American Express Costco Transition
American Express and Costco are parting ways this year. Beginning in the middle of 2016, Costco will begin a partnership with Visa and Citi that will usher in a transition for many holders of the co-branded Costco American Express card. American Express has recently put up a website to answer some of the questions that cardholders have about the transition. Here are some key things to know.
What Is Happening As the Partnership Ends
- American Express is no longer accepting applications for the co-branded Costco credit card.
- Once the partnership end, American Express cards will not be accepted at Costco. No firm end date has been announced.
- Once the partnership ends, co-branded Costco American Express cards will no longer work for any purchases. No firm end date has been announced.
What happens to current cardholders?
- Either they will be issued a new co-branded Costco card by Citi. OR
- They will be given a new American Express card with the same number but which is a different product.
There are a ton of other questions and answers like what will happen to rewards certificates, interest rates and more on the American Express website. I highly suggest heading over there if you are a co-branded Costco customer since the transition will begin happening soon and will impact you in some way.
Lucrative Offers Coming?
Last year we saw American Express send out very good offers to some cardholders of their co-branded Costco cards to start a transition away from the Costco product. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen again, especially as a firm date is set on this transition. My guess is that most people will be transitioning to Citi since they will want to start with as big a book a business as possible and thus American Express will lose a lot of customers. It has definitely been a tough year for them.
Oh, and if you want to save over 50% on a Costco membership, see my post from yesterday about the current deal!
HT: Ninja X
 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
bonus_miles_full
Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
[…] with the hardships of a struggling prepaid card division and the loss of co-brand partnerships like Costco and JetBlue. Their stock is doing so poorly that not only is it trading at near 5 year lows, it is […]
But you don’t answer the most important questions – WHEN will Costco sop accepting AMEX?
They will only say in the middle of the year. A firm date has not been announced yet.
When Amex ended the CostCo deal here in Canada which happened a year ago. Amex tried pushing cardmembers to their no-fee Everyday Cash Back card. Well it was a BIG FAIL since most people got the new CapitalOne no fee CostCo MasterCard with better cash back return.
No no… HT to you sir.
😉
Thank god. I cannot wait for my last Amex card to transition to Citi. I am done with Amex. Seriously, their membership rewards is the worst customer service ever.