rewards on your purchases at Costco.
The Costco Anywhere Visa Business card by Citi also comes at a 0 annual rate. By using this card, you can get a cashback of 4% on gas stations, including Costco, 3% cash back on restaurant and travel, 2% cash back on Costco, and 1% cash back on any other shop.
Venture Rewards credit card’s annual fee is $95. However, you earn 5x points per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars and 2x points per dollar on all other purchases. Apart from that, 2 complimentary visits to a Capital One lounge or Premium Plaza lounges every year and no foreign transaction fees and more.
Several companies are offering personal and business credit cards with different offers; choose the one that meets your needs. Although all the cards don’t give all the benefits like a membership card, having one can get you a lot of rewards and cashback.
However, if you don’t have any of these, you can still shop at Costco; here’s how.
How to Shop at Costco Without a Membership? We all know, to shop at Costco, you need to have a membership. Well, the membership fee of Costco is pretty inexpensive and worth it; still, if you don’t want to pay those extra dollars every year, we have come up with some hacks you can try to shop at Costco without paying any membership fees.
Ask a Friend for Shop Cards If you want to shop at a Costco store without having a membership, ask any of your friends or relatives who have a shop card of Costco. You can use someone’s shop card to purchase goods worth up to $1000.
Shop with a Friend Costco has a guest policy that states that each member of Costco can bring a maximum of 2 guests on each visit. However, purchasing can be done by a member only. So your friends or relatives can buy goods on your behalf, and you can pay them back.
Instacart Instacart is one of the partners of Costco. You don’t need a membership to buy from Instacast, and they provide same-day delivery at the doorstep. But, the prices at their site are always around 20% higher than normal. Also, they charge a delivery fee, and the minimum price for checkout is $35.
Costco.com You don’t require a membership to shop online on Costco’s website. Though, there are some products underlined as “members only” as they can’t be shopped without a membership. So, there’s a chance you’ll miss out on some good products; also, there are no discounts or rewards for outsiders, and prices are usually higher than normal. And the biggest drawback is your order might take days or weeks to deliver.
Bottom Line Costco is a multinational corporation that works for maximum consumer benefits at a low-profit margin. A membership card and a good credit score can benefit you a lot at Costco services as well as in other services.
FAQs Ans:
All pin-operated debit/ATM cards, Visa credit cards, Mastercard, Discover card (including JCB and Diners Club), Costco Anywhere Visa card by Citi, and shop cards are accepted at Costco.com Ans: Apple Cards come in the category of Master cards, so it is not acceptable at stores. However, they can be used in online shopping.
Ans: Yes, a Costco membership card is valid at every store, provided you will need to have your original membership card; no copies, photos, or barcodes would work.
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