# Costco's "our credit card only" policy. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700 "2009-01-10T19:41:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700/61 "2009-01-11T21:36:30Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > This doesn’t happen because the standard contract between the card provider and the business states that they can’t charge a surcharge. The card providers don’t want any barriers to someone using their card. Some smaller businesses ignore this, figuring they’ll never get caught, so the providers often have ways for annoyed customers to rat them out. Many (most) merchants are even prohibited from refusing to honor these cards for tiny purchases, even though such transactions may cost them. IOW, “$10 minimum purchase on credit/debit cards”. So much for free enterprise,eh. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700/62 "2009-01-11T21:48:45Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > So much for free enterprise,eh. Merchants are free to not accept the terms of the contract, and thereby not accept credit cards. Also, as noted before, many of these issues are not prevented contractually, but legally as well. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700/63 "2009-01-12T00:02:01Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > Merchants are free to not accept the terms of the contract, and thereby not accept credit cards. > > Also, as noted before, many of these issues are not prevented contractually, but legally as well. In the same way that I’m free to not work every day. That’s not a true freedom, is it. Note the absence of a “?”. And there’s no legal limit (law) on the dollar amount, + or -, of a transaction, as has been made obvious. BTW, I got my AmEx. Man, that freakin’ place is a _zoo_! ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700/64 "2009-01-12T00:10:51Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > In the same way that I’m free to not work every day. That’s not a true freedom, is it. Well, it could be worse, you could be forced to plow fields or pick cotton under threat of lashings from a leather whip or the like. However, I suppose that’s a discussion for another thread, in another forum. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700/65 "2009-01-12T00:33:32Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > Well, it could be worse, you could be forced to plow fields or pick cotton under threat of lashings from a leather whip or the like. However, I suppose that’s a discussion for another thread, in another forum. Oh, sure. There has been _some_ progress. Thanks to our unions 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700/66 "2009-01-12T02:15:48Z")
> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#): > > That’s crazy. That’s besides the fortune they make in interest payments. It’s armed robbery. The government _should_ do something about it, because the concept of making it free to consumers but then gouging the merchants distorts incentives. I work at a gas station. A typical, not-crazy-busy gas station. We move about 6000 gallons per day, making an average of 7-12 cents per gallon (very roughly). Additionally, we sell about $25,000 worth of non-fuel mdse per month. In recent months, I’ve seen our credit card fee numbers at like $7,000, $7500, as high as over $9,000 in one month (though the $9,000 month was quite busy). Other than the actual cost of goods, I think it’s our biggest expense. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700/67 "2009-01-12T14:11:43Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > What we now know as MasterCard and Visa came into being in the late 50s (BankAmericard, now called Visa) and mid 60s (Master Charge, now called MasterCard). Just a point of trivia. Visa used to be BankAmericard **in the US**. It was Chargex in Canada. No idea what it may have been anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700/68 "2009-01-12T14:41:42Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Actually, the Executive Membership has a “cash back” feature- I think it’s 2.5-5% of what you spend in a year. At least, that’s how my Executive Membership works. Never had a portion of a membership fee refunded, though. 😕 If you don’t spend enough on your account to make up the difference between the executive membership and the gold star membership via the rebate (2%), you can get the difference refunded. (ie, if you spent enough that your rebate totalled $40 for the year, you could ask Costco and they would give you $10 back, totalling $50. A GS membership is $50 and an Exec one is $100) I also had an experience with a receipt checker, though it was a good one. Somehow I had gotten charged for 2 packages of toilet paper, even though I only bought one. He noted it and sent me back to get a refund. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/costcos-our-credit-card-only-policy/480700.md?page=3)