If you have a Costco membership, you can apply for the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, a card with rewards as rich as the store’s baked-goods department.
While a store membership will run you at least $65 a year, the annual fee for the card is $0, and frequent shoppers should have no trouble racking up cash-back rewards.
Here are the benefits of the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi.
Rewards on spending
High ongoing cash-back rates in multiple categories
The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi earns an impressive 5% cash back on gas at Costco and 4% cash back on other eligible gas and electric vehicle charging. (The 5% and 4% rates are on a combined $7,000 in spending per year, and then 1% thereafter.) If you buy gas solely from Costco, that translates to $350 back a year if you hit that spending limit; if you buy gas only from non-branded Costco stations, you'd still earn $280 annually if you hit that cap.
The card also earns 3% cash back on restaurants and most travel purchases, 2% back at Costco and Costco.com, and 1% back on all other purchases.
Useful redemption options
Every year at the closing of the February billing statement, cardholders receive their cash-back reward certificate. That certificate can then be redeemed at physical Costco stores anytime before the end of the year, in exchange for either cash back or merchandise. (In 2022, Costco added an option for cardmembers who have earned $500 or more in rewards. They could choose to redeem their rewards certificate as a direct deposit into a bank account.) So if you’ve been saving up for a big-ticket item, you can put that rewards certificate toward it.
Shopping and entertainment protections and perks
Damage and theft purchase protection
If the items you buy with your card are damaged or stolen within 120 days of buying them (or 90 days for residents of New York), the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi offers coverage.
Special tickets
The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi gives you access to tickets for thousands of events before they’re available to everyone else, via the Citi Entertainment program. So if you have your eye on a popular concert or sporting event, it can help you score seats.
High level of security
Not only does the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi come with fraud protection in the form of $0 liability on unauthorized charges, but Citi Quick Lock lets you instantly shut down your card if you can’t find it, and then just as easily turn it back on again when you locate it.
