How can I change a credit card transaction to an expense when the manual download .csv transfers it as a payment?

Welcome to the Community, @tubmaster97-gmai. You can reclassify the downloaded transactions while they're still in the For Review tab. 

I'll guide you on how to do it:

1. From the Banking menu, select the For Review tab. 
2. Open the transaction in question, then choose the appropriate expense account from the Category drop-down. 
3. Click Add. 

If the transaction is already Reviewed, you'll need to undo it so it will move back to the For Review tab. Then, follow the steps to categorize it to the correct expense account. 

For future reference, I recommend doing a monthly reconciliation to ensure your account in QBO matches your bank statement.

Feel easy in posting your banking concerns again. I'd be happy to assist you some more.