Costco is a multinational corporation operating a chain of membership-only warehouse clubs. Founded in 1983 in Seattle, Washington, it’s one of the largest retailers in the world, offering a wide range of products including groceries, electronics, clothing, and household goods at discounted prices.
With this kind of reputable retail store, it's wise to accept Apple Pay as a mode of payment right? Well, to my surprise, Costco does take Apple Pay. I mean, why won't one of the largest retail store accept Apple Pay when there's iPhone users almost every. And you know, where there's iPhone, iPad, I watch or Mac computer, there's Apple Pay.
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In today's article, I'm going to walk you through everything you need to know about the relationship between Apple Pay and Costco stores; if the popular digital wallet can be used to make payments for goods and services purchased in any Costco store. Let's find out by staying turned to the end of this article.
Does Costco take Apple Pay?
Yes, Costco like many other retail stores in the United States accept Apple Pay as one of the primary payment methods. If I must shock you, Costco confirms it that all its warehouses and gas stations accept mobile Payment such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.
This simply means that you can use Apple Pay at any Costco retail store and gas station to make payment for things you buy. The Apple Pay payment method was recently introduced to Costco's gas station. It wasn't previously accepted at the gas station before. But due to popular demand, the Costco Wholesale Corporation has to follow the increasing trend of gas stations that are adopting digital wallets as mode of payment.
Using digital wallet as a mode of payment in gas stations and physical retail stores doesn't only comes with convenience and easy-to-use, its also offers several benefits including:
- Speed: Digital wallet payments make transactions faster, (often completing a transfer in seconds) as you don’t need to swipe cards or enter PINs in store or gas station where second person might be spying on your PIN. This is ideal technology for busy environments like gas stations or crowded stores.
- Security: Digital wallets use tokenization to generate a unique code for each transaction. This helps to reduces the risk of card skimming or data theft compared to physical cards. In this sense, extra layer of security is added to digital wallet payments like Apple Pay in store like Costco in the sense that your biometric authentication (e.g., fingerprint or face ID) adds the layer of protection. This simply means, your biometric verification is needed on your iPhone, iPad, iWatch or Mac computer whenever you want to make payment for anything on your Apple Pay wallet.
- Organization: Digital wallets like Apple Pay store multiple payment methods (like credit cards, debit cards, prepaid card, loyalty cards, banks) in one place. As you must know, doing this makes it easier for you to manage and track your spending expenses without carrying multiple cards. This is another benefit digital wallet payments have brought to our doorsteps.
- Contactless Payments: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and other digital wallet platforms you may think I haven't mentioned all promote customer's hygiene by minimizing physical contact with payment terminals. This is a key advantage at gas stations and physical stores like Costco where gets crowded easily. Take for instance, during health concerns like the COVID 19, contactless payment makes it easy to keep hygiene by reducing physical contact with the payment terminal especially when customer wants to swipe their card or enter their card PIN. Imagine how many people will get contaminated with Ebola virus if there's no contactless payment platform like Apple Pay in-place to minimize the risk?
- Rewards and Integration: Aside from the hygienic and security advantages, many digital wallets integrate with loyalty and incentive programs. They're also called cashbacks offers. They automatically apply discounts or points at participating stores or gas stations (e.g., Costco’s app may link membership benefits). For instance, when your Apple Pay is paired with an Apple Card, you can earn Daily Cash rewards of 3% on purchases made directly with Apple and at select merchants (e.g., Costco, Exxon/Mobil gas stations, Nike, Uber, Booking.com) when using Apple Card with Apple Pay. You will also earn 2% on all other Apple Pay purchases, and 1% on purchases using the physical Apple Card.
- Accessibility: The fun fact of using Apple Pay is that you can use it or any other digital wallet platforms like Google Pay or Samsung Pay anywhere contactless payments are accepted. This means that any online or in-person retail stores like Costco, Old Navy, Walmart, and HomeGoods, or major gas stations like Exxon, and Costco, that accepts contactless payment will definitely take Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay.
- Budget Tracking: Lastly, some digital wallets provide spending insights or transaction histories to users. This help you to monitor all your expenses across stores and gas station purchases.
In essence, if you're an online retail store or planning to open an in-person retail stores, consider taking digital wallet payments because that's what's fast trending now and it's getting quick adopting from the World.
How to setup Apple Pay for use at Costco
Now that you've understood that Costco takes Apple Pay at its warehouses and gas stations for refills, it's then important to setup your Apple Pay account to get ready for use at any Costco location.
To use Apple Pay at Costco, you'll need to an installed Apple Pay wallet app on your iPhone, iPad, OSWatch, or Mac computer. Android phone or any other operating system cannot use the Apple Pay app.
The good thing is that if you use any of the mentioned above devices, the Apple Pay Wallet pre-installed application will be available on your device. So, all you need to do is just add a payment card that supports Apple Pay. Here's how to do that:
- On your iPhone, iPad, iWatch or Mac computer, open the pre-installed Apple Pay wallet app and click on the plus (+) button to begin adding your card details.
- Card details including numbers, CVV, expiry date and PIN will be required. You may also need to verify your authenticity through verification code sent by your card issuer. However, this verification is determined by your card issuer.
- It's also important to note that not all cards work on Apple Pay. It's wise to confirm if your card work with Apple Pay from your issuer before proceeding. Nevertheless, I've provided you a details article that talks about all payment methods and type of cards that work on Apple Pay.
- Once the verification code is confirmed, your card will be linked to your Apple Pay wallet. You can then follow the onscreen prompts to complete the set-up, and get it ready for use at any Costco location.
How to pay with Apple Pay in Costco
After you've linked your credit or debit card to your Apple Wallet, and setup the wallet app for at Costco locations including its warehouses, food courts, and gas stations, you can then inform the cashier that you’re using Apple Pay for payment.
Once the cashier agrees with you, then double-click the side button on your iPhone or Apple Watch, and authenticate your actions with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode, and hold your device near the NFC reader until a checkmark is displayed or appear "Done" on your screen or you hear the sound.
Once the checkmark is displayed or your hear the done sound, this means the payment has been completed. The amount for the items will be deducted from the card linked to your Apple Pay wallet.
For Costco gas stations, just follow the same process at the pump spot. You can also use your physical or digital Costco membership card for payment at the gas station or any Costco location.
For online payment on Costco website, Apple Pay is not currently supported on Costco.com due to issues with pre-authorization, so you’ll need to use a Visa, Mastercard, or other accepted payment methods for Costco’s website or app.
For maximizing rewards with Apple Pay at Costco, consider using the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, which offers 4% cash back on gas purchases (up to $7,000 annually, then 1%), 3% on restaurants and travel, 2% on Costco purchases, and 1% on everything else, credited as a reward certificate annually.
Alternatively, the Apple Card provides 3% Daily Cash on Apple Pay purchases at select merchants like Exxon/Mobil (not Costco gas stations) and 2% on all other Apple Pay transactions, credited instantly to your Apple Cash card or savings account.
These must have answered the question "can I get cashbacks when using Apple Pay at Costco?" In addition to that, if your credit card provider offers cashback when their cards are being used for payments through digital wallets, then you will also earn cashback through your card whenever you make a qualifying purchase with Apple Pay.
Furthermore, make sure that your Costco membership is accessible via the Costco app for entry and checkout, as the digital membership card cannot be added to Apple Wallet. This also means that you cannot add Costco Card to Apple Wallet for now.
In fact, according to Costco, the membership card was only built and designed for the purpose of offering members and holders advanced features and wasn’t designed to be managed through digital wallets, including Apple Wallet.
Other payment methods accepted at Costco
Warehouses and store locations
In U.S. Costco warehouses, you can pay with cash, EBT cards, most PIN-based Debit/ATM Cards, all Visa Cards, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, personal and business checks from current Costco members, Traveler’s checks, Costco Shop Cards (though specific item eligibility isn’t identified prior to transaction), mobile payments like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, as well as FSA/HSA Visa or MasterCard Debit cards at pharmacies, optical, and hearing aid departments, and Filtered Spend Visa/MasterCard.
Gas stations
At U.S. Costco gas stations, accepted payment methods include Apple Pay, all Visa Cards, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, most PIN-based Debit/ATM Cards, Costco Shop Cards, and Filtered Spend Visa/MasterCard. For Costco.com, payment options are Affirm, all Visa Cards, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, MasterCard, most PIN-based Debit/ATM Cards, and Costco Shop Cards, with additional details available in the Visa FAQs.
On Costco's website (costco.com)
The payment gateway you can use for payment on Costco online retail store are: all Visa cards, Costco digital membership Visa card by Citi Bank, MasterCard, Bank ATM Cards, Affirm and Costco shop card. It's important to note that digital wallet payments like Apple Pay, Google Pay and others are not acceptable on costco.com at the time of publishing.
Conclusion
Apple Pay is a popular digital wallet payment platform that is being used at many retail stores in the United States. The digital wallet also works in-stores and gas stations at Costco. In addition to those payment methods that I have mentioned, don't forget that cash-at-hand is the generally acceptable payment method anyway you go.
