CostCo USA dropping Amex for Citigroup VISA

[BarkingGhostar]

Paperwork says cash back on eligible gas worldwide including Costco gas. Nothing in the paper form the plastic was attached to says what is and isn't eligible.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Paperwork says cash back on eligible gas worldwide including Costco gas. Nothing in the paper form the plastic was attached to says what is and isn't eligible.

It quite clearly says "4% cash back on eligible gas worldwide" and right beneath it has a note to consult the reward program terms for details..

 

[BarkingGhostar]

It quite clearly says "4% cash back on eligible gas worldwide" and right beneath it has a note to consult the reward program terms for details..

I'm saying the piece of paper that was printed on didn't have the details, not that they were not being provided somewhere.

 

[Triumph]

I saw something recently that said my BofA 3/2/1 card was now accepted at Costco.

 

[destrekor]

I saw something recently that said my BofA 3/2/1 card was now accepted at Costco.

Yup, all Visa cards are accepted. Just like previously all Amex cards were accepted, whether it was from Amex directly or another bank on the Amex card network.

 

[TheGardener]

Is Citi bungling the switch over. 1.5 million service calls over 11 million customers, says YES!

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/...ing-more-than-1.5m-customer-service-calls.ece

 

[jlee]

I didn't have any problems activating mine, but I shouldn't have been sent one in the first place because I canceled my Costco account in January. I'm curious now if my membership ID still works.

 

[destrekor]

I didn't have any problems activating mine, but I shouldn't have been sent one in the first place because I canceled my Costco account in January. I'm curious now if my membership ID still works.

But did you cancel your card?

I suspect the card is still 100% usable, and if you had not closed your Costco Amex, then to maintain an open account they had to sent you the new Visa card.

I think you may have to have a Costco membership to open the credit card account, but I suspect you do not need to actively maintain Costco membership status in order to hold the card.

 

[jlee]

But did you cancel your card?

I suspect the card is still 100% usable, and if you had not closed your Costco Amex, then to maintain an open account they had to sent you the new Visa card.

I think you may have to have a Costco membership to open the credit card account, but I suspect you do not need to actively maintain Costco membership status in order to hold the card.

I called American Express to close it and the rep said it would be closed when the transition occurred, as they would cross-reference existing Costco members and only issue new cards to them. IIRC she said that my Amex would convert to blue cash everyday, or something like that -- but I now have a Costco Visa with my picture and Costco ID number on the back.

 

[ponyo]

I think there's annual fee for the card if you don't maintain Costco membership. I believe that was the case with Amex.

 

[NutBucket]

If it transitions to Blue Cash there's no annual fee for that card.

 

[ponyo]

If it transitions to Blue Cash there's no annual fee for that card.

We're talking about Citi Costco.

 

[Printer Bandit]

Activated Citi Costco card yesterday and used it. Went to check my Amex account today, and the Amex Costco card isn't there, so it looks like it was closed.

 

[JEDI]

hm.. Amex 'Everyday card' just arrived in the mail.
I never applied for it.

replacement for amex Costco?

 

[Charmonium]

Yup, all Visa cards are accepted. Just like previously all Amex cards were accepted, whether it was from Amex directly or another bank on the Amex card network.

But you only get the cash back promised by the card you use, right? So if you use another Visa card, you'll still get your February rebate I assume but for everything else, you'll only get whatever, if anything, the other Visa card provides. At least I'm assuming that's how it works.

So if you use another visa card, what do you do? Do you have them scan your Costco visa for your membership and then have them put it on another card? How does that work?

 

[JEDI]

So if you use another visa card, what do you do? Do you have them scan your Costco visa for your membership and then have them put it on another card? How does that work?

yes.

now the question is can I use a Costco gift card at the gas station w/o inserting a membership card?

 

[jlee]

hm.. Amex 'Everyday card' just arrived in the mail.
I never applied for it.

replacement for amex Costco?

I got one as well, but it replaced my Amex Blue (same card number and it's the only card that shows online now).

Activated Citi Costco card yesterday and used it. Went to check my Amex account today, and the Amex Costco card isn't there, so it looks like it was closed.

Mine was closed as well.

If there's an annual fee for the Citi card, I'm going to be one of those people calling customer service..

 

[Muse]

I got a letter from Citi Costco Visa yesterday. It includes a statement for transactions I made at Costco for about a one month period. This all happened before the switchover and that's puzzling. I figured to get a last statement from Amex, not that the last charges I made with the Amex card would appear on my Citi Costco Visa statement.

I meant to call them but maybe it's best I wait. I want to set up auto pay, figure they are probably swamped with customer questions, complaints, etc. right now.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

The former cobranded Costco Amex cards died their deaths. If anyone thinks they got changed to another Amex flavor then you have been duped into a new card. The account used for the cobranded Costco Amex transitioned lock, stock and both barrels to Citi. Think of it this way, the name with Costco on the card changed and the people supporting it changed--that's it.

Amex, Citi and Costco all independently stated to me that any cobranded Costco Amex account closures--independent of membership closures--were to prevent accounts from being transferred. This isn't to say Citi didn't get some minimal data for ALL accounts as I was living proof of this.

Since the transition, I have not been able to find proof that Citi still has anything on me. I tried on several occasions, using name, address, SSN, Costco membership ID, etc., but the Citi reps all concluded they have nothing on me since June 21st. Good!

Since I cancelled my cobranded Costco Amex account, I can still access my other Amex accounts just fine. Of course, I d/l all prior statements going back years (PDFs), had no balances, etc. so I think that was a clean break.

One oddity ... when I cancelled in April this was a date beyond which was needed to prevent Citi plastic from being sent to me. The letter with the mounted cards gave a credit limit. It was on par for that particular cobranded Costco Amex. Nothing strange there, but what was odd was a friend, with a stronger financial household than mine, had only 1/4 the credit line as his outgoing Costco Amex.

He said he felt disparaged as the credit line was lower for him now than when he was in college. I told him it was Citi's way of saying go away.

 

[boomerang]

I got a letter from Citi Costco Visa yesterday. It includes a statement for transactions I made at Costco for about a one month period. This all happened before the switchover and that's puzzling. I figured to get a last statement from Amex, not that the last charges I made with the Amex card would appear on my Citi Costco Visa statement.

Because Citi evidently bought that last billing cycle from AmEx. I too got billed the same way so it appears that was part of the AmEx/Citi agreement. It's six of one, half a dozen of the other.

I meant to call them but maybe it's best I wait. I want to set up auto pay, figure they are probably swamped with customer questions, complaints, etc. right now.

I set up auto pay, email delivery of statements, alerts, the whole nine yards online. I read that their call volume is coming back to normal just yesterday so if calling is the way you want to do it, go for it.

 

[Muse]

Because Citi evidently bought that last billing cycle from AmEx. I too got billed the same way so it appears that was part of the AmEx/Citi agreement. It's six of one, half a dozen of the other.

I set up auto pay, email delivery of statements, alerts, the whole nine yards online. I read that their call volume is coming back to normal just yesterday so if calling is the way you want to do it, go for it.

I have a Citi Double Cash Mastercard. I figured I could maybe set up autopay on the Citi Costco Visa card by logging into my double cash card account. However, I wasn't able to find the card up there. So, I called the number on the back of the double cash card (figured the Costco card's CSR line would be a bitch). I get a guy who has or has access to the basic info. He said he would transfer me over to the Costco card folks who would help me set up my online account and autopay, but before letting him do that I asked for the URL where I could do all this myself. It's www.citicards.com. He transfers me and nobody answers... I go to the link and set everything up. The guy had said I'd need a new userID and password, but at the end of the process it asked me if I wanted to use the same ones as my double cash card, which I figured was a cool enough idea.

Once you've registered the card you can set up autopay by hitting www.autopay.citicards.com

 

[JEDI]

Received benefits mailing.

The citi Costco visa is PRIMARY for car rental damage insurance!!!

 

[lupi]

Haven't used the card yet and just checked account for the first time, seems they bumped up my limit another 5k when they took it over.

 

[RossMAN]

Received benefits mailing.

The citi Costco visa is PRIMARY for car rental damage insurance!!!

Thanks, this is good to know as I'll be renting a car soon.

https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/creditcards/citi.action?ID=citi-costco-credit-card-conversion

 

[Dulanic]

I saw something recently that said my BofA 3/2/1 card was now accepted at Costco.

Yeah it is and they raised their % to 2% for all warehouse clubs. This is what I used when combined /w the preferred rewards kicks my Costco up 75% more making it 3.5%.