Why is Amex based Apple Pay refused at Costco

Babydocmd wrote:

False advertising to say they accept Apple Pay. Need to state payment must be based on Visa. Blackeye to Apple for allowing that to occur.

Apple is responsible for Costco advertising? Do you have any idea about how commerce works?

Look: here's some news you can use - if a retailer isn't doing business the way you want them to, you're free to select a different retailer to do business with. You're now clear that this retailer won't take your preferred method of payment, so choose: either select a different form of payment or a different retailer.

Going on and on about a bad experience you had somewhere just makes it sound like sour grapes. Write a Yelp review if you feel strongly about it. But face the reality that Costco is a huge outfit, and it's unlikely that you will get them to change by complaining to us.

Sorry but your statement is not true and the card vendor of the card added to Apple Pay does matter. Apple Pay is not a payment network in itself, it's just an alternate means to transmit a credit card payment. Setting it up is much like requesting an additional card on your account, except in this case the bank allows it to be stored on your devices instead of sending you another plastic card. As such, you are still paying with Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Amex, etc when you use Apple Pay, depending on the card that you previously added during setup. Therefore, if a merchant can't accept your card because they are not connected to that payment network, then they won't accept Apple Pay based on that card either. This is also why, once properly configured, Apple Pay can be accepted by merchants even in countries where Apple hasn't officially launched the service such as Mexico or Portugal.

As for Costco, it is true and you can confirm it on Costco.com. They only accept Visa cards at their physical stores. That's why Apple Pay did not work wen you tried to use it based upon an American Express card. Now, are they displaying Apple Pay logos in the Costco store you visited? Because afaik, merchants are required to accept all four major networks and contactless payment before they can request any official Apple Pay stickers from Apple.

This sounds like a question for Costco. Their customer service is here: https://customerservice.costco.com/

Pretty sure Costco only takes Visa. That has nothing to do with Apple Pay. They wouldn't take an AmEx plastic card either if that's the case.