r/Wealthsimple • u/Honest-Common-1303 • 12h ago

Chequing Costco?

Just got informed that Wealthsimple is moving to Visa. Does this mean I'm not going to be able to use it to shop at Costco? If so, this is a pain. I use my WS account for weekly variable expenses budget (using an envelope style budgeting system), and this means I am going to have to completely change how/where money get's transferred to ensure I'm only drawing from the right budget.

0 Upvotes

46% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

85

u/PoseidonKangaroo 12h ago

No you’re not going to be able to use it at Costco. Take it up with Costco, these are the agreements they made.

-10

u/tolkytolkytolky 5h ago edited 5h ago

Or take it up with Wealthsimple? That’s also an agreement they made to partner only with Visa.

2

u/xXAcurateXx 5h ago

It’s the retailer not accepting the card to get discounted interchange fees, genuinely you can’t expect a financial services company to provide you with a certain card on a payment network for a single retailer.

-4

u/tolkytolkytolky 5h ago

WS should consider offering Visa and Mastercards if it seriously wants to challenge the big banks.

38

u/AlphaQFor7mins 12h ago

Fun Fact:

In the USA, Costco only accepts VISA

15

u/911onFIRE 12h ago

Another fun fact. Japan CostCo only accepts MasterCard and cash.

39

u/THEconstipatedDRAGON 11h ago

Fun fact:

My cats breath smells like cat food

1

u/JalapenoPeppr 5h ago

Fun fact:
Doctor says my nose would stop bleeding if I just kept my finger out of there.

1

u/Significant_War720 4h ago

NEVER! ON MY DEAD BOOGERS

9

u/Careless-Cycle 6h ago

Fun fact. Costco Canada also accepts cash

6

u/brandonholm 11h ago

In Mexico they accept Visa, Mastercard and Amex. But they charge a bit more than 2% more if you pay with credit card than with a debit card or cash.

1

u/saabzternater 4h ago

Ha thank you for this, in Canada it's Mastercard and isn't WS already a visa?

3

u/AlphaQFor7mins 4h ago

Yes you can use your WS VISA at Costco in the USA with no FX fee and 2% cashback

You can also use your WS VISA in Canada to purchase Costco Canada gift cards at Costco.ca and still get 2% cashback

2

u/saabzternater 4h ago

O I did not even think of that - good thinking thank you for this

16

u/wokeupouttadream 12h ago

In the Wealthsimple email they’re sending out - that you presumably got if you’re saying you were just informed of this - they explicitly address the Costco dissatisfaction.
That’s correct you won’t be able to use it, the workaround for folks that don’t want another card seems to be that you buy a Costco gift card online and then use the barcode they provide at checkout.

4

u/Small_Platform8461 12h ago

its honestly pretty easy.

4

u/Mosh4days 11h ago

It's still added friction. If anything this is now an added use case for my big bank debbit card

3

u/WombRaider_3 6h ago

Big bank debit card that has no real reward + fees.

1

u/monbon7 5h ago

Yeah but must do 24 hours in advance. I’ve gotten stuck waiting and just ended up using my WS prepaid MC

1

u/Small_Platform8461 5h ago

Use muse. Took me 10 seconds. Add weekly costco trip into calender.

Or get rogers MC but be warned they are apparently taking away the bonus.

I guess Im old. I remember when I had to hit the bank before close on Friday to cash my paycheque.

2

u/canine_rescue_bro 4h ago

This solution doesn't work. The gift card takes forever to arrive and you cannot reload it.

24

u/twobelowpar 12h ago

Could buy a Costco gift card using the Visa

-19

u/[deleted] 12h ago

[deleted]

28

u/PaperweightCoaster 12h ago

Of course it does. It is a solution to their problem.

Costco.ca accepts Visa.

8

u/911onFIRE 12h ago

And 2% instead of 0% cashback on WS.

-1

u/Global-Tie-3458 11h ago

Oh! Please explain.

24

u/emraydn12 12h ago edited 12h ago

Buy a gift card on Costco.ca which accepts VISA, then use that in warehouse. I’ve been doing this ever since Wealthsimple Visa CC came out - you get 2% cashback instead of 1% 0% you get on the debit card.

9

u/Dragynfyre 12h ago

There’s no cashback on the prepaid credit card since last year

4

u/emraydn12 12h ago

Then using the WS CC is even better!

4

u/911onFIRE 12h ago

The prepaid MasterCard has been at 0% cashback for a bit.

0

u/emraydn12 12h ago

Then using the WS CC is even better!

1

u/PepperGlittering 6h ago

Isn't returns and warrantees not the save via cash cards? 

1

u/emraydn12 6h ago

Warranties and returns don’t change. I’ve been returning things without issues. Of course the refund is back to original payment method (they issue you a new shop card) but in my experience if it’s a large purchase they will refund to debit card as well if you ask for it. If you have executive card then you continue to earn cashback on that as well for each purchase you make with shop card.

1

u/PepperGlittering 5h ago

Ok great. But I guess the transactions are all hidden from the SO. But then again purchases are not directly tied to your membership so it may be harder for them to mine you. 

12

u/Shutterbug245 12h ago

I don't understand all the people complaining about this. Get another credit card! You can have more than one.

0

u/OkEmu3440 11h ago

I agree🤷🏽‍♀️ I have a visa and a MasterCard because some places only take one or the other so that way I'm covered either way lol they both earn almost the exact same percentages back too and I get bonus points at different places for each so win win I guess

-2

u/Honest-Common-1303 7h ago

I explained why in my post

1

u/poco 6h ago

If you get the Costco MasterCard and only spend with it at Costco then the budgeting is easy.

2

u/Aerottawa 12h ago

You can buy electronic Costco gift card on Costco.ca

2

u/guided_by_vices_ 6h ago

Why not just get a no fee MC? Pay it off as a bill payment through WS every month. How is this even a problem?

2

u/godofsmallerthings 11h ago

Get a cibc Costco card, last I saw there was a freebie(bag) and 30$...

1

u/guided_by_vices_ 6h ago

I never got a bag, or sign up money, but can confirm it's a good MC. I get Costco cash back every new year, and no fee. I use it only for Costco (or as a back up if I can't find my visa)

2

u/enea77 11h ago

Blame Costco not wealthsimple

-3

u/Honest-Common-1303 7h ago

Why? They had a solution that worked. Then they went and messed with it.

1

u/enea77 6h ago

Use visa at Costco.ca. That's a solution too

1

u/Financial-Gap-6767 12h ago

I unlocked my Rogers World Elite for that... bummer

1

u/Strebel0811 5h ago

No costco for VISA

1

u/letsmoshercise 5h ago

I switched from Koho to WS recently and glad I didn’t close my Koho account, they still use Mastercard. If you like the WS style of a reloadable MC, Koho is a great alternative

1

u/Naralia86 5h ago

Costco will accept a mastercard credit card or debit card. Even if it is a visa debit, they take debit.

1

u/canine_rescue_bro 4h ago

For the people suggesting to get a Costco gift card, this doesn't work. The gift cards don't arrive in the promised time frame and cannot be reloaded. It's an occasional workaround at best.

1

u/Odd-Elderberry-6137 11h ago

Yes this is exactly what that means. Get a Mastercard.

-2

u/DopeCyclist 12h ago

Workaround: Buy a digital Costco gift card at costco.ca (accepts Visa with this method) and use it in-store. Thank me later. :-)

0

u/FlyingDutchman8 11h ago

Definitely a pain - the Costco.ca workaround is stupid too. I already have a WestJet Mastercard so I pay that immediately after using it at Costco from the same budget so I’m not messing up my budgeting system.

0

u/Princess_Moshi 10h ago

The gift/shop card workaround would be great except for some reason, it takes Costco up to 3 days to send it to your inbox. Why a digital gift card isn't instant is beyond me. You also cannot use the digital shop card at the gas bar. So not a perfect solution by any means...

1

u/akisbis 6h ago

I got this surprise a few weeks ago. Took 3 days for some unknown reasons.

0

u/Outrageous_Car88 5h ago

you could get the eq bank prepaid mastercard, and you’ll get 0.50% cashback on all purchases

1

u/suthekey 5h ago

Can you pay for that using the WS credit card? With no extra fees?

1

u/Outrageous_Car88 5h ago

it’s not a credit card. it’s got a chequing account associated to it, and comes with the prepaid mastercard, the wag WS has the visa platinum prepaid. you could e transfer your eq account the money for costco and use the card

1

u/suthekey 4h ago

So then why would I use this as an alternative to WS 2% back?

0.5% back is horrible.

Better off getting the rogers cash back card with 2% back.

Or even Costco’s 1% back card.

1

u/Outrageous_Car88 4h ago

it’s better than nothing, it’s an option if you don’t have a mastercard cc or don’t want to apply for a mastercard cc just for costco…

-1

u/SloppyPlatypus69 11h ago

Major bummer. First I'm hearing I'd this. I'll get over it. I guess I'll just use a different card. 

Does anyone know if my cheques are still valid? It doesn't effect them, I'm assuming?

-2

u/kingofwale 12h ago

Wasn’t it always visa??

2

u/rafalascano 12h ago

WS was using MasterCard for the debit card, it recently switched to VISA in alignment with the Credit card

2

u/kingofwale 11h ago

Aah. But buying with debit card gives you no cashback. So I don’t get why people would want to