Citi Costco Anywhere Visa Signature Review
Updated July 24, 2020.
The Facts
The Math
The 4-3-2-1 cashback structure is very attractive, especially when offered without an annual fee. Of course, you still have Fidelity Visa's 2% on everything that is also accepted at Costco after June 2016, but if you prefer just one cashback card in your wallet, Citi Costco Visa is well worth considering.
Citi Costco Visa vs. Amex Costco: The new card offers better rewards than the old card. Gas, dining, travel, and Costco purchases all earn an extra 1% cashback, which is brilliant. Also, the annual cap for gas category bonus has been increased from $4,000 to $7,000. While Amex limits gas and restaurant bonus to U.S. stores, Citi allows worldwide stores to earn bonus. Lastly, of course Visa's global coverage is much wider than Amex's. The only thing we hope is that Citi doesn't devaluate the product in the future.
Citi Costco Visa vs. Sam's Club MasterCard: They are similar in that you will only consider one when you are a member of one of the two wholesale clubs. They also have similar rewards structures: Costco Visa returns 4%, 3%, 2%, and 1%, for gas (with a $7,000 annual limit), travel and dining, Costco, and other purchases, while Sam's Club MC returns 5%, 3%, and 1%, for gas (with a $6,000 annual limit), travel and dining, and other purchases, respectively. Basically, Sam's Club MC returns an extra 1% for gas while Costco Visa returns an extra 1% for its wholesale club purchases. Sam's Club MC has an annual cashback cap of $5,000, which is pretty hard to max out, and Costco Visa has no cap. On paper, we will say they are almost neck to neck; in reality, however, it all comes down to which wholesale club you prefer.
Citi Costco Visa vs. Barclays Uber Visa: Both cards carry no annual fees and offer 4/3/2/1 cashback rewards. The differences are the bonus categories: Uber Visa has dining, airfare & hotels & vacation homes, online purchases as the 4%, 3%, and 2% categories, while Costco Visa has gas, dining & travel, Costco as the 4%, 3%, 2% categories.
The Conclusion
A great cashback card for Costco members who don’t like too many cards in their wallets.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: None. However, you need have a current Costco membership to apply and to keep rewards.
- Signup Bonus: None
- Rewards: 4% cashback on gas stations (including gas at Costco, for the first $7,000 annual gas purchases, 1% thereafter), 3% dining and travel, 2% other Costco or Costco.com purchases, 1% everywhere else. Cash back rebates will be issued in form a voucher annually that can be redeemed at Costco cashiers for purchase credit or cash.
- Benefits: (1) Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip. (2) Citi Entertainment - special access to entertainment, sports, dining, and virtual events, in terms of presale and preferred tickets, exclusive offers, etc.
- Other Facts: You can use your Costco credit card as your Costco membership card when entering Costco and checking out. This saves one spot in your wallet.
- The History: American Express has been the partner of Costco since the beginning until June 2016 when Citi takes over. In early 2016, Citi and Amex collaborated to create a pretty smooth transition for the existing Amex Costco cardmembers - they were issued a new Citi Costco Visa for purchase starting June 20, 2016, and all their credit lines, balance, rewards will be moved over. To keep the existing customers happy, Citi actually made the new card better in rewards than the one it replaced: gas, dining, travel, and Costco purchases were all increased by 1%.
The Math
The 4-3-2-1 cashback structure is very attractive, especially when offered without an annual fee. Of course, you still have Fidelity Visa's 2% on everything that is also accepted at Costco after June 2016, but if you prefer just one cashback card in your wallet, Citi Costco Visa is well worth considering.
Citi Costco Visa vs. Amex Costco: The new card offers better rewards than the old card. Gas, dining, travel, and Costco purchases all earn an extra 1% cashback, which is brilliant. Also, the annual cap for gas category bonus has been increased from $4,000 to $7,000. While Amex limits gas and restaurant bonus to U.S. stores, Citi allows worldwide stores to earn bonus. Lastly, of course Visa's global coverage is much wider than Amex's. The only thing we hope is that Citi doesn't devaluate the product in the future.
Citi Costco Visa vs. Sam's Club MasterCard: They are similar in that you will only consider one when you are a member of one of the two wholesale clubs. They also have similar rewards structures: Costco Visa returns 4%, 3%, 2%, and 1%, for gas (with a $7,000 annual limit), travel and dining, Costco, and other purchases, while Sam's Club MC returns 5%, 3%, and 1%, for gas (with a $6,000 annual limit), travel and dining, and other purchases, respectively. Basically, Sam's Club MC returns an extra 1% for gas while Costco Visa returns an extra 1% for its wholesale club purchases. Sam's Club MC has an annual cashback cap of $5,000, which is pretty hard to max out, and Costco Visa has no cap. On paper, we will say they are almost neck to neck; in reality, however, it all comes down to which wholesale club you prefer.
Citi Costco Visa vs. Barclays Uber Visa: Both cards carry no annual fees and offer 4/3/2/1 cashback rewards. The differences are the bonus categories: Uber Visa has dining, airfare & hotels & vacation homes, online purchases as the 4%, 3%, and 2% categories, while Costco Visa has gas, dining & travel, Costco as the 4%, 3%, 2% categories.
The Conclusion
A great cashback card for Costco members who don’t like too many cards in their wallets.