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  • Costco currently only accepts American Express cards.
  • Soon, Costco will accept Visa cards.
  • Starting April 1, 2016 (in 13 months), Costco will no longer accept American Express.

This is primarily of interest to me because many people who fill out my Free Credit Card Consultation Form let me know that they need an AMEX because they do a lot of their shopping at Costco. (And because Costco’s pre-cooked ribs are such a fantastic way for a bachelor to cater a party.)

It turns out Citi is taking over the contract to issue a Costco card and will issue a Citi Visa. But you will be able to use any card with the Visa logo, not just the Citi Visa Costco card to pay at Costco.

A quick refresh on what American Express, Citi, and Visa are:

  • Citi is a bank that issues credit cards like Chase, Barclaycard, and others.
  • Visa is a payment network like MasterCard and others.
  • American Express is both a bank that issues credit cards and a payment network. All cards issued by the bank American Express are processed by the American Express payment network. This includes AMEX-branded cards like the Platinum or Premier Rewards Gold and co-branded cards like the Delta credit cards. Some cards issued by other banks are processed on the payment network American Express. I used to have a Citi (issuing bank) American Airlines American Express (payment network.)

Citi will be the issuing bank for the Costco credit card, but any card on the Visa payment network will soon be accepted at Costco. Look in your credit card drawer, and I’m sure you already have quite a few cards with the Visa logo. These will all be accepted at Costco. If you don’t have any and want a new credit card, fill out this form for personalized suggestions based on your travel goals and other factors.

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