WinCo

[PaddyShack]

I mean, it's not going to stop me from going. But it seems likely to cement their perception as the lowest of low-budget stores, even though they really have pretty good products. And maybe that's fine with them! But IMO, they already have a perception problem relative to the actual quality of their stores (which I think is a large part of the reason why they are struggling in the OKC market), and this decision doesn't seem like it will help in that regard. It's definitely one of those things where if they end up exiting the OKC market in a year or two, we'll all look back at this and be like "well, in hindsight, that was some fairly heavy foreshadowing".

From my experiences of shopping at 2 of the Winco locations as well as driving by one of them everyday... I don't see how they can be struggling in the OKC market. I commend them for this move. Aldi use to be like this and I didn't have a problem with it. People should use less credit in this country anyways... but that is my personal opinion.

[PaddyShack]

They'll still take debit cards, so this doesn't sound like a huge deal. Do a lot of folks use credit cards for groceries?

I remember when Sam's for years only took one of the major credit cards, can't recall which one (or they refused one of the majors, I forget).

I think it was Discover that they did not accept for awhile. But it has been a long while since those days.

[BoulderSooner]

Do a lot of folks use credit cards for groceries?

lots of folks don't use debit cards because of the limited liability protection ..(really depends on your bank) and because of the rewards that credit cards provide

[shartel_ave]

That's funny. I've had my USAA checking account looted twice in the past 5-6 years and had to wait weeks for USAA to get the money back. After the second one I froze my credit accounts and put alerts on everything, MFA, etc. Love USAA, though.

weird, honestly I have never had an issue with USAA in 25 years. I have them for banking, home insurance and auto insurance. Anytime I've had any kind of auto issue they took care of it right away.

they seem to have a great reputation

USAA has an A++ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB). In our 2022 car insurance survey that polled 1,000 consumers, 64% of USAA policyholders stated they were very satisfied with the company, the highest of any insurer

https://www.marketwatch.com/picks/gu...rance-reviews/

[shartel_ave]

lots of folks don't use debit cards because of the limited liability protection ..(really depends on your bank) and because of the rewards that credit cards provide

yep, pretty much everything you google about which is more secure says that credit cards are more secure plus the money does not come out of your checking account which is a plus

I haven't had a credit card in over a decade though. I'm sure a lot of people use a credit card and pay the balance monthly which is probably something I should look into

[cappa]

If you have the discipline and financial ability to use your credit card like a debit card and pay off your balance every month I think you should. You're leaving money on the table otherwise - along with other perks and credit score benefits.

[Martin]

for those who regularly go to winco... have they restored the bulk food section? if i recall, it was removed due to covid. that was always my main reason for visiting their stores.

[PaddyShack]

for those who regularly go to winco... have they restored the bulk food section? if i recall, it was removed due to covid. that was always my main reason for visiting their stores.

Yes it has been restored

[BoulderSooner]

weird, honestly I have never had an issue with USAA in 25 years. I have them for banking, home insurance and auto insurance. Anytime I've had any kind of auto issue they took care of it right away.

they seem to have a great reputation

USAA has an A++ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB). In our 2022 car insurance survey that polled 1,000 consumers, 64% of USAA policyholders stated they were very satisfied with the company, the highest of any insurer

https://www.marketwatch.com/picks/gu...rance-reviews/

i have also had USAA for 25+ years and have never had a single issue with them .... they are top top flight in customer service ..

[Video Expert]

From my experiences of shopping at 2 of the Winco locations as well as driving by one of them everyday... I don't see how they can be struggling in the OKC market. I commend them for this move. Aldi use to be like this and I didn't have a problem with it. People should use less credit in this country anyways... but that is my personal opinion.

We shop at the Moore location often and I don't believe they are struggling either. Nixing their planned Quail Springs area store perhaps has created that misconception for some.

Winco locations in California never took credit cards either so these OKC locations were outliers in taking CCs.

[SEMIweather]

yep, pretty much everything you google about which is more secure says that credit cards are more secure plus the money does not come out of your checking account which is a plus

I haven't had a credit card in over a decade though. I'm sure a lot of people use a credit card and pay the balance monthly which is probably something I should look into

This is exactly what I do, and why I use a credit card as opposed to a debit card whenever possible. I’m diligent about checking my bank activity at least once per week, but the fact remains that if there’s a fraudulent charge on your credit card it’s the bank’s money, whereas if there’s a fraudulent charge on your debit card, it’s your money.

Anyways - on a more on topic note, I did a Google search and yes it seems like the Pacific NW WinCo locations have never accepted credit cards. Not sure about the Texas locations.

[Zuplar]

This is exactly what I do, and why I use a credit card as opposed to a debit card whenever possible. I’m diligent about checking my bank activity at least once per week, but the fact remains that if there’s a fraudulent charge on your credit card it’s the bank’s money, whereas if there’s a fraudulent charge on your debit card, it’s your money.

Anyways - on a more on topic note, I did a Google search and yes it seems like the Pacific NW WinCo locations have never accepted credit cards. Not sure about the Texas locations.

This is an oversimplification and misleading. If they find no fraud, you are still liable for it like you are any other transaction. Also banks have to give you provisional credit while the disputed transaction is investigated. (there are exceptions, such as failure to notify within a certain period, etc)

There is some other misinformation I've seen on here about debit and credit cards but I'm not going to address ever little one. I personally use my debit card because in my experience it offers me better protection. I say this as someone who works in the industry, so take that as you see fit.

To me the only advantage a credit card has at this point is the rewards. Then again many checking accounts offer bonus interest if you used your debit card a certain amount of time each statement period. With rising interest rates, my checking account is currently receiving a higher rate compared to my 1.5% cash back card. Considering I keep more money in my checking than I would typically spend in a month, I make a lot more in interest than cashback. Now that interest will get taxed whereas the cashback won't, so it can be a balancing act and different for everyone.

[gjl]

I think it was Discover that they did not accept for awhile. But it has been a long while since those days.

Discover was the only CC they did accept years ago. The old membership card was also a Discover Card where now it is a Master Card

[Jersey Boss]

This is an oversimplification and misleading. If they find no fraud, you are still liable for it like you are any other transaction. Also banks have to give you provisional credit while the disputed transaction is investigated. (there are exceptions, such as failure to notify within a certain period, etc)

There is some other misinformation I've seen on here about debit and credit cards but I'm not going to address ever little one. I personally use my debit card because in my experience it offers me better protection. I say this as someone who works in the industry, so take that as you see fit.

To me the only advantage a credit card has at this point is the rewards. Then again many checking accounts offer bonus interest if you used your debit card a certain amount of time each statement period. With rising interest rates, my checking account is currently receiving a higher rate compared to my 1.5% cash back card. Considering I keep more money in my checking than I would typically spend in a month, I make a lot more in interest than cashback. Now that interest will get taxed whereas the cashback won't, so it can be a balancing act and different for everyone.

BancFirst offers rewards for using their debit card.

[kukblue1]

Good prices good location horrible layout of the store. It's just too many aisle for my liking also I always get behind someone that takes forever to bag their groceries. Also I use me credit card for groceries to get those reward points.

[BoulderSooner]

I personally use my debit card because in my experience it offers me better protection. I say this as someone who works in the industry, so take that as you see fit.

in what way does it offer better protection??


2 of my credit card companies USAA and Amex both refund me any charges i dispute with basically no questions asked

[therhett17]

in what way does it offer better protection??


2 of my credit card companies USAA and Amex both refund me any charges i dispute with basically no questions asked

I agree, that's always been my experience, Discover is also really good about it. Much easier to cancel a credit card charge than it is to get money refunded or replaced to a bank account.

[bombermwc]

Winco has always been more expensive to me except for what's on sale. I do go there for some specialty items i know they have (like ground lamb) that is hard to find at Crest/Sams/Costco/etc. reguarly.
But i do put all of my food items on Discover. That's a lot of points i would lose if i had to convert to a debit card where i dont get any extra benefit.

I heard from some other folks out of state that the OKC stores were unique that they offered credit cards in the first place. Apparently its more common for them to NOT offer them. Aldi used to have some restrictions on which Credit Cards they took too.

[Pete]

I really like Winco -- it's my favorite grocery store and I'm very glad they decided to expand to OKC.

I've always used a debit card for just about everything, so this doesn't make any difference to me, nor did it for 10+ years at Costco.

[Zuplar]

in what way does it offer better protection??


2 of my credit card companies USAA and Amex both refund me any charges i dispute with basically no questions asked

See I have had the exact opposite experience. I’ve disputed something with Discover and they treated me like a criminal. The transaction was blatantly fraud but because it had a signature they didn’t care and gave me no chance repeal. I ended up closing that card and filing a complaint with the CFPB.

When it comes to my local community bank it’s no questions asked. Again it’s probably different for everyone because a lot of it is company dependent. My belief is you will always get better service from a good local community bank.

[barrettd]

lots of folks don't use debit cards because of the limited liability protection ..(really depends on your bank) and because of the rewards that credit cards provide

Good point. I try to use Google Pay whenever I can, but I agree on the liability.

[barrettd]

i have also had USAA for 25+ years and have never had a single issue with them .... they are top top flight in customer service ..

I couldn't agree more about the service. They have all our banking and insurance accounts. They just had a hard stop at refunding the money until the transaction was actually completed (can't do anything with "pending" transactions). It was frustrating they couldn't just cancel a clearly fraudulent use of the card and give me back my money, but in each case it took about 2 weeks to get the money back.

I wouldn't move my accounts from them for it, it was just another layer of frustration after having been robbed, basically.

[BoulderSooner]

I couldn't agree more about the service. They have all our banking and insurance accounts. They just had a hard stop at refunding the money until the transaction was actually completed (can't do anything with "pending" transactions). It was frustrating they couldn't just cancel a clearly fraudulent use of the card and give me back my money, but in each case it took about 2 weeks to get the money back.

I wouldn't move my accounts from them for it, it was just another layer of frustration after having been robbed, basically.

understand ..

[seaofchange]

Winco has always been more expensive to me except for what's on sale. I do go there for some specialty items i know they have (like ground lamb) that is hard to find at Crest/Sams/Costco/etc. reguarly.
But i do put all of my food items on Discover. That's a lot of points i would lose if i had to convert to a debit card where i dont get any extra benefit.

I heard from some other folks out of state that the OKC stores were unique that they offered credit cards in the first place. Apparently its more common for them to NOT offer them. Aldi used to have some restrictions on which Credit Cards they took too.

I completely forgot about ALDI being that way! Sam’s club only took Discover and Debit Cards for the longest time as well. And the discover was only because their store card was a discover.

[Ryan]

understand ..

USAA is on point. The policy they wrote was 400 under Allstate’s identical plan. The only thing i would change is the whole cash deposit thing.