Costco will no longer accept Amex next year

[14Fiesta]

I really hate that this is happening, Costco and AE are perfect together. Is there anyway they can still try to work something out? I really hope so..

[CreditCuriosity]

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@14Fiesta wrote:

I really hate that this is happening, Costco and AE are perfect together. Is there anyway they can still try to work something out? I really hope so..

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Anything is possible.. Could just be a bluff from Amex, but doubtful.. It is pretty obvious that it came down to swipe fees and Amex wasn't willing to reduce them to what Costco thought was acceptable or partial profit sharing, etc..  Could be something else, but this make the most sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Looks like ill be going with MasterCard at sams club. It's a shame since I enjoyed using Amex at Costco. Less and less reason to have an Amex now. 3 places I used it at previously no longer take Amex which stinks.

[Anonymous]

There is no way that AMEX will get the deal back now!! For that matter, those in Canada have long known that this was coming, because the two companies had such a nasty breakup in Canada that there was no way they could get along in any capacity going forward. The writing has been on the wall for their US partnership for months now.

As a heads up to those with the Costco AMEX (esp. if that is your only AMEX), in Canada many of these cards were simply cancelled outright by AMEX (with no hint of a PC being available). Customers were left feeling like they had been "fired" as customers by AMEX. One day they just got letters in the mail saying that their account was closing  and that if they wanted to get another card they would have to apply for it cold--hard inquiry and all. Some lucky others were offered a PC, but there is no guarantee of that happening, so I would advise initiating a PC yourselves well in advance of the changeover. Otherwise you may find yourself without any AMEX card at all if the Costco is all you currently have with them.

G 

[yfan]

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@B335is wrote:
Cap1 doesn't typically PC between co-branded cards. The GM Buypower card being one of them. But they usually only take 1 hard pull versus the normal 3-5.

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I don't want to change "between" cobranded cards so much as I want to change an not-cobranded card (a QS) to the cobranded Costco one - IF Cap One ends up scoring the contract.

[CreditCuriosity]

Barclay's would be a good pick for a bank, although doubtful.. 

[celluloid17]

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@Anonymous wrote:

As a heads up to those with the Costco AMEX (esp. if that is your only AMEX), in Canada many of these cards were simply cancelled outright by AMEX (with no hint of a PC being available). Customers were left feeling like they had been "fired" as customers by AMEX. One day they just got letters in the mail saying that their account was closing  and that if they wanted to get another card they would have to apply for it cold--hard inquiry and all. Some lucky others were offered a PC, but there is no guarantee of that happening, so I would advise initiating a PC yourselves well in advance of the changeover. Otherwise you may find yourself without any AMEX card at all if the Costco is all you currently have with them.

G 

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That doesn't sound good at all!  

According to this Bloomberg article, it seems like Amex might want to keep those TE cardholders since the majority of their spend is on non Costco purchases:

"Chenault and Campbell declined to say who would take over as Costco’s card partner, or whether AmEx would sell its portfolio. The company will try to retain as many customers as possible, adding that about 70 percent of cardholders’ purchases were outside of Costco, they said.

“We cannot be sure what will happen to our Costco U.S. portfolio,” Campbell said. “We will be working with Costco U.S. and the new issuer in the coming months to determine whether there will be a sale. The outcome of that process will clearly have an impact on our business actions during 2015 and 2016.”"

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-12/amex-tumbles-as-lender-ends-card-partnership-with-costco-in-u-s-

[SunriseEarth]

AMEX is honestly one of the main reasons I joined Costco instead of Sam's Club.   I work right across the street from Sam's.

I wouldn't be surprised if AMEX retained the portfolio and made a new product (like a SimplyCash personal card) with a similar benefit structure.   Ever notice that the front of the TE doesn't have cobranding and basically just looks like a green SimplyCash Business Card?  That would be interesting.   If that isn't what happens, then I'll likely just move my CL from TE to BCE before the product is phased out.  

[Anonymous]

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@mongstradamus wrote:

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@DrZoidberg wrote:

Costco had $113B in revenue. I can't believe Amex is walking away from that for basically doing nothing but allowing their system to be used. That's a huge chunk of profit they'll miss. 

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i am not so sure its amex walking away from the deal, i think costco may also want to use another CCC since amex is known to have the highest swipe fees. I am wondering what will happen to amex TE card. I am thinking maybe they will allow PC to BCE not so sure though. One thing about amex i like is they don't send their extended warranty to an third party like discover chase and an bunch of other CCC do. 

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I don't believe Amex had high swipe fees with Costco. It may be that another company offered a deal that Amex just couldn't match. Swipe fees are negotiated between large retailers and card processors, so they were likely charging extremely low swipe fees. They surely calculated everything and found it to be financially wise to not renew their contract, so they probably did the best thing. Costco could have easily demanded an extremely low fee, since Amex is making all of the money on interest. I'm not sure how another card company will be able to match that, though, because Amex is in a unique position where there is no Visa/MC fee like most other banks. Maybe Discover?

[Anonymous]

damn it... I just joined Costco 4 days ago and signed up with TrueEarning Amex card. What a waste? Currently Costco has $55 statement Credit if $250 is spent in 3 months... I will PC to Blue Cash after I get my $55 credit.