Although Costco is famous for its wholesale prices and amazing discounts, its payment processing isn’t exactly up to par with its other reputation. Elavon is responsible for handling all of Costco’s merchant processing needs.
Costco Merchant Processing, a reseller of Elavon’s services, offers transaction processing for a broad variety of payment methods through some of the most common payment streams, such as in-store, internet, and via portable devices. These forms of payment include credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards.
In our Costco Payment Processing Review and analysis, we would analyze the company’s offerings, including its benefits, to determine whether or not it is the best option for your company.
Costco Merchant Services: A Brief Summary
| Headquarters | Washington |
| Owner | W. Craig Jelinek |
| Monthly Fee | Undisclosed |
| Contract | 3-year contract |
| Customer Support | Yes |
Costco Merchant Services Headquarters, Origin, and Owner
In the city of Issaquah, Washington, at 999 Lake Dr. Ste 200, Costco Merchant Services may be found. It was created in 1976. However, there is no acquisition bank mentioned on the website.
W. Craig Jelinek is the company’s CEO and president. The company’s website and operations do not indicate that they are an ISO/MSP. Problems with customer support, abrupt account cancellations, and excessive tiered fees are frequent problems and evaluations of Costco Merchant Services.
Costco Merchant Services Features
Costco can accept a diverse selection of payment methods, along with the more common credit and debit cards, card payments that need a PIN, cheques, gift certificates, fleets card numbers, EMV chip cards, business cards, electronic transfers like Apple Pay, and EBT cards.
Credit cards such as MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, and JCB are among those accepted here. Additionally, customers may pay for their purchases with various other currencies by utilizing Costco’s Dynamic Currency Conversion service.
You may accept money in person by employing point-of-sale devices and countertop machines, transactions can be made using a mobile phone, or you could use a virtual terminal. In particular, Costco Payment Processing incorporates Elavon’s round-the-clock customer care, situated in the United States.
- Gift Cards
It may be an effective approach to promote recurring business to provide gift cardholders. Elavon provides this ease and knowledge on how the use of gift cards may contribute to the expansion of your company.
- Check Acceptance
Elavon provides a service known as Electronic Check Service, which facilitates the transition from manual to digital check processing.
Within the next 24 to 48 hours, financial compensation for these activities will be sent to you.
- Virtual Terminal
Those who would rather take payment using their current laptop may use Costco’s provision of Elavon’s Converge Virtual Terminal, which was originally known as Virtual Merchant.
Converge is a payment gateway system that enables users to receive purchases in person, by mail, or over the telephone. Debit cards, debit cards, cheques, gift cards, and Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards are all possible forms of payment that may be recognized.
You can also establish recurring billing for any products or services provided on a predetermined schedule, including subscriptions paid for every month.
- Mobile Processing
Costco Payment Processing makes advantage of Elavon’s smartphone apps, enabling you to use virtually any tablet or smartphone currently on the market as a protected payment device.
Almost everywhere with a wifi network can accept payments, and the processing of credit and debit cards and signature-based card payments is simple.
- In-Person Processing
Costco Payment Processing provides in-store payment solutions for traditionally-operated businesses and has a storefront. If this is your company, read on.
Accepting and processing transactions at the point-of-sale may be accomplished using point-of-sale machinery or worktop terminals.
Costco Merchant Services Charges and Pricing
Costco’s wholesale retailer is well-known for having very cheap pricing across the board, from food to outdoor living products. Its online payment solutions guarantee affordable pricing, with swipe costs at 1.38 percent plus $0.19 for in-store purchases.
These prices are comparable to the industry standard. The transaction costs for mobile payments are 2.49 percent with no extra charge, and online transactions may be completed for as little as 1.99 percent + $0.25.
Costco has partnered with Elavon, which makes it possible for retailers to take many of the major credit cards so that they may provide these prices.
Vendors who are not Costco executive members would be required to pay a $25 application fee and a $4.95 monthly declaration service charge to cover the admin expenses associated with the service.
However, Costco executive members will take advantage of this cheap interest at no added charge. Because this is a limited-time special deal, the prices are subject to change without prior notice.
Is Costco Merchant Services Worth Your Time?
- Dodgy Pricing Model
Concerns with Costco Merchant Services include deceptive tiered pricing levels, hidden charges, and contractual issues.
The conditions of Costco’s credit card program, on the other hand, resemble those offered by Elavon, so there’s no need to join unless you’re an existing Costco member.
- Better Services
But everything is not lost. Over the last several years, Costco has improved its POS technology, including its latest smart alternatives and mobile payment terminals, which are more convenient for customers.
Commerce, eateries, and hardware that accepts EMV and NFC digital transactions seem to be available to fulfill the needs of businesses of any size.
The Bottom Line
According to the standards that we’ve established, Costco Merchant Services is a better-than-average merchant accounts supplier.
As a distributor of Elavon contracts, Costco has a lesser dissatisfaction rate than Elavon itself and provides a few minor benefits that its processor does not provide.
The rating of the firm has been downgraded as a result of the fact that, according to our criteria, Elavon doesn’t qualify as an extraordinary service, and it is impossible to trace the potential complaints which may be lodged against
Costco Merchant Services. In principle, it is recommended to retailers that they carefully study their agreements and examine the price of the firm compared to the price of highly rated credit or debit card processing to secure the best possible deal.
