Is Costco AMEX considered a poor relative of the other AMEX cards?

[cashnocredit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ken Chenault, Amex CEO, has already stated they will be trying to retain current cardholders. He said something along the lines of them being Amex customers just as much as they are Costco customers. I can't see any way an agreement could preclude Amex from offering a different card to those who wanted one.

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Since it is almost certain that Amex will sell the existing portfolio it's likely that Amex/Costco card holders will simply see their billing tranferred to Citi much like when Walmart transitioned from Discover to Mastercard though that was simpler as the issuer remained unchanged, only the card network was switched.

What is uncertain is whether their offers will have automatic acceptance or be similar to current offers extended to Amex cardmembers which we all get from time to time.

Amex's Edgar filings are ambigous:

We intend to make investments to attract Card Members, including those from the Costco co-brand relationship, by offering them attractive products from our suite of proprietary offerings.

And the Amex comments about the portfolio purchase is a bit ambiguous as well.

The term of any sale of the existing Costco U.S. Card Member loan portfolio will depend on a series of decisions and negotiations among Costco, us and the new co-brand card issuers.

I wonder if the orignal contract has language addressing termination and portfolio sales rights.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone...a lot of good information.

[thelethargicage]

The red-headed stepchild of all Amex cards, barely two shades above a "fake" Amex

[Anonymous]

I actually think it's a very interesting card to app right now, becuase you potentially wind up with TWO cards and DOUBLE the credit. Not a guarantee, but a real possibility. 

I was a Costco customer in Canada and had a Costco Amex when they switched to Mastercard there. Amex swapped the Costco cards there to something similar to the Blue Cash card (they called it "SimplyCash"), and then Costco customers all got mailed pre-approved offers for a new Mastercard. I turned it down becuase I knew I was moving here.

No guarantee something like that will happen here, but if it DOES, then you get your foot in the door with Amex, and you get your foot in the door with Citi too. And worst case, you got your foot in the door with either Amex OR Citi.

Too bad I'm in the garden or I'd app it right now myself.

[Anonymous]

I did this last night. I moved 21.8k from TE into a new BCE and left the remaining 2k on the TE. My fear was Citi not letting me keep the CL I had. It was a HP but at least I still have the large CL with Amex.

[joedtx]

Does anyone see this as an opportunity to get back in with Citi if you've been blacklisted?

[dollar_bill]

The good news is all of the questions surrounding this issue will be resolved in a year.  Put me in the "wait and see" camp. 

The TE card is a good card with nice rewards. 3% gas and 2% restaurant & travel ... not too shabby. I enjoyed the waived fee for the Costco membership. We'll see what happens. I will not be apping with Citi, they are terrible IMO. If I get a card mailed to me, fine. If I had to app, there are a lot of other Visa's I can use.

[Zorasmiles]

I actually spoke with AMEX in regards to this proposed deal and how it would affect customers who currently had an AMEX Costco branded card.  I was informed that when the time came AMEX would not abandon their customers and would offer up a card of equal value to customers in good standing.  I asked what card would it potentially be but they could not disclose, as it had not been hammered out.  They also stated that CITI would also be seeking to take on the current credit profiles but were not aware what would be the requirements of CITI.  I was offered a chance to apply for the AMEX Green AGAIN at this time and I politely declined LOL

[celluloid17]

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@Zorasmiles wrote:

I actually spoke with AMEX in regards to this proposed deal and how it would affect customers who currently had an AMEX Costco branded card.  I was informed that when the time came AMEX would not abandon their customers and would offer up a card of equal value to customers in good standing.  I asked what card would it potentially be but they could not disclose, as it had not been hammered out.  They also stated that CITI would also be seeking to take on the current credit profiles but were not aware what would be the requirements of CITI.  I was offered a chance to apply for the AMEX Green AGAIN at this time and I politely declined LOL

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Good information!

Could it really be possible that we'd end up with two different TLs with the exact same CLs and it resulting in no HPs?!  It doesn't seem like there's any precedence for this type of scenario, but I certainly would welcome it. 

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The reason I ask this is that I opened one at Costco and was approved with 1000 CL.  Then when I setup online access, the CL is down to 800.  Doesn't seem very high for an AMEX card.  I do, however, get to use it any place where AMEX is accepted.

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With any creditor the card doesn't determine your limit unless it's a product intended for builders/rebuilders with restrictions.  Your credit and income do.  My TE has a $19K CL, for example.  Always be carefull assuming broad trends based on a single data point not matter what the topic.

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@joedtx wrote:

Does anyone see this as an opportunity to get back in with Citi if you've been blacklisted?

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I doubt that Citi would simply waive any qualification requirements for all TE cardholders but the details around that have not been officially announced.