What Credit Cards Does Costco Accept?

Numerous Americans keep on looking out for long queues outside Costco, planning to discover tissue and purchase food in mass as the Covid pandemic continues. At the point when you go to Costco, you likely hope to see “unavailable” and “restricted amount” signs, yet you might be found napping from an alternate issue that is not identified with flexibly — your credit card may not be acknowledged at checkout.

Costco limits which sort of credit cards you can pay with to just Visa-upheld cards. Initially, Costco customers were limited to Amex-gave cards, yet that changed in 2016 when Visa turned into the restrictive Visa organization of Costco. This may cause issues at checkout if your favored type of installment is a charge card that turns out to be sponsored by an alternate organization.

If you want to know more about what credit cards does Costco accept, then you have come to the right place. We have gathered all relevant information to help you understand everything that you need to. Below, we’ll look at what credit cards are accepted at Costco warehouses. So, what are you waiting for? Without much further ado, let us jump right in!

Credit cards accepted at Costco

At the point when you shop at Costco, you can utilize the distribution center club’s co-marked card, the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi, just as some other Visa sponsored by the Visa organization. Here are a few cards that can be utilized at Costco stockrooms:

Chase Freedom Unlimited
Chase Freedom
Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa card
Chase Sapphire Preferred
PenFed Power Cash Rewards Visa Signature Card

Costco warehouses and gas stations only accept Visa credit cards, cash, debit cards, and Costco Shop Cards (gift cards). They do not accept Mastercard, American Express, or Discover cards.

Credit card type	Accepted at Costco?
Visa	Yes
Mastercard	No
American Express	No
Discover	No

At checkout, you have the option to swipe or insert your card, as well as use contactless payment methods, such as tap-to-go and mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay).

Best credit cards to use at Costco

Here are some of the top credit cards effective to use at costco

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Chase Freedom Unlimited^®
Costco Anywhere Visa^® Card by Citi

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 2x points on all travel and dining purchases, and 1x points on all other purchases.

Pros and cons

There is no annual fee for this card.

The main downside of this card is that it has a foreign transaction fee of 3%, which can add up if you are planning to use the card while traveling abroad.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers 2x miles on all purchases.

Pros and cons

This card has no foreign transaction fees, which is a great perk if you plan to use the card while traveling abroad. The main downside of this card is that it has a higher interest rate than some other cards on the market.

Chase Freedom Unlimited® Credit Card

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® Credit Card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

Pros and cons

Costco Anywhere Visa^® Card by Citi

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi offers 4% cash back on gas, 3% on restaurants and travel, 2% on Costco and 1% on all other purchases.

Pros and cons

This card has no foreign transaction fees, which is a great perk if you plan to use the card while traveling abroad. The main downside of this card is that it can only be used at Costco and online at Costco.com.

Can you use a Visa or Mastercard at Costco?

You’re brilliant to need to realize which credit cards Costco acknowledges, on the grounds that it just acknowledges one: Visa. The biggest individual stockroom club in the nation, Costco has a special exclusive arrangement with Visa, the biggest credit network on the planet. For a long time, Costco stores just acknowledged American Express cards. In any case, in 2016, the distribution center chain did the change to Visa.

Costco went into an arrangement with Citi for it to be the backer of Costco’s charge card. What’s more, since the card, Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi, is a Visa, Costco needs to acknowledge all Visa cards now. By changing its sole credit supplier from American Express to Visa, Costco extended its potential customer network by millions. While American Express had 23.3 million credit accounts in the U.S. in 2016, Visa had 276 million. That implies that at any rate 250 million additional Americans can utilize their charge cards at Costco.

It additionally made shopping more adaptable for current Costco individuals. Rather than being secured in utilizing an American Express card, individuals would now be able to exploit the assortment of Visa cards accessible in the commercial center.

Does Costco accept Mastercards?

No, Costco does not accept mastercards. Starting at 2020, Visa is the main charge card that Costco acknowledges. In the event that you don’t have a Visa, you can pay with money, checks, charge cards/ATM, Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) or Costco Cash Cards.

Costco’s change to Visa came as an amazement to many, since the retailer had an arrangement to acknowledge just American Express cards since 1999. Beforehand, the stockroom club had acknowledged just Discover cards, which has a lot more modest part base than AmEx. The Costco-American Express arrangement filled in as a colossal aid to the two organizations, with Costco developing into one of the main three retailers on the planet and driving billions of dollars in deals volume to American Express. At that point, Costco proceeded onward to a considerably bigger credit network in Visa.

Does Costco accept Discover?

Since Costco has an agreement with Visa, customers can’t utilize Visas sponsored by the other three principle organizations, American Express, Mastercard or Discover, at Costco distribution centers. Be that as it may, you’re ready to pay with Mastercard and Discover cards for buys made at Costco.com and the Costco application. Here are a few cards that can be utilized on the web or through the Costco application:

Discover it Cash Back
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
Citi Double Cash Card
Citi Rewards Card
Discover it chrome

Why does Costco not accept Mastercard?

Since they have an elite arrangement with CitiBank to give Costco Visa cards at an extremely low expense Because it is VISA they are needed to acknowledge all Visa cards. Each time a client makes a buy with a Mastercard the trader pays a level of the absolute charge to the card guarantor. That is the manner by which charge card backers (generally banks) bring in cash.

For a very long time Costco had a selective relationship with American Express. An organization that was commonly helpful to the two organizations. At the point when the arrangement was up for reestablishment for 2016 the two organizations couldn’t come to concurrence on the new terms. One out of ten American Express clients held a Costco Amex card. Citi won the offer and June 2016 was the finish of the Amex/Costco organization.

Costco acknowledges check cards as they are avoided from the understanding. Dissimilar to the Amex understanding which was among Costco and Amex, the Citi bargain incorporates Costco, Citi and Visa. All have a personal stake in the arrangement. Amex is the card guarantor, the bank and the proprietor of the Amex brand. The Visa Corporation claims the Visa brand. It isn’t to their greatest advantage to permit a vendor to acknowledge a card from a sole backer.

What are Costco’s Visa card terms?

Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi is accessible for no yearly charge to Costco individuals, and offers preferable awards over its American Express archetype. Its extra focuses incorporate 4% back on up to $7,000 every year (and 1% from that point) in qualified gas buys, 3% back at cafés, 2% back at Costco and 1% back on everything else. It likewise has the advantage of being a Visa card, which is acknowledged at a bigger number of vendors worldwide than American Express. Prize focuses are just redeemable at Costco discount stores and on Costco.com.

In any case, you don’t have to have the store’s Visa card to profit from the store’s change to Visa. Many Visa guarantors offer extra rewards classifications for outlet centers, which means you can make additional money back or reward focuses by utilizing your Visa card at Costco – simply check your card’s prize classifications. Indeed, even without extra rewards at stockroom clubs, individuals spend over $100 per stumble by and large and those energies can add to incredible rewards on any prizes charge card.

Does using a Visa save money for Costco members?

Per their understanding, Visa is the main installment network that Costco will work with. Installment networks are the way to Mastercard installments. At the point when a Mastercard is swiped in a store, the exchange data is sent through the Mastercard processor to the installment organization (for this situation, Visa). The organization transfers the data to the card’s responsible bank (for example Citi or Chase), which at that point endorses or denies the exchange dependent on the cardholder’s accessible credit. The bank sends the endorsement or refusal back to the organization, which sends it to the processor, at that point the store. Fundamentally, Visa converses with the client’s bank for Costco’s benefit, gets the endorsement, and sends the assets.

To utilize the installment organization, the dealer must compensate for a trade expense, which is a level of the charge sum. Regularly, this charge is 2% – 3%. By arranging a restrictiveness managed Visa, however, Costco had the option to radically bring down its exchange charges to beneath 0.5% per exchange. With such low Mastercard charges, Costco can keep its costs low. It doesn’t need to fabricate Mastercard charges into its markup, the same number of its rivals who pay 3% per exchange may. At Costco and other outlet centers, the income edge is tiny, in light of the fact that they offer the merchandise for near discount cost. This implies that every last piece of investment funds helps the organization – and benefits you by keeping the costs low.

Alternative ways to pay at Costco

In addition to debit and credit cards, Costco also accepts cash, checks, and EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards as forms of payment. If you are paying with cash, you will need to have the exact amount as the store does not give cash back. Checks are only accepted at select locations, so it is best to call ahead before attempting to pay with a check. EBT cards can be used to purchase food and other items, but cannot be used to get cash back.

What debit cards are accepted at Costco?

Visa, Mastercard, and Discover are all accepted at Costco. American Express is also accepted, but only at select locations. You can use your debit card to make purchases both in-store and online. When using your card online, you will need to enter your 16-digit card number and 3-digit security code. Costco also offers the option to use your debit card as a membership card, which gives you access to exclusive deals and services.

Does Costco accept the Apple Card?

Yes, Costco accepts the Apple Card as a form of payment. You can use your Apple Card to make purchases both in-store and online.

Can I use Samsung Pay at Costco?

Yes, you can use Samsung Pay to make purchases at Costco. To use Samsung Pay, you will need to add your card to the Samsung Pay app and then hold your phone up to the contactless reader at the register. You will also need to enter your 4-digit PIN code.