Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi: How the Rewards, Fees, and Approval Really Work

Who issues it, and why membership comes first

The card is issued by Citi (Citibank) and is a Visa, which matters because Costco warehouses only accept Visa credit cards in-store. It's a genuine co-brand: Citi handles the credit account and underwriting, while Costco supplies the membership tie-in and the warehouse redemption.

You must have an active, paid Costco membership to apply and to keep the card. Membership is separate from the card and starts around $65 per year for the basic Gold Star tier (as of 2025), with a higher-cost Executive tier available. If your membership expires or is cancelled, the credit card is affected too.

For historical context, this program used to be a Costco American Express card. Costco moved its U.S. co-brand to Citi and Visa back in 2016, so if you remember an older Costco Amex, that version is long retired. The Citi version described here is the current card.

The cash-back structure, in plain numbers

The card pays tiered cash back rather than a flat rate. As of 2025 the published tiers are: 5% back on gas purchased at Costco warehouses; 4% back on other eligible gas and EV charging worldwide; 3% back on restaurants and eligible travel (including airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruise lines, travel agencies, and Costco Travel); 2% back on all other purchases at Costco and Costco.com; and 1% back on everything else where Visa is accepted.

The important asterisk is the gas cap. The 5% Costco-gas rate and the 4% other-gas/EV rate share a combined limit of $7,000 in gas and EV charging per year. Once your combined gas and charging spend crosses that $7,000 line, the rate drops to 1% for the rest of the year, then resets. For most drivers that ceiling is generous, but heavy commuters can hit it.

Note what is not boosted: your base rate on ordinary, non-category spending is just 1%. A no-annual-fee flat 2% card would beat this card on that everyday spend. The Costco card earns its keep in the bonus categories, not on the 1% base.

Fees and APR: cheap to hold, but read the fine print

There is no separate annual fee for the credit card as long as you keep a paid Costco membership. In practice, the membership fee is the real cost of admission, since you can't have the card without it. Budget the membership cost into your math, not zero.

The card also charges no foreign transaction fees, which makes it a reasonable travel companion abroad wherever Visa is accepted. The purchase and balance-transfer APR is a variable rate that depends on your creditworthiness and prevailing rates, so the number you're offered varies by applicant; check the Citi terms you're shown at application rather than assuming a figure. As with any card, carrying a balance erases cash-back value fast because interest typically outweighs a few percent back.

The redemption catch: one certificate, once a year

This is the single biggest thing new cardholders misunderstand. You do not get monthly cash back or a running redeemable balance. Instead, your cash back accrues all year and is issued as one annual reward certificate that appears after your February billing statement closes.

That certificate is redeemable for cash or merchandise, historically in a single transaction at a U.S. Costco warehouse, and it's valid through December 31 of that year. If you earn at least $300 in rewards, Citi has offered the option to receive the certificate value by ACH direct deposit instead of an in-person warehouse redemption. Either way, you're waiting up to a year and, in most cases, going to a warehouse to cash out.

If you value flexible, redeem-anytime rewards or a statement credit you can take monthly, this once-a-year, warehouse-centric model is a genuine drawback to weigh honestly.

Pros and cons at a glance

The strengths: no card annual fee on top of membership, strong 5%/4% gas and EV rewards up to the cap, a solid 3% on dining and travel, no foreign transaction fees, and a card that conveniently doubles as your membership ID. For a household that fuels up often and eats out or travels, the bonus categories add up.

The trade-offs: the 1% base rate is weak for non-category spending, rewards pay out only once a year as a certificate that usually must be redeemed in person, there is currently no sign-up bonus, and the whole thing collapses if you let your Costco membership lapse. It's also aimed at applicants with good-to-excellent credit, so approval is far from automatic.

In short, this is a specialist card. It rewards a specific spending pattern very well and rewards generic spending poorly.

Who it fits, and honest alternatives

This card fits a committed Costco member who buys gas at or near the club, spends meaningfully on dining and travel, and doesn't mind an annual warehouse payout. If that's you, the category rates are hard to beat inside the Costco ecosystem.

It fits poorly if you rarely shop at Costco, want simple monthly rewards, or put most spending on non-bonus purchases. In those cases, a flat-rate 2% card is often the smarter core card. Because Costco accepts any Visa in-store, a no-annual-fee 2% Visa (for example, a card like the Wells Fargo Active Cash or a similar flat-rate Visa) earns 2% at the warehouse itself, matching the Costco card's 2% there while paying 2% everywhere else instead of 1%.

Another honest alternative is the Citi Double Cash for people who want up to 2% back with no membership requirement and no once-a-year redemption. The right answer depends on how much of your spending actually lands in the Costco card's bonus categories. Compare your own numbers before deciding, and remember reward programs and terms change, so always confirm the current offer before you apply.