Costco delays credit card switch from American Express to Visa

Costco Wholesale has delayed its switch from American Express to Visa by several months.

The retailer originally said it would accept only Visa branded credit cards starting in April, but the change has been delayed to June or midsummer, according to our news partners The Seattle Times.

Last year, American Express announced it was ending its 16-year-old agreement with Costco Wholesale that calls for the exclusive use of its cards at the retailer’s U.S. stores.

The charge card company said it wasn't able to agree with Costco on renewal terms that make economic sense for American Express. The deal was originally slated to end March 31.

Costco's CFO Richard Galanti said “our plan is to extend that” by several months until the deal with Citigroup starts.

Galanti said the deal is "fluid." “It’s between AmEx and Citi — negotiating and completing the agreements to do that transition.”

"There are millions of members and millions of members' data to move over and it is taking a little longer than expected," he said.

He wanted to assure customers that there would be no gap "in the middle."

Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the agreement, has reported that Costco will pay almost zero in expenses. Costco paid about 0.6-percent of each transaction with AmEx.

When the transition does happen, Costco will accept all Visa credit cards, including the co-branded one offered by Citi.