Debit or credit? at Costco

[vanillabean]

While wrapping up my purchase transaction at Costco the other day, I was asked whether the card I had swiped was "debit or Visa". And I was thinking I had no clue why it would matter. Could it have been a stepping-stone for comparing the name on my Visa to the name on membership card?

[yfan]

Why would they need a stepping stone to compare your name on your card with your membership card? Costco already has a standing policy that members can only use their own credit cards, although whether a given cashier checks it is hit or miss. They don't need to ask you if your card is debit if they want to verify that the card belongs to the member.

[Anonymous]

POS terminals are all different for example at the grocery store they want a signature when it goes over fifty bucks on credit. At Costco there's no way to get out of there under fifty bucks so that was probably part of it

[bz386]

Debit cards can be processed either over a debit network like Plus, Pulse, NYCE, etc or over a credit network like Visa or MasterCard. The former costs the merchant less.

[CatOfSpades]

The only credit cards that can be used at Costco are Visa credit cards. If you don't have a Visa credit card, then they take any debit card. I think that was probably it. 

[nrm]

You can always buy a Costco Cash Card and use it at Costco. This quarter and next quarter, Discover gives 5% on wholesale clubs. Buy the card online with Discover and use it at the Warehouse.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:

While wrapping up my purchase transaction at Costco the other day, I was asked whether the card I had swiped was "debit or Visa". And I was thinking I had no clue why it would matter. Could it have been a stepping-stone for comparing the name on my Visa to the name on membership card?

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bz386 got it right.  Based on the type of card used would determine how they processed your order.  Costco's not the first to do this.  Gas stations are notorious for this--i.e. when you swipe your card, it will ask if it is a Debit or Credit Card.  Like bz386 notes, it costs the merchant less to process it as a debit.  Nothing to do with name or membership info.  In truth, I've yet to have them look at the back of my card to see my picture, so you could hand your Costco membership card to someone and let them "pretend" to be you.  Why would Costco care?  As long as an active membership card was scanned at checkout, they're good.

[delaney1]

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@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:

While wrapping up my purchase transaction at Costco the other day, I was asked whether the card I had swiped was "debit or Visa". And I was thinking I had no clue why it would matter. Could it have been a stepping-stone for comparing the name on my Visa to the name on membership card?

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They've started doing this at my Costco. When I say credit, they ask to see my card. I'm very annoyed.

[Anonymous]

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@delaney1 wrote:

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@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:

While wrapping up my purchase transaction at Costco the other day, I was asked whether the card I had swiped was "debit or Visa". And I was thinking I had no clue why it would matter. Could it have been a stepping-stone for comparing the name on my Visa to the name on membership card?

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They've started doing this at my Costco. When I say credit, they ask to see my card. I'm very annoyed.

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Me too, I had assumed it had something to do with the switch from AmEx to Visa.... it might be a new rule Visa has put in place or is part of the agreement between Costco and Visa. It takes 3 seconds of my time so it doesn't bother me much. 

[Anonymous]

Nrm-"You can always buy a Costco Cash Card and use it at Costco. This quarter and next quarter, Discover gives 5% on wholesale clubs. Buy the card online with Discover and use it at the Warehouse."

Uhm...if you were to buy the Costco Cash Card online yes you would be able to use it at Costco but no it wouldn't count as the 5% category because you're not actually using your Discover Card at Costco