Originally Posted by
Happy
Citi could afford to do so currently because they now have the huge Costco customer base although it remains to be seen if Citi ever can make enough money on it as it does not charge Costco transaction fee so all those $ spend at Costco with that card earns Citi zilch other than hoping the leverage effect on other spending made on the same card which for the time being has a rather rich reward program for a no fee card...
Chase fight back with the Freedom 5x at whole sale clubs till year end but the number of Freedom being used at whole sale clubs would not be a factor to sway the spending put on the Citi Costco cards.
You have to remember, they are hoping that cardholders carry a balance so they can charge interest. Sadly, a lot of people do and not charging Costco transaction fees will quickly be recouped by people paying 13-30% interest.