CIBC Costco MasterCard to Launch Apple Pay, Google Pay in May 2022 [Update]

Last fall it was announced CIBC was set to takeover Costco Canada’s Mastercard portfolio from Capital One, and as of late last week, the Canadian bank started its transition of taking in new customers.

But fast forward to Monday morning, and it hasn’t been a good launch for CIBC.

According to existing Capital One credit card holders such as Christian Newman, it has been a “complete fail,” as the transition has resulted in the blocking of account access from March 4-7, but there are payments due in that timeframe. Many are waiting hours on the phone to get payments addressed, only to have calls hung up after 2 hours on hold.

Complete fail: @cibc takes over @costcocanada's Mastercard business from @CapitalOneCA, blocks account access from March 4-7, yet fails to address payments due in the meantime. Waited on hold for @CIBC for 2 hours, 8 minutes before they spontaneously disconnected.

— Christian Newman ☕️ (@XianNewman) March 7, 2022

@costcocanada @cibc #CIBC Costco switches to CIBC for their credit card! I call on day of switch only to be told call on Monday. Called today and waited on hold for over 1 hour for a defective/lost card… Tried to register only to be told technical issues…… Horrible service pic.twitter.com/3F9UpkpAop

— Peter Martin (@PM013) March 7, 2022

For those now using the CIBC Costco Mastercard, if you’re trying to add it to Apple Pay or Google Pay, it’s unavailable at the moment. CIBC said on Monday morning mobile wallet functionality will launch in “late May 2022.”

The bank previously told iPhone in Canada in September 2021 it would be supporting both of these mobile wallets.

The CIBC takeover of Costco’s Mastercard and resulting long hours of waiting on the phone has resulted in the bank going trending on Twitter in Canada.

Update March 7, 6:15pm PST: A CIBC spokesperson told iPhone in Canada the following statement:

“We have successfully converted all existing Costco cardholders over to CIBC, with uninterrupted access for clients using their card at their favourite merchants, including Costco. Online banking is also now available for cardholders.”

The spokesperson added there is “tremendous interest” in the new CIBC Costco Mastercard, which resulted in a “high number of calls today,” to help existing cardholders with specific questions about their account. This resulted in “wait times being longer than usual.”

“We’re excited to welcome these clients to CIBC and we’re committed to helping them as quickly as possible. We look forward to taking new applications for the CIBC Costco Mastercard later this month,” added the CIBC spokesperson.