For years, Costco’s mortgage program was a quiet gem of membership. It wasn’t a lender itself; rather, it connected members to a curated panel of banks and mortgage companies and negotiated unusually consumer-friendly pricing, most famously a cap on lender origination fees ($250 for Executive members; $550 for Gold Star/Business). That structure gave shoppers the Costco feeling in a complex category: clear value and fewer surprises.
The model worked like an online marketplace: members compared offers from a small roster of pre-approved lenders (NBKC Bank was a frequent favorite) under Costco’s umbrella. In practice, it meant competitive quotes, consistent fee discipline, and a brand Costco members already trusted. Independent reviews at the time noted the multilender setup and strong user satisfaction.
Then, in spring 2022, Costco quietly ended the program. As of May 1, 2022, the mortgage perk was removed from Costco Services. Trade press and consumer outlets confirmed the change, and Costco’s own site no longer lists mortgages among member services.
I followed the program closely while running EffectiveAgents and, over the years, I spoke with Costco executives and several of the mortgage professionals who helped build the framework. From those conversations, and with respect for their confidentiality, I can share the broad contours of why the decision made sense for Costco, even if many of us miss the benefit.
First, the macro backdrop shifted. The interest-rate environment turned sharply higher beginning in 2022, compressing margins and throttling volume across mortgage markets. That alone changes the calculus on any partner-driven mortgage marketplace: when refis dry up and purchase loans slow, the effort and brand risk required to maintain a white-glove consumer experience increases just as the commercial upside decreases.
Second, and more importantly for a company like Costco, alignment with core operations matters. Costco’s primary business is wholesale retail, simplifying and delighting members with high-trust, high-throughput experiences on goods and services it can tightly control. Mortgages are different: timelines are long, underwriting is complex, and outcomes depend on third parties the retailer doesn’t directly manage. From my discussions, leaders emphasized that customer satisfaction is non-negotiable at Costco. They heard enough member complaints about elements of the process they didn’t control that continuing the program no longer cleared their internal bar. In short: even a small number of unhappy members is too many when your brand promise is legendary consistency.
To their credit, Costco had designed the program to protect consumers, fee caps, limited lender panel, strong oversight—but there’s a limit to how much a retailer can influence day-to-day execution inside external institutions. When the economy turned and complaint risk crept up, the prudent path was to step back.
None of this diminishes the program’s legacy. At its peak, it was an elegant example of Costco using its scale to negotiate better terms for members and bring transparency to a complicated purchase. Media coverage from 2011 onward captured that spirit: a curated marketplace that made home loans feel a bit more like buying in bulk, in the best possible way.
So where does that leave members who loved the perk?
At EffectiveAgents, we’ve long admired Costco’s member-first ethos. Inspired by that approach, we offer an independent alternative for Costco members: when you match with a top-performing agent through our platform and close, you may be eligible for a real estate commission rebate (where permitted by state law). It’s our way of preserving the “member value” spirit, clear savings, with expert guidance, while staying squarely within the parts of the transaction we can influence and measure.
We’re careful to note that we’re not affiliated with Costco; we simply believe in serving value-seeking members with transparent, performance-based solutions. If you were impacted by the end of the Costco mortgage program and still want a membership-style benefit on one of life’s biggest transactions, we’d love to help and we have created a real estate commission discount program just for costco members.
Costco made a thoughtful choice that protected its brand and its members during a turbulent housing cycle. That’s what great retailers do. And for those of us who still want a little “Costco-like” value in our real-estate journey, there are smart, independent ways to get it.
The lowest rate mortgage companies in the US according to our research (completed in August of 2025) are as follows:
- Navy Federal Credit Union
- Pennymac Loan Services
- Guild Mortgage
- Paramount Residential Mortgage Group
- Veterans United
- Everett Financial
- PrimeLending
- Wells Fargo
