Costco Credit Card Switch Draws Firestorm Of Criticism

If your weekend routine includes a run to Costco for a truckload of toilet paper, coffee, cereal and produce, make sure your have a Visa card with you to pay for it all.

Costco dropped American Express as its credit card partner this week, and judging by the cranky comments on social media, a lot of people aren't happy about it.

Costco begun accepting all Visa credit cards on June 20, both in the warehouse locations and at Costco gas stations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, including Maryland's ten stores. The company said the switch would provide a boost to customers who more commonly use Visa for their purchases.

• Have you made the switch? What's your experience been in Maryland? Tell us in comments below.

American Express, however, said the two sides couldn't come to an agreement on a contract renewal. American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault said in a press release that his company was unable to reach terms "that would have made economic sense for our company and shareholders. Instead, we will focus on opportunities in other parts of our business where we see significant potential for growth and attractive returns over the moderate to long term.”

“People do tend to be pretty brand loyal and hold onto their credit cards for a long time,” Matt Schulz, a senior industry analyst for credit-card website CreditCards.com, told MarketWatch. “And AmEx, more than any credit-card issuer has cultivated that sort of brand loyalty over the years. People are like, ‘Well, I’m an AmEx user,’ and when that changes, that can be disruptive.”

Now complaints have come pouring in on Costco's social pages, with people saying they're especially having trouble with the new Costco Citi Card.

Costco replied on its Facebook page that people ought to reach out to customer service, and they'll handle it:
"Due to high levels of interest in the Costco Anywhere Card and high volumes of calls from cardholders, callers to Citi should expect longer than desired hold times. Citi is reviewing processes and pulling in additional resources to alleviate hold times. Thank you for your patience!"

Others were not so sure, however: