What Credit cards does Costco Accept?

Costco accepts all Visa cards, including the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi. While it does not accept other credit cards like Mastercard or Discover directly at its stores and gas stations, Costco does accept these forms of payment online except the American Express.

For more detail on what forms of payments are accepted at Costco, whether shopping in-store, at gas stations, or online, keep reading.

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What credit cards does Costco take?

Depending on where you are shopping, Costco accepts a wide range of credit cards. Here is a list of credit cards accepted by Costco.

Payment Costco accepts at its warehouses

If you are shopping at the Costco warehouses, there is a wide range of payment methods accepted by this retail store. According to the Costco website, the following are credit cards and payments accepted by Costco when shopping in-store.

All Visa Cards(debt/credit cards)
Costco Shop Cards
Business and personal checks from active Costco business members and current consumer members
EBT cards
Mobile Payment(Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Apply Pay)
Cash
Most PIN-based Debit cards and ATM cards
The Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi

Payments Costco accepts at its gas station

Costco is also known as a major competitor in the automotive fuel industry and has gas stations in almost every store. If you want to pay for gas at Costco, the following are accepted credit cards and payment methods at Costco.

All Visa cards
Most Pin-based Debit/ATM cards
The Costco Anywhere Visa card by Citi, and
Costco Shop Cards

Credit cards Costco accepts on its website(Costco.com)

Just like other major retail stores, Costo has an online presence and you can shop for anything you want and finish all transactions online. In case you are shopping at Costco.com, the following are acceptable credit cards and payment methods you can use.

All Visa Cards
MasterCard
The Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi
Most PIN-based Debit/ATM cards
Discover Cards(including Diners Club and JCB)
Costco Shop Cards

For non-members making purchases on the Costo website, a 5% charge is applied except when buying prescription drugs, according to Costco. This retail justifies the 5% surcharge as follows, “This is because our ability to offer low prices on brand-name items is due in large part to our membership program, which is designed to reward members for their loyalty”.

In order words, if you are not a Costco member, your purchase does benefit the company on its low prices mission. This is why you must pay an extra 5% charge over the posted price of the item you are buying.

What credit cards Costco doesn’t accept?

When shopping at Costco warehouses or paying for gas, you cannot use Discover credit cards, Mastercard, or American Express. If you have a debit card affiliated with Discover or Mastercard, Costco will take them on its website. However, Costco does not accept credit cards affiliated with American Express.

How can you use funds on your Mastercard and Discover card to make purchases in-store?

To get around this issue, purchase the Costo Shop cards from its website and then use those cards to make purchases in the warehouse. For example, if you are a member and have a Discover credit card or a Mastercard, use your card to purchase the Cstoco Shop card online. Once you have the card, you can use it to shop in-store as an acceptable payment method.

What to do if Costco does not take your credit cards?

If you have credit cards that are not accepted at the Costco warehouses, check if you can use your credit cards on its website. Most credit cards that are not accepted in-store such as Mastercard and Discover can be used online. AmEx credit cards are the only ones that you cannot use to make purchases at Costco.

You can also use your the rejected credit card to purchase a Costco Shop card online and use the card to make purchases in-store. If none of these options work, try using other payment alternatives such as cash or using a PIN-based debit card, etc.

Does Costco accept American Express Credit cards?

Costco does not accept American Express because it is in partnership with the Visa network. Additionally, the breakup between American Express and Costco also ended the use of American Express in its warehouses, gas stations, and online.

American Express is known to charge higher processing fees compared to other credit card networks which is why many businesses no longer accept AmEx credit cards. According to Smartasset, American Express charges merchants between 1.43% and 3.3% which is much higher compared to other credit card networks such as Visa and Mastercard which charge between 1.15% and 2.5%.

While Costco does not accept AmEx credit cards anywhere, you can still use Mastercard and Discover-backed credit cards on its website.

Can you use a Visa or Mastercard at Costco?

If you have a Visa or a Mastercard and want to shop at Costco, the following are your options.

You can use Visa credit cards in the Costo warehouse, at its gas stations, and at Costco.com online
Costco accepts Mastercard and Discover credit cards only online at Costco.com
If you have other PIN-based debit cards and ATM cards, you can use them in-store, at gas stations, and on its website.
If you have Costco Shop Cards and related members cards, you can use them at all three locations(gas station, in-store, and online).
Your AmEx credit card cannot be used to make purchases at Costco

Why doesn’t Costco take Mastercard in-store or at its gas stations?

Costco does not accept Mastercard because it has a partnership with Visa as its acceptable credit card network. In exchange for this partnership, Costco pays reduced credit card processing fees. Instead of paying 1.3% to 3% which is the average range for payment and processing fees, Costco struck a deal for a much lower rate with Visa.

Currently, Costco pays only a 0.4% interchange fee to Visa after breaking a contract with American Express for 0.6%, according to Motley Fool. Due to this deal with Visa, Costco does not accept Mastercard, Discover, or American Express when shopping in-store or making payments at its gas stations. You can see that businesses are always looking for ways to save money, and usually, that comes to the type of payments they accept.

The next time you go shopping at Costco in-store or gas stations, make sure that you have a Visa card to make your payments. You can also bring other acceptable payment options such as Costco Shop Cards, the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi, etc.

Companies pay fees when you use a credit card

Credit card transactions come with processing fees imposed by credit card networks. In the U.S. market, there are four major credit card networks which include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover, according to Insider Intelligence, which means that every time you pay with a credit card, the merchant pays a credit card processing fee to the corresponding credit card network.

For example, the following are average transaction costs imposed by credit card processing companies to merchants, according to the Insider News Daily.

Discover: 1.53%-2.53%
American Express: 1.58%-3.3%
Visa: 1.29%-2.54%
Mastercard: 1.29%-2.64%

On top of processing fees, networks also charge merchant flat fees.

Paying this much rate for every credit card transaction, however, becomes a significant burden to many businesses. That is why some enterprises establish partnerships with particular credit card networks and exclusively accept their cards as acceptable payment methods in exchange for lower rates.