Over the last few months, every time I dig my Costco membership card out of my wallet to show the person standing by the entrance I think about how the calendar is marching closer and closer to April 1st. That is the date the Costco American Express Rewards Card was supposed to cease to be accepted at Costco, and the transition to a Citi Visa was to be compete. The information I had was obtained only because I called both parties involved (Costco and American Express), not because they gave me any information.
In their defense, Costco did send a letter essentially saying, “We’ll send you more info when we have it.” But with just a few weeks left until the date when the Amex card was to be shut down at Costco, one would have thought more information would have been sent to cardholders.
Today, as I went through the checkout lane, I was handed a piece of paper.
American Express Cards will continue to be accepted at Costco through June 19th.
Then, in smaller print:
Beginning June 20th, the only accepted form of payment at Costco warehouses will be
- Visa Cards
- Cash
- Checks
- Debit/ATM Cards
- EBT
- Costco Cash Cards
For details visit the membership counter Costco.com and click Customer Service.
It seems like more information should be available, so once I got home I immediately went to the website to see what other information I could gather. Here’s a summary:
- Costco American Express cardholders can continue to use their cards and earn cash back until June 19th.
- On June 20th, not only will American Express no longer be accepted at Costco, but the Costco American Express cards will be invalid to use anywhere.
- Costco American Express card holders will automatically be transitioned to a new Citi Visa rewards card. More information will be provided in early April, cards to be sent out May or early June.
- Cardholders do not have to apply for the Citi Visa. Balances and rewards will automatically be transferred to the new account.
- Citibank will NOT pull a credit report as part of the transfer, and cardholders will maintain their credit line.
I couldn’t help but shake my head again as I finished reading the information. I finally had some information with concrete dates and details. But it was communicated to me as a customer as a change in terms of what Costco will accept as a form of payment. Granted, with the prompting from the slip of paper given to me I was able to get some good information, but one would think as a cardholder I would receive official notification through the mail.
At least they got one thing right. Citibank will not be pulling a credit report on cardholders as part of the transition. Anyone that has a Costco American Express already had a hit to their credit score when they applied for that card – there’s NO WAY someone should have to take another hit to their credit. Costco decided to make this switch, not the cardholders.
It sounds like details are starting to emerge, but I still question the method by which Costco is communicating information, and how slow the information is being rolled out.
This breakup is still a complete mess.
I think the reason for the delay is on Amex side. They have to prep all the accounts and data to be given to the new Citi-Visa for the transfer and that is taking a lot longer than expected. I do agree all involved could do a better job with their communication. We are just thinking of closing these accounts and be done with it all.
I don’t care how long it’s taking…….take as long as they want to get it right. But man…….keep your customers updated on what’s going on!
Part of the holdup was that AmEx and Visa needed to work out the details on the transfer of information so that everything transitions as you described. That’s a lot of information, a lot of which includes private and financial info, so as a consumer, I’d much rather them take the extra time to make sure that this is right versus trying to squeeze it in. In situations like this, there is nothing wrong with being careful. I would also expect that the detailed info to consumers that you were saying is missing will come but it will be closer to the transition date. After all, if they sent out the full level of details now, most people are going to read it and forget most of the details by the time mid-June rolls around. Sending the details closer to the actual transition seems to make sense to me.
I agree Money Beagle, but they could have (in my opinion) kept us a little more up to date with the progress. Something as simple as – “Hey, we know we told you that this thing was going to shut off on 3/31, and that date is coming up….but it’s going to take a little longer.”
I was told per random-guy-behind-the-customer-service-counter NOT to close my Amex, that it will NOT close automatically, and if I close it I will lose all my rewards points. I sure hope the flier you received is what is true in this case.
Me too, KB….we’ll see!