Costco maintains its status as one of the biggest retailers not only in the United States but in the world. With more than 800 warehouse locations and 105 million Costco members worldwide, it’s not that hard to imagine why Costco continues to be a household name.
With so many different customers, you could imagine that everybody has a preferred way of paying for their shopping. While some prefer to pay in cash, others might have received a VISA or MasterCard gift card for their birthday, which they want to spend at Costco.
But, the question still stands – does Costco accept VISA and MasterCard gift cards as a form of payment in 2023?
After some research, here is what we have found.
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Does Costco Accept Visa Gift Cards As Payment In 2023?
As of 2023, Yes, Costco does accept VISA gift cards as a form of payment both on the Costco website and in any of their physical warehouse locations. When it comes to MasterCard and Discover gift cards, you can only use them online and not in-store. When it comes to American Express cards though, Costco doesn’t accept them anywhere anymore.
If you’d like to find out more about why Costco doesn’t accept American Express anymore and more, continue reading.
Does Costco Accept American Express Gift Cards As Payment?
As of 2023, Costco doesn’t accept any type of card that is associated with American Express. This has been a thing since 2016 when Costco went into an exclusive partnership with VISA – Amex’s biggest competitor after their deal fell through.
Despite that, you can still use your Amex card to shop at Costco indirectly. Here’s what we mean.
There are plenty of online marketplaces that sell Costco cash cards, which accept Amex credit and gift cards as a form of payment method. Buy it from them and spend your Costco cash card at the retailer in-store online.
If you’re not a member, you can only use the Costco cash card online.
Does Costco Accept Discover Gift Cards As Payment?
Costco doesn’t accept Discover gift cards in-store, however, you can use them for online purchases through the Costco website.
Besides the Discover gift cards, the Costco website also accepts payments using JCB and Diner’s Club cards.
Does Costco Accept Mastercard Gift Cards As Payment?
No, Costco doesn’t accept MasterCard gift cards as a form of payment in any of their physical locations in the United States. But, like with Discover gift cards, that doesn’t apply to the Costco website.
There, you can use your MasterCard credit card, debit card, or gift card at check out. In other words, the VISA partnership with Costco and the restrictions imposed by it only apply for in-store purchases.
But, if you can’t pay with Discover, Amex, or MasterCard gift cards, what payment methods do Costco warehouses even accept?
Let’s find out.
What Forms Of Payment Do Costco Warehouses Accept?
Though Costco doesn’t accept a variety of gift cards and credit cards as payment methods in their physical stores, it’s safe to say that Costco offers more than enough payment options that their customers can use.
For the United States, in particular, customers at Costco can pay using:
- All VISA credit, debit, and gift cards
- Business checks from Costco Business membership holders
- Costco cash cards
- Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards
- Cash
- Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay
- Traveler’s checks
- The Costco Anywhere VISA Card by Citi
- Personal checks from Executive and Gold Star membership holders
- Most PON-based Debit Cards
What Payment Methods Does The Costco Website Accept?
Unlike the Costco warehouses, the Costco website is much more flexible in terms of the payment methods accepted. And though Costco doesn’t support PayPal yet, there are plenty of choices.
Below is a list of all payment methods Costco.com accepts.
- All VISA cards – including credit, debit, and gift cards
- Costco cash cards
- Discover cards
- MasterCard
- VISA Click-To-Pay
- The Costco Anywhere VISA Card by Citi
- Most PIN-based debit cards
Conclusion – Does Costco Accept Gift Cards In 2023?
Yes, you can pay at Costco using any VISA gift card in-store. You won’t be able to pay in-store using MasterCard, Amex, or Discover gift cards, though. That is because Costco is in an exclusive partnership with VISA.
Despite that, all of the above are accepted if you decide to shop from the Costco website.
