Costco Will Accept Visa Cards as of June 20, 2016. While we've known for awhile that Costco will switch from AMEX to Visa, since Citi negotiated an exclusive card agreement with Costco. The stock market punished AMEX, whose stock fell over 6% in one day, a reaction to the fact that about 1 in 10 AMEX cards is effected by the switch, and for many U.S. consumers, Costco's exclusive tie-up with AMEX was the sole reason for getting an AMEX card.
Originally Costco was supposed to start accepting Visa as of April 1, 2016, but that date got pushed back to June, as part of a deal AMEX struck with Citi to sell AMEX's Costco cardmember portfolio to Citi. That means that existing Costco AMEX cardholders won't need to apply for a new card; they'll automatically be issued new cards in May or early June 2016, according to Costco's AMEX to Citi credit card transition page. Likewise, all credit card rewards current Costco AMEX cardholders earn through June 19, 2016 will be moved over to their new Citi cards.
What's especially interesting is that assuming the June 20, 2016 Visa acceptance day is accurate, that gives Chase Freedom cardholders 11 days to earn 5X on Costco spend with their Chase Freedom, since Costco is a warehouse club. TravelSort reader David had commented on the Activate Chase Freedom 5X for Grocery Stores post “I heard Costco will be accepting Visa starting April 1, 2016. Assuming that is true, I wonder if it is counted as ‘whole sale clubs'?”
Originally I wasn't sure Costco would transition to Visa in time to take advantage of the Q2 2016 bonus, but it looks as though there is a brief window. I'm not a Costco member and am unlikely to become one, since I prefer earning 5X on all Trader Joe's spend, but it's a nice opportunity for Costco members.
Where you plan to earn your Chase Freedom 5X on grocery stores and warehouse clubs in Q2 2016?
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