The all new Costco Anywhere Visa card by Citi

[morgacj2004]

Finally!!! I will be able to use a VISA card at COSTCO. I always thought that their exclusive deal with AX was terrible esp for those of us who do not have or who do not want an AX card.!  I have been buying large purchases at AMAZON specifically because Costco did not accept a VISA card. I will def give more business to COSTCO once this change takes effect.

[creditguy]

Very Interesting article. Sure doesn't make Amex look great. Amex seems to have a pretty high opinion of themselves and that's fine to an extent. What I found funny was the lady at the end of the article. She was approved for the Costco Amex and was excited because she said you have to to have perfect credit to get an Amex. That gave me a good a chuckle seeing as how many stories I've read on here about $1,000 Sl's I think I've even seen a $500 Sl on an Amex, that's some rare air right there. 

[creditguy]

While I agree that on the surface it makes no sense to limit yourself to one card, especially when its a card with one the smallest market share. But when you consider that Costco customers tend to be more higher income and spend more than customers at lets say Sam's club, then you look at the chart of Amex cardholders spending habits and maybe it actually made sense to deal exclusively with Amex. Either way it won't matter much longer. 

Market share based on number of cards in circulation (End of 2014)

Visa MasterCard American Express Discover

304 million	191 million	63 million	64 million
48.9%	30.7%	10.1%	10.1%

(Sources: SEC filings from Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover)

Annual and monthly purchase/spending volume (End of 2014)

  Visa MasterCard American Express Discover Overall

Annual	$3,990	$3,178	$10,992	$1,805	$4,215.1
Monthly	$332.5	$264.8	$910.2	$150.4	$351.3

(Sources: SEC filings from Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover)

[go_FICO_self]

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@thelethargicage wrote:
Will new Citi TL retain backdating or will actual account opening date be reported? I hope so--it would be like having an additional backdated Amex.

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given that it's Citi with their history of crapping all over people's tradelines, i'm guessing a big no.

[Anonymous]

Those that have a costco Amex may want to log into their account. I just did to make a payment and got a popup preapproved offer with a reminder at the bottom that the costco Amex was going away next year. Both accounts would be active until then but that the costco one would eventually be shut off.

May wait a little to see if the offer changes.

[MJ-san]

Poking around the interwebs ... the actual agreement between Costco and Citi does show up at SEC:

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983215000012/costex10110qa51015.htm

LOTS of redacted stuff in there for confidentiality, but it looks like the rewards program will remain the same - an annual rebate based on 3% back on gas (up to 4k in gas purchased), 2% restaurants, and 1% everywhere else including Costco. BAH HUMBUG!

There is an "additional rewards" section that was redacted so maybe there's more "bonus" earning opportunity, but ... we'll see.

LOTS of other info - confirming that there will be new account numbers too.

[Anonymous]

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@MJ-san wrote:

Poking around the interwebs ... the actual agreement between Costco and Citi does show up at SEC:

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909832/000090983215000012/costex10110qa51015.htm

LOTS of redacted stuff in there for confidentiality, but it looks like the rewards program will remain the same - an annual rebate based on 3% back on gas (up to 4k in gas purchased), 2% restaurants, and 1% everywhere else including Costco. BAH HUMBUG!

There is an "additional rewards" section that was redacted so maybe there's more "bonus" earning opportunity, but ... we'll see.

LOTS of other info - confirming that there will be new account numbers too.

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What I'm hearing you say is that between my QS and my Chase AARP, there is no reason to get the Citi Costco card. Check.

[MASTERNC]

I wouldn't take that too seriously.  It is possible the rewards stay the same (unless they really care what Sam's Club offers).  However, some of what is in that document is as of the date it was signed.  For example, one section regarding Costco still says they take American Express, indicating it represents the present case and not the future case.

As has also been pointed out, there are tons of different Visa products out there.  It is in Citibank's best interest to convince Costco users to pull their card out away from Costco instead of an existing Visa product the consumer may have.  So there is definitely an argument to have better rewards.

[creditguy]

The Canadian Costco capital one has a 3-2-1 structure as well, except it's 3% on restaurants 2% on gas and 1% everything else, so probably there will be nothing exciting about Citi Costco that didn't already exist or you can't find elsewhere.

[thelethargicage]

There's a poster on this board who works at Costco, and he mentioned on another recent Costco thread that he had overheard something about the benefits for the new Costco Visa. Apparently it will give 5% on gas, 3% at restaurants, and most importantly, 2% on general spend. Not sure if that last number was a typo on his part or if he was just kidding, but if it does turn out to be true, this card will be a game changer.