MEMBER SERVICES
Update
Practical news for Costco members
SERVICE UPDATES
PRACTICAL TIPS
Keeping your savings safer
FOR SOME OF us, the fine print instance, you might have more
doesn’t always register. As than $100,000 in one bank
many times as we see a dis- but spread over three types of
claimer that says, “FDIC insured accounts—a single account, a
up to $100,000,” we seldom joint account and a trust account.
really think of what that means. Each of these accounts may
But that is, in fact, a very precise qualify for the full $100,000
claim about the security of a insurance protection.
savings vehicle, such as the Capital One has two separately
money market accounts or cer- insured institutions: Capital One
tificates of deposit (CDs) avail- Federal Savings Bank, which
able to Costco members offers CDs and money market
through Capital One®. accounts to Costco members
The FDIC, Federal Deposit who wish to deposit $5,000 or
Insurance Corporation, was cre- more to open an account, and
ated as a federal government Capital One Bank, which accepts
agency during the Great Depres- CDs of $100,000 or more. De-
sion, and today it examines and posits in Capital One Bank and
supervises 5,300 banks and sav- Capital One Federal Savings
ings banks, more than half of Bank are separately insured to
the institutions in the banking the maximum $100,000 FDIC
system, according to the FDIC protection. Contact your finan-
Web site (
www.fdic.gov). cial adviser or the FDIC for addi-
tional details.
The basic insurance limit is
$100,000 per depositor per
bank, so if you have a total of Capital One offers exclusive rates to
all Costco members. Executive
$100,000 or less in an FDIC- Members receive an interest credit
insured savings account, CD or when they open their first account.
money market account, or any For more information about the
combination of accounts, you Capital One programs, pick up a
are fully protected. But what if brochure at any warehouse, call
you have more than $100,000? 1-866-630-7958 or visit costco.com,
click on “Services,” then click on
The FDIC separately insures dif- “Money Market Accounts and
ferent types of accounts. For Certificates of Deposit.”
Track
ing the value?
WHEN IT COMES to how
much money your Costco
membership is saving
you, can you name a figure?
Of course, much of the savings
is taken for granted, just by
knowing that the name-brand,
quality merchandise
you’ve been
buying at
Costco is a great value.
Typically members don’t run a tally sheet, but they would probably be very impressed if they did. Occasionally we hear from someone who has documented his or her savings. Such is the case with
attorney Jerry Novak, who ticks off an impressive list of savings
from his first year as an Executive Member. Here’s the e-mail he
sent to his local warehouse, reprinted with his permission.
SERVICE UPDATE
New investing tools launched
I wanted to drop you an e-mail to tell you that any Costco
member who’s not an Executive Member is losing money. Furthermore, they are not getting the most benefits for their bucks.
Dear Sir,
In only my first year as an Executive Member I got back over
$4,459. Let me detail that savings:
✔ $10 promotion to apply for an American Express® Costco
Cash Rebate credit card.
✔ $90-per-year fee waived for my American Express Costco Cash
Rebate credit card.
✔ $502 annual rebate from my American Express Costco Cash
Rebate credit card based on my card use at Costco and everywhere else.
✔ $97 at my first anniversary as an Executive Member, based on
2 percent of my qualified Costco purchases (annual 2% Reward).
✔ $2,000 commission rebate from my Lending Tree Realtor from
a home purchase.
✔ $1,200 commission rebate from my Lending Tree Realtor on a
second real estate transaction.
✔ $60 per year ($5 per month) statement fees waived as Executive Member using credit-card-processing service (NOVA).
✔ $500 in savings from credit-card processing over the year, a
result of the low credit-card-processing rate compared to the rate
I had been paying.
As you can see, my $100 Costco Executive Membership has paid
for itself over 44 times last year. If you have any members who are
on the fence regarding upgrading their membership, show them this
e-mail, or just check your aisles, as I probably will be there.
Jerry Novak
Long Grove, Illinois
P.S.: I just started with Share Builder and will let you know how I do.
Each individual’s actual savings will vary based on member usage.
SHAREBUILDER, Costco’s online sold like stocks throughout the
investing service provider, has market day.
unveiled two advisory Through Share-tools geared to give Builder, Costco mem-investors greater bers can invest in
guidance in making stocks and ETFs
investment decisions. with no mini-Called Port- mums and low
folioBuilder and transaction fees.
PortfolioBuilder Plus, For more informa-each of the tools rec- tion, visit costco.com,
ommends portfolios of click on “Services,”
exchange-traded funds then click on “ShareBuilder
(ETFs) based on self-defined risk Online Investing.”
profiles and financial goals. ETFs ShareBuilder is offered
are baskets of stocks that track a through ShareBuilder Securities
specific index, such as the S&P Corporation, member NASD/-
500 or the Dow Jones Industrial SIPC. ShareBuilder is not affili-Average, and are bought and ated with Costco.
To learn more about our complete suite of member services,
click on the “Services” link at costco.com or call 1-800-220-6000.
All services are provided by third parties and may not be available in all areas. Certain restrictions apply. See “Services” at costco.com for applicable terms and conditions.
