Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi Review

Written by Dayana Yochim
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Andrea Coombes

March 12, 2024

The Costco business credit card has quite the handsome rewards rate when paired with an Executive membership. Of course, membership is required — and not just for you, but any employees you want to add as authorized users. That'll cost you some extra cashola each year to carry this card.

Everything you’re about to read will sound eerily familiar if you’ve checked out the Costco Anywhere Visa personal card. (Interested parties are invited to check out our full Costco credit card review, in Technicolor.) The Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card has the same cashback rewards setup (4% cash back on gas, 3% on restaurants and travel), same long redemption waiting period, and the same Costco membership requirement. Also, the same industrial-sized-cans-of-tuna jokes apply.

If Costco is a key part of your small-business infrastructure — and especially if you have a Business Executive membership ($120 annually) — you can double your cash back in some instances. Patience, however, is a requirement when it comes to redeeming rewards and schlepping bulky items back to the office.

The basics: Earn 4% cashback on eligible gas and EV charging worldwide for the first $7,000 per year and then 1% thereafter; 3% on restaurants and eligible travel purchases worldwide; 2% on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com, and 1% on all other spending.

Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi pros and cons

Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi cashback rewards spending categories

The following table shows the cashback rewards rate per $1 spent in the six most common spending categories. The “Bonus Rate” refers to the amount you can earn in excess of the card’s standard rewards rate.

Some cashback cards limit the spending amount eligible for the bonus rate (aka the “Spend Cap”). Once you hit that cap (e.g., $1,500 spending in a particular category during a defined time period), the rewards rate on future purchases in that category reverts to the lower “Default Rate.”

Note: In addition to the rewards structure outlined above, the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card offers 2% cashback on Costco and Costco.com purchases.

What we like

Though it’s a Costco-brand business rewards card, you’ll earn an impressive 4% cash back on gas (on the first $7,000 spent per year), as long as you fill up at a regular gas station (or at Costco) and not at a convenience store or other warehouse/superstore. (That’s Costco’s way of throwing shade on competitors.)

The card may not billed as a travel rewards card, but the 3% unlimited cashback rate on travel purchases worldwide makes it worthwhile to use for sojourns.

Let’s discuss the Costco-related perks: The Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card pays out 2% unlimited cash back on Costco store and Costco.com purchases. That’s nice, but even better …

Paired with a Business Executive membership ($120 annually), your rewards rate is upped to 4% on purchases from the warehouse club. That’s 2% cash back when you use this card to buy your Kirkland-brand granola bars and vats of liquid hand soap for the break room, plus another 2% (up to $1,000 in cash back per year, mailed out annually) you get as an Executive Member. This is particularly valuable if you purchase for resale.

Like the Costco consumer card from Citi, rewards are redeemable for Costco merchandise (basically, a store credit) or cash back (in the form of a credit card reward certificate) at any Costco store in the U.S. or Puerto Rico. At Costco’s discretion, you may be able to redeem cash rewards via an electronic transfer.

Protections include damage and theft protection to cover repairs (or provide a refund) if a purchase is swiped or mangled within 90 to 120 days of purchase. (Just note that Costco has stopped offering an extended manufacturer warranty benefit.) It also offers worldwide travel accident and worldwide car rental insurance.

Charges no foreign transaction fees. That’s like dodging the 3% fee a lot of other cards charge on international purchases when you travel afar or buy from foreign suppliers.

The Costco Anywhere Visa comes with Citi Concierge and Citi Entertainment (special access to event and concert tix).

What we don't like

No surprise, this card requires a Costco membership ($60-$120 annually). So much for “no annual fee.” And if you want someone besides you to be able to use the card, that’s gonna cost you.

Extra employee cards are not free, unlike most small-business credit cards. Employees must have a Costco membership in their name to be added as an authorized user on the account, or they can be added to your Costco account if you’re a Business Executive Member. Either way, it’ll cost an extra $60 a year … per employee, every year.

p.s.: Here’s a bit of fine print we’d like to magnify: “Only purchases made by the Primary and active Primary Household Cardholder on the account will apply toward the Reward.” Translation: The 2% Costco exec membership reward 👏 does 👏 not 👏 count 👏 on 👏 purchases 👏 made 👏 by 👏 mere 👏 authorized 👏 users.

And another thing: These items don’t qualify for the 2% Executive Member reward: gas, postage, and alcohol in certain states.

The 4% cashback rate on gas downshifts to 1% after you spend $7,000 (and with the way prices are going 😬). At least the 3% bonus categories have no rewards spending caps.

Welcome perks are as bare as the warehouse shopping setup: The Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card offers no sign-up bonus or introductory 0% APR period on purchases or balance transfers.

Don’t expect immediate rewards gratification with the Costco card. Rewards are distributed annually once your February billing statement closes. You’ll have to go to the store to pick up your rewards certificate, and must redeem it before Dec. 31. Don’t cancel your membership before rewards are issued and redeemed or you’ll forfeit your earnings.

The 3% travel rewards rate does not apply to timeshares, campgrounds, bed and breakfasts, and train and commuter travel. You’ll have to settle for 1% cash back on the campground rental fee. Just pointing that out so that our office ops team won’t make me go camping for our company retreat.

The measly 1% cashback rate on everything that’s not eligible for 2%-4% rewards calls for having a companion card — even a flat-rate 1.5% cashback card will do — to use for “everything else.”

The bottom line

Is the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi the best rewards card for your wallet? The answer depends entirely on your spending patterns. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Use the investor.com Cashback Credit Card Calculator to see which credit card pays back the highest rewards based on how much you spend each month.

Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi fine print

The official word on fees, APRs and other important details for the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi. And, of course, what you’ll want to know about the Costco Cash Rewards Program.

Does the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi charge an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee for the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi.

Does the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi offer a welcome bonus?

No, the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi card does not currently offer a welcome bonus.

How much cash back can I earn with the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi?

The average business that spends $2580 per month will earn $619.20 in cash back per year using the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the business credit cards in the investor.com database is $483.97, and $464.40 is the median.

These calculations are based on average consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the reward payout rates from the providers we track. Of course, you’re so much more than an average data point (aka “consumer unit,” in BLS parlance). The amount you can earn in cashback rewards using the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

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Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

• Spend category inputs: The default dollar values for each “Spend Category” in the Best Cashback Credit Cards tool — gas, groceries, travel, restaurant, entertainment, pharmacy, other — are based on average American spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also include additional spend categories (such as streaming services, online shopping, utilities, transit, Amazon and more) to help you see which rewards cards are most closely aligned with your actual spending patterns. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
• Tiered rewards rates: If a rewards credit card pays higher cashback rates on certain spending categories (also called “Bonus Rewards”), that difference is reflected in the total “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
• Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on groceries on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
• Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
• Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)

About the Editorial Team

Dayana Yochim

Dayana Yochim has been writing (articles, books, podcasts, stirring speeches) about personal finance and investing for more than two decades, focusing on bringing clarity and the occasional comedic aside to what is often a murky, humorless topic. She’s written for NerdWallet, The Motley Fool, HerMoney.com, Woman’s Day, Forbes, Newsweek and others, and been a guest expert on "Today," "Good Morning America," CNN, NPR and wherever they’ll hand her a mic.

Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is Managing Editor for Reink Media Group and the lead editor for content on investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes has 20+ years of experience helping people reach their financial goals. Her personal finance articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, and other publications, and she's shared her expertise on CBS, NPR, "Marketplace," and more. She's been a financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, and is working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She knows that owning pets isn't necessarily the best financial decision; her dog and two cats would argue this point.