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Costco (in Canada at least) doesn't work with Visa. It's cash, bank debit cards, or Mastercard. (No AmEx/Discover either.) It can be done, at scale, but defini

Costco (in Canada at least) doesn't work with Visa. It's cash, bank debit cards, or Mastercard. (No AmEx/Discover either.) It can be done, at scale, but definitely a business risk.

lolinder 2y ago
Costco in the US doesn't accept Discover but does accept Visa. Heck, they even offer a Visa credit card which stands in as your official membership card.
- frumper 2y ago
  They used to only accept Amex and had a branded card. It worked fine for them that way too.
8note 2y ago
This change happened in 2015, for anyone who remembers Costco and amex being inseparable: https://www.costco.ca/_ax-faq.html https://www.costco.ca/_ax-faq.html
BeefWellington 2y ago
In part this is because of the existence of Interac though. If Interac didn't exist it's possible they would feel they need to use VISA to not turn away too much membership. Having debit as a fallback means they can partner with whomever gives them favourable terms. I doubt Costco is paying Mastercard a % of the transaction the way most other retailers are. Despite it existing since the 80s, there's been constant pressure / lobbying to get rid of it.[1] [1]: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/interac-in-a-fight-for-its-life/article1364954/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/interac-i...
toast0 2y ago
In the US, bank debit cards are commonly Visa, although they can often be run on multiple networks, debit is confusing.
lxgr 2y ago
Costco is membership-only, so everybody shopping there is strongly incentivized to do so bearing the payment methods they accept. A random corner store or online retailer does not have that luxury; they have to accept whatever their prospective customers have on them (and to a lesser extent prefer, if they have multiple brands' cards).
redwall_hp 2y ago
Costco in the US only accepts Visa. I have a membership, and it's an annoyance because all of my credit cards are Mastercard or Discover, so I have to use my Visa debit card. Bank debit cards in the US all also use Visa or Mastercard networks.
- refurb 2y ago
  Costco in the US used to only accept Amex. I assume they changed to Visa because Visa offered a better deal. Seems like the opposite of a monopoly.
jakub_g 2y ago
Interesting. In EU, I never saw a business accepting only Visa but not MC or vice versa. The only two semi-exceptions: - during a MC-sponsored event, you had extra fast lanes when paying with MC (Roland Garros in Paris) - Ryanair (low-cost airline) would accept free payments only with some niche cards (Visa Electron, Mastercard prepaid) and charge like 10€ extra per flight segment for any other card, until I think EU forbid it.

Costco (in Canada at least) doesn't work with Visa. It's cash, bank debit cards, or Mastercard. (No AmEx/Discover either.) It can be done, at scale, but definitely a business risk.

lolinder 2y ago

Costco in the US doesn't accept Discover but does accept Visa. Heck, they even offer a Visa credit card which stands in as your official membership card.

frumper 2y ago
They used to only accept Amex and had a branded card. It worked fine for them that way too.

8note 2y ago

This change happened in 2015, for anyone who remembers Costco and amex being inseparable: https://www.costco.ca/_ax-faq.html https://www.costco.ca/_ax-faq.html

BeefWellington 2y ago

In part this is because of the existence of Interac though. If Interac didn't exist it's possible they would feel they need to use VISA to not turn away too much membership. Having debit as a fallback means they can partner with whomever gives them favourable terms. I doubt Costco is paying Mastercard a % of the transaction the way most other retailers are. Despite it existing since the 80s, there's been constant pressure / lobbying to get rid of it.[1] [1]: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/interac-in-a-fight-for-its-life/article1364954/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/interac-i...

toast0 2y ago

In the US, bank debit cards are commonly Visa, although they can often be run on multiple networks, debit is confusing.

lxgr 2y ago

Costco is membership-only, so everybody shopping there is strongly incentivized to do so bearing the payment methods they accept. A random corner store or online retailer does not have that luxury; they have to accept whatever their prospective customers have on them (and to a lesser extent prefer, if they have multiple brands' cards).

redwall_hp 2y ago

Costco in the US only accepts Visa. I have a membership, and it's an annoyance because all of my credit cards are Mastercard or Discover, so I have to use my Visa debit card. Bank debit cards in the US all also use Visa or Mastercard networks.

refurb 2y ago
Costco in the US used to only accept Amex. I assume they changed to Visa because Visa offered a better deal. Seems like the opposite of a monopoly.

jakub_g 2y ago

Interesting. In EU, I never saw a business accepting only Visa but not MC or vice versa. The only two semi-exceptions: - during a MC-sponsored event, you had extra fast lanes when paying with MC (Roland Garros in Paris) - Ryanair (low-cost airline) would accept free payments only with some niche cards (Visa Electron, Mastercard prepaid) and charge like 10€ extra per flight segment for any other card, until I think EU forbid it.