Costco to drop American Express cards at its stores

NEW YORK, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The American Express Co. announced Thursday that its U.S. relationship with Costco Wholesale Corp. will end in 2016.

The American Express card has been Costco's sole credit card provider, and the decision came after Costco began negotiating with other credit card companies. Costco earlier announced it would replace American Express in its warehouse-style stores in Canada with cards issued by Capital One Financial Corp. and MasterCard Inc.

"We were unable to reach terms that would have made economic sense for our company and shareholders. Instead, we will focus on opportunities in other parts of our business where we see significant potential for growth and attractive returns over the moderate to long term," American Express chief Kenneth Chenault said in a statement Thursday.