Nadia Gonzaga's Blog

Wholesaler company Costco has recently announced that they will no longer be affiliated with American Express in Canada. As their contract with AmEx expires in December, they have adopted a new agreement with Capital One Financial Corp. to produce a new Mastercard that will serve as both a credit card and a Costco membership card. Costco stores in the U.S. will still accept AmEx, but Canada’s stores will not.

I found this news particularly interesting mainly because my mother is an active user of her Costco AmEx card. Both my mother and stepfather claim that some of the advantages of having this card is that they can use it abroad in other countries for travel and have an alternate back up just in case the Mastercard or Visa does not work. In addition, they emphasize that utilizing a card specifically for Costco and only a few other stores is useful when keeping track of payments and bills. With the new proposed deal, I asked my parents if they would up to purchasing the new Mastercard that the rest of Costco consumers will to resort to. They said no since they already have a Mastercard and are not in need of a new one. Unfortunately, they have no choice as the retailer requires shoppers provide the card before they can even make purchases. Although this may be a tedious process for some of the company’s consumers, both Mastercard and Costco promise that this will “offer more value, better benefits and increase savings for cardholders and Costco members.”

References

DeChillo, Suzanne. File Photo of Shoppers Leaving a Costco Outlet in New York. Digital image. The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc., 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. 

Strauss, Marina. “Costco Canada Switches to MasterCard from AmEx.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc., 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/capital-one-said-to-replace-amex-as-costcos-canada-card-issuer/article20665637/>.

The Canadian Press. “Costco Canada Shuffles Cards: Capital One, MasterCard Trump American Express.” CTV News Montreal. Bell Media, 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/costco-canada-shuffles-cards-capital-one-mastercard-trump-american-express-1.2013371>.