My FICO logo $$$$$$$$$$$ 9876 5432 1234 5678 CREDIT CARD KELLY SMITH 11/26 My FICO logo
SCORE
Skip Navigation
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Start Plan
 
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  •  
  • Education
    • Credit Education
    • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Scores Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
    • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
    • Blog
    • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
    • Know Your Rights
    • Identity Theft
    • FAQ
    • Glossary
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • How Can We Help
    • Monitor Credit & Identity
    • Mortgages
    • Credit Cards
    • Auto Loans
  • Credit Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • Credit Education
  • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Score Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
  • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
  • Blog
  • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
  • Know Your Rights
  • Identity Theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary
View all Credit Cards articles

What does the Costco transition from Amex to Citibank Visa mean to your FICO® Score?

March 02, 2016, by Angela Lee

I love shopping at Costco. In fact, I got an Amex Costco TrueEarnings Credit Card because I can use it to pay for purchases both in and outside of Costco while earning great rewards. In addition, it has no annual fee and serves as my Costco membership card. With the news of the transition from Amex to Citibank Visa, I can't help but wonder what my options are and how the transition could affect my FICO® Score.

Back in October 2015, all Costco Amex card members received a communication from Paul Latham, SVP of Costco Membership and Marketing, advising that "Costco American Express Card holders need not apply for any new credit cards nor take any other immediate action regarding their Costco American Express Card(s)."

Based on a new SEC filing by Costco, it was shared that by this summer, the credit card portfolio will migrate from Amex to Citibank, including information about balances owed and credit ratings. Although the account number will change from an Amex to Visa, other data elements will not change on the credit report, meaning that the account date opened and payment history should remain the same. However, there may be a change in the credit limit which may result in a change in credit utilization. Also, the migration should not result in a hard inquiry on your credit report.

So it looks as if they have created a migration process that will likely have limited impacts on FICO® Scores for most members.

However, what if you don't want the Citibank Visa card or you want to retain having an American Express card? If you don't want the Citibank Visa card, you can choose to close the account. If you close the Costco account while it's still with Amex or once it is migrated to Citibank Visa, it may impact your FICO® Scores. Closing a credit card account can impact your credit utilization which could lower your FICO® Score. Depending on how long you've had your card, it could also impact the age of your credit history - possibly resulting in an impacted FICO® Score.

By end of summer, after the migration of my Costco Amex account to Citibank Visa, I will no longer be an Amex card member. However, I have been receiving offers from Amex to apply for another card type. I haven't decided on whether I will respond to American Express's offer as I understand it could lower my FICO Scores as an inquiry will be posted on my report along with a new credit card account being reported if I am approved.

I'm interested to know what other Costco Amex card members are going to do. What are you planning on doing with your Costco Amex card with this transition? Let me know in the comment section below.

Angela Lee

Estimate your FICO Score range

Answer 10 easy questions to get a free estimate of your FICO Score range

740 - 790
Estimate for Free

Instant Access to Your FICO® Score

90% of Top Lenders Use FICO® Scores. Do you know yours?

Get Access Now!

Page footer

Products

  • Home
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing

Learn

  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Blog

Company

  • About Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Program
  • Accessibility

Get Our App

  • Download iOS app on the App Store
  • fil_get
    Get Android app on the Google Play Store

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Credit Education

  • Credit scores
  • What is a FICO Score?
  • FICO Score versions
  • How scores are calculated
  • Payment history
  • Amount of debt
  • Length of credit history
  • Credit mix
  • New credit
  • Credit reports
  • What's in your report
  • Bureaus
  • Inquiries
  • Errors on your report?
  • Calculators
  • Know your rights
  • Identity theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary

Copyright ©2001- Fair Isaac Corporation. All rights reserved.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

All FICO® Score products made available on myFICO.com include a FICO® Score 8, and may include additional FICO® Score versions. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than the versions you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more

FICO, myFICO, Score Watch, The score lenders use, and The Score That Matters are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation. Equifax Credit Report is a trademark of Equifax, Inc. and its affiliated companies. Many factors affect your FICO Scores and the interest rates you may receive. Fair Isaac is not a credit repair organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Fair Isaac does not provide "credit repair" services or advice or assistance regarding "rebuilding" or "improving" your credit record, credit history or credit rating. FTC's website on credit.

PRIVACY NOTICE: When you visit this website we collect your browsing activities on our site and use that information to analyze and research improvements to the website, and to our products and services. When you register for our products and services, we also collect certain personal information from you for identification purposes, such as your name, address, email address, telephone number, social security number, IP address, and date of birth. Further information is available in our FICO Data Privacy Policy. For visitors with visual disabilities, access to this website, including our FICO Data Privacy Policy, is available through assistive technologies, such as BrowseAloud, JAWS, VoiceOver, Narrator, ChromeVox, and Window-Eyes. More details on software and accessibility are available at WebAIM.org.