Best for
It is best for retail and online businesses of varying sizes.
Specializes in
Costco Merchant Services specializes in credit and debit card processing, card terminals, smart terminals, POS systems, POS tablets, mobile processing, and online payments.
Pricing Summary
Setup Fee: $0
Monthly Fee: $0
Swipe Rate: 1.22% + $0.12- 3.35% + $0.29
Keyed-in Rate: 1.99% + $0.25
Early Termination Fee : None
Contract Terms:
Costco Merchant services is based out of Issaquah, Washington, at 999 Lake Dr. Ste 200. It was founded in 1976, and no acquiring bank is listed.
The president and CEO of Costco is W. Craig Jelinek. Upon reviewing their website and business, it does not document whether it is an ISO/MSP. Complaints and reviews of Costco Merchant Services tend to outline issues with poor customer support, sudden account closures, and high tiered rates.
Costco Merchant Services uses a company called Elavon for transaction processing and all aspects of maintaining merchant accounts. All elements include billing and customer support. As well known as Costco is, the company itself is favorable with many customers. With merchant services, this tends to be a different story. Elavon has been rated very poor, especially with the customer support aspect. When it comes to merchant services, Costco Merchant Services offers a tiered pricing structure, which tends to be one of the most expensive pricing plans amongst merchants.
Head Quarters
Issaquah, WA
Year Founded
1983
CEO
Walter Craig Jelinek
Employees
200000
Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance
No setup fee.
No monthly fee.
No early termination fee.
Multiple hardware options available.
Value added service is available.
Three year contract.
Expensive tiered processing rates.
Hidden fees.
Poor customer support.
Not all important terms are disclosed.
Costco Merchant Services offers various products and services to help retail, restaurants, healthcare, and services businesses.
Hardware & Software
Value-Added Services
Supported Payment Types / Services
Discloses All Important Terms
No
Public Pricing Available
Yes
Costco Merchant Services does list a lot of their prices on their website. It offers different options for pricing listed below:
Tiered Pricing
An item to point out with Costco Merchant Services pricing is its rates are for qualified transactions, and non-qualified transaction rates could be higher. Those rates are not disclosed to the general public.
Clear and Simple Pricing Plan
Costco Merchant Services also offers another pricing plan for customers with average ticket sizes of $10 or above at its terminal. The rates for this pricing plan seem to be much higher but are also somewhat more predictable. This plan includes:
Zero-Cost Credit Card Transaction Pricing
Like a small majority of other merchants, Costco offers a newer plan that introduces no additional transaction fees. It is not available in all states. This pricing plan is only available if the customer uses the Ingenico terminal.
Pricing Model
Tiered Pricing
Swiped Rate
1.22% + $0.12- 3.35% + $0.29
Keyed-in Rate
1.99% + $0.25
Mobile Payment Rate
Undisclosed
Virtual Terminal Rate
1.22% + $0.12
Monthly Fee
$0
Payment Gateway Fee
Undisclosed
Batch Fee
$0
Early Termination Fee
None
PCI Compliance Fee
None
Equipment Lease Terms
48 Month (locked)
Address Verification Service (AVS)
Application Fee
$25
Account Setup Fee
$0
Gateway Setup Fee
Annual Fee
$0
Monthly Minimum
$20
Statement Fee
$4.95
The company offers the following as a standard contract:
Costco Merchant Services has done away with the early termination fee that most merchant services charge, and that typically ranges from $300-$450.
Contract Length
3 Years
Early Termination Fee
None
Costco Merchant Services does not have an account with the Better Business Bureau. It's processor, Elavon, currently sports an A+ rating. The reviews on Elavon's BBB page are for many accounts, making it hard to discern which are for Costco Merchant Services. Based on general online research of Costco Merchant Services, approximately 10 were found. Most centered around poor rates, difficulty canceling service. Some newer complaints describe fund holds and expensive equipment fees. It is important to note that most of these complaints fall under the Elavon BBB page.
BBB
A+ (Elavon)
N/A
N/A
Yelp
N/A
Total Online Reviews
100+
Total Online Complaints
10+
Lawsuits
None
If you're in the market for a merchant account provider, be sure to check out our user reviews, our merchant accounts guide and our top popular merchant provider picks