Costco Business Card: Is It Worth It? 5 Key Things to Know

1. High gas rewards rate

The Costco business credit card doles out 5% cash back on gas at Costco, and 4% back on gas and EV charging elsewhere. You only earn the bonus rate on the first $7,000 in combined spending per year (and 1% back after that).

If you only fill up at Costco, you could earn $350 back on gas alone if you hit that cap. That’s at least $140 more than you’d earn with business gas cards that offer 2% to 3% back on gas.

» MORE: See our list of best gas cards for businesses

2. You need a Costco membership to apply

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi doesn’t have an annual fee. But you need a Costco membership in your name to apply.

Costco offers two membership tiers: Gold Star/Business ($65/year) or Executive ($130/year).

Want to add an employee as an authorized user? They also need a $65 Costco membership in their name.

3. You can stack card rewards

Costco Executive members already earn 2% back (up to $1,250 annually) on eligible Costco and Costco Travel purchases.

Add the Costco business card into the mix and you can stack your 2% membership benefit with your Costco business card’s rewards, which include:

• 3% back on Costco Travel.

• 2% back on all other Costco and Costco.com purchases.

That means you’ll earn up to 5% cash back on Costco Travel purchases and up to 4% back on other Costco purchases.

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi also earns 3% back on restaurants and other eligible (non-Costco) travel spending.

4. Rewards redemption is super limited

The cash back you earn with the Costco business credit card is doled out annually — via a reward certificate you can only redeem at Costco.

While that certificate can be redeemed for cash (or a check in certain instances), it still must be done in person. Other business credit cards let you redeem rewards more easily and more frequently.

A typical cash-back business card, like the U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards, for example, lets you redeem cash back as a statement credit or a deposit into your business bank account. You can do this on a regular cadence and directly from the app on the card’s website.

Another wrinkle with Costco business card rewards redemption? Your annual certificate, which is issued at the close of your February billing cycle, expires if you don’t use it by the end of that year. With other business credit cards, your rewards do not expire as long as your account remains in good standing.

» MORE: Best cash-back business credit cards

5. Card benefits were scaled back in recent years

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card used to have a roster of shopping and travel protections. These included an extended warranty benefit that added two years of coverage to eligible purchases.

The bad news: That extended warranty benefit was axed in January 2023.

The good news: The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card retained travel protections — such as travel accident insurance and roadside dispatch service — even after Citi cut those protections from other cards in 2019.