Costco to Pay Almost Zero to Accept Credit Cards
This article is for subscribers only.
Costco Wholesale Corp. has attained a goal that retailers have sought for years: near-zero expenses for credit-card payments.
In a deal with Visa Inc. and Citigroup Inc., Costco’s acceptance costs will be about zero, according to people familiar with the arrangement. That compares with the roughly 0.6 percent of each transaction the retailer pays its current partner, American Express Co. While Costco will still incur small fees on Visa cards issued by other banks, incentives from Citigroup and Visa will offset them, the people said.