Eh, I was excited to see this, hoping it meant that I could go back to using AMEX at Costco via Apple Pay, but if they are still limiting it to Visa, it’s not really worth the effort to have to switch my preferred cards in Apple Pay.
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Apple Pay Now Accepted at All Costco Warehouses in United States
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I do agree... Amex doesn't really push ExpressPay (tap and pay) options on their cards. Users can request it though.
Then again, why put it on the card when mobile payments are the future?
Amex is really pushing hard for digital payments. They even dropped the signature requirement back in April.
Their fraud protection is second to none.
Actually, some of their cards are starting to get contactless by default now (for example, the Hilton cards and the new SPG card). Considering how it's still acceptable for employees to run cards for customers at e.g. restaurants, they might very well be the only way to ensure contactless is used everywhere.
Pretty much everyone has dropped signatures. It’s just taking stores forever to upgrade systems to stop asking...
Those are the only two cards to get it by default.
That was done at the request of the partner. SPG only gets it on the Luxury card. The base card does not have it. All Hilton cards have tap and pay.
Full disclosure, I work for them... have for the last 19 years. I can only talk about things here that are already in the public domain, but if you follow Amex at all, you will see digital payments is the future for them.
Amex was the first to have a chipped card in the U.S. That was back in 1999. The original Blue Card. I still have one of the first issued cards (expired now obviously).
They also gave you a USB chip reader with the card so you could hook it up to your computer to do online payments. It sucked, but it was a start.
The Blue card was also the first Amex card to get tap and pay.
Amex was also one of the first card issuers to go all in with Apple Pay.
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Visa still requires it.
Only Amex, MC, and Discover have dropped it for the U.S.
Not according to them..
http://visacorporate.tumblr.com/post/169621606538/visa-makes-signature-optional-for-emv-merchants-in
Everyone around me has chip enabled readers... I guess if you dont have a chip enable reader or contactless then you still have to collect signatures. So no signatures required anywhere I shop from any card and yet they almost all still ask if it’s over 20 bucks or so...
Merchants are the ones not updating their systems...
If they're truly all in on Apple Pay and similar, then why bother with contactless cards at all? Citi manages to not give customers any option whatsoever on their other cards while providing it on the Costco card without any issues. If anything, making them opt-in is likely more of a hassle.
Can you elaborate on why US Amex cards in Apple Pay are still provisioned to only support Magstripe mode? This makes it useless on Transport for London for example (The US contactless cards support full EMV mode)
No clue. Not involved in that decision making process.
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You'll notice every Amex card with the exception of cobranded cards, are not contactless.
I was mistaken in my earlier quote. Amex does not offer and opt-in option any longer. Been a while since I looked at the pick list options on each card.
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Visa still requires them on swiped card transactions.
The others have no such requirement. Swipe/Chip/Contactless no signature required.
That doesn't necessarily imply that AmEx got rid of contactless altogether. In my experience, the cards I've opted in for have the symbol on the back, whereas the website only shows the fronts of the available cards. It might be worthwhile to try to opt in for the one card that I haven't done so for yet to confirm either way.
Also, keep in mind that in the past I've had to call up more than once because I ended up getting a non-contactless card instead of a contactless one. Perhaps it's an option on another screen that the CS agent has to go to or something.
My understanding is that as long as the merchant enabled EMV, they can disable signature for swiped transactions too. Though that may be a moot point since the vast majority of US issued Visa cards have the chip now.
I work on the merchant services side. (Data analytics), so I have no clue what the CS screens look like these days. Haven't seen one in over a decade.
I build out and provide SME support for their data analytics systems (various BI tools) for both the merchant and card divisions, but rarely stray into the card options as they're not relevant to what I do.
We do get to participate in preview programs from time to time. I was part of a group of employees that tested Express Pay while they were shaking out the bugs.
There's a contactless option (wristband) that was used for Amex card holders at the U.S. Open.
I can see it being more of an event specific device as opposed to a daily use device, but it's pretty cool. Combo payment and access control device.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/h...an-Express-Backs-Card-Members-Fans-Innovative
They already have an awesome way of paying at Target with their app. I can select either my red debit card or red MasterCard to pay when they scan my cartwheel. So freaking quick. I doubt I would use Apple Pay there with the ease of the app payment.
In contrast, I doubt I would ever be willing to sign up for a "Red" card... because that would be just one more retailer tracking my shopping habits to try to market to me yet more crap that I don't want or need.
Plus, I already have Apple Pay configured on my iPhone... so as long as the store doesn't have an early first-gen NFC reader and/or a terribly slow internet connection, NFC payments are likewise practically instant.
T
Apple Pay is now accepted at all Costco warehouses in the United States, at in-store checkouts, according to the wholesale retailer.
Costco has been equipping its warehouses with contactless payment terminals over the past several months, and as of this week, it has activated contactless payments at all of its 750 locations across the country. Costco is also outfitting its gas stations with contactless readers, but only a few have gone live.
Costco had previously been trialing Apple Pay at a warehouse in Issaquah, Washington, near its corporate headquarters, and a handful of other locations, but only now has acceptance rolled out to all of its stores.
The tap-to-pay functionality of Costco Anywhere credit cards is also working now. Costco launched this Visa-branded card a few years ago, in partnership with Citi, enabling Costco members to earn 2% cash back on purchases from Costco and Costco.com. It also doubles as a Costco membership card for entry.
As one of the biggest retailers in the United States, Apple Pay acceptance at Costco was long awaited. Apple Pay will also be launching at pharmacy chain CVS and convenience store chain 7-Eleven in the U.S. later this year.
Update: Costco says it completed its contactless payments rollout in the United States on August 10, excluding its gas stations.
"We've added additional mobile payment options to make your next visit more convenient," said Costco, in a statement issued to MacRumors. "Costco members can now use Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Samsung Pay at U.S. Costco locations."
Article Link: Apple Pay Now Accepted at All Costco Warehouses in United States
They should correct wording should say Costco now except Apple wallet. You cannot use your Apple Pay cash card at Costco! If you have Apple Pay cash in your Apple Wallet you cannot use it at Costco, Apple Pay cash is backed by Discover and Cosco does not except discover this is what I was told today when I try to use my Apple Pay cash at the Costco on Decatur Boulevard in Las Vegas Nevada. Yes they have contactless payment acceptance however it must be a visa Credit card! Again Cosco change your wording because you do not accept Apple Pay cash you except Apple wallet contactless payments as long as the payment is via a visa credit card! Very misleading very disappointing!
Here is the description of "Apple Pay" on the Apple site: https://www.apple.com/apple-pay/
That will work at Costco, and the Costco site says it will work with any card supported by Apple Pay, not just a Visa. I haven't verified this since there are advantages to using the Costco Visa card at Costco.
"Apple Pay Cash" https://support.apple.com/explore/apple-pay-cash is for person-to-person payments. Not for buying merchandise in stores. You can transfer money in your Apple Pay Cash account into your bank, and then use your bank debit card (through Apple Pay) at Costco.
Article is correct as written.
Costco now accepts ApplePay. Costco still doesn't accept any payment card in-store except Visa.
Since, as you note, ApplePayCash works over the Discover network, that's how it presents -- and likely won't work within ApplePay anywhere that doesn't support Discover. Really haven't used it though.
Apple Pay Cash is a Discover debit card. In theory it should still work at Costco (but with PIN being required), but this might need to be something someone tries to confirm either way.
Interesting, thanks for the info.
I never use debit cards so have no familiarity with their use or where they're accepted vs. credit.
The Costco I regularly use only accepts ApplePay that have a Visa credit card attached.
Visa debt cards via ApplePay do not work. The transaction is rejected as "invalid method".
Visa debt cards via ApplePay do not work. The transaction is rejected as "invalid method".
Well Visa Debit Apple/Google Pay does work at Costco now as I've tested it at 3 different locations in three cites but it forces pin(EFT DEBIT) and I have used it a bunch of times now and it works each time. Although it wasn't working a month ago for sure with that same error you mentioned.
They have yet to fix the issue at my Costco. I was in there yesterday... same error.
Funny thing is Samsung Pay on my Note 8 worked when I used the MST method instead of tap. NFC gave same error.
Visa Debit works fine now. MC debit still doesn’t.
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Discover Debit in Apple Pay Cash seems to always force itself as “credit” when I use it. No way to get it to use “debit”
Might be due to merchants preferring the global AID for usability reasons. Costco may be different due to only accepting Visa on the credit side. This assumes a common AID actually exists for it, though.