Why isn’t it fixed? Costco Mastercard customers continue to complain of ‘frustrating’ CIBC takeover from Capital One

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This article was published 05/05/2022 (1595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two months after Costco Mastercard switched from Capital One to CIBC, dozens of customers are still having problems accessing credit card account information.

As the Star originally reported in early March, card holders were told the March 4-7 transition would be seamless and for most of the millions of Costco Mastercard holders, it appears it was.

But since then, dozens of customers have taken to Twitter to voice their complaints. Problems include accessing bank accounts via the CIBC app, setting up the autopay function, accessing transaction history before September 2021 and long wait times for customer service.

Mubashar Ahmad, a small-business owner and Costco member since 2016, says he had never experienced any problems with his Costco Mastercard before. But that changed with the switch to CIBC. Suddenly he was unable to access any transaction records before September 2021.

Ahmad uses the Costco Mastercard for business and personal expenses. He goes through all transactions to extract business related expenses to complete his income taxes.

This year, instead of reviewing last year’s transactions, Ahmad spent two weeks in April on the phone with Capital One and CIBC trying to figure out how to access his transaction history.

“It’s been absolutely frustrating,” he said. “It’s given me a lot of stress going back and forth between the two banks. I’ve been put on hold for more than eight hours trying to get in touch with people.”

Cheryl Grant-Gamble, who uses her Costco card to fill up on gas, says she was on hold for five hours during one of her calls with CIBC trying to access her transaction history for income tax purposes.

She usually holds on to her paper receipts, but misplaced some and hoped to fill in the missing information. However, after the move to CIBC, she wasn’t able to access her transaction history from 2021.

“I’m annoyed I didn’t download all of my statements from that year, that’s on me,” she said. “But I needed the transactions to help me with my taxes after losing the receipts.”

After contacting Capital One, which was a “non-starter,” she reached out to CIBC five times — on one occasion she waited on hold for five hours — before she was told the transactions would arrive in six months, by mail. An electronic copy, she was told was “out of the question.”

Grant-Gamble is unsure if she should use her card going forward due to the unreliable CIBC service.

“I have minimized the use of the card until I receive the 2021 transactions, and in the end, I may never use it,” she said.

When asked about the problems, Trish Tervit, director of public affairs at CIBC, said millions of clients have been able to successfully transition to the CIBC Costco Mastercard.

“We are committed to supporting our clients through the transition and ensuring they have access to all the benefits and rewards of our new CIBC Costco Mastercard,” the statement said.

Costco member, Ken Blackburn, said he will no longer use his card due to continuous problems since the March transition, when an unknown transaction appeared on his account.

After waiting on hold for an hour, Blackburn told a customer service agent he wanted to cancel the card, only to learn he would forfeit his cash back bonus if he did so. (The card allows customers to earn cash back at restaurants, Costco gas, and Costco stores).

He was incensed.

“That’s money I’ve earned. So I told them I won’t use my card until January because that’s when I’ll get the cash back. Then, I’ll cancel the card,” Blackburn said.

Clarification — May 10, 2022: This article was edited to remove a reference to 10 million cardholders.

Clarrie Feinstein is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star. Reach Clarrie via email: clarriefeinstein@torstar.ca