Buying your home essentials and groceries in bulk can save you money in the long run. For this reason, you may opt to shop at a wholesale club like Costco. Consider using these credit cards to maximize your savings when you shop at Costco Wholesale Club.
Things To Know Before Costco Shopping
Costco is known for its wholesale inventory of home essentials, including groceries, home electronics, and more. The idea of shopping at wholesale clubs is that buying bulk gets your items at discounted prices. In contrast, the same items at a regular retail store might cost extra when purchased individually.
Grocery Stores & Credit Card Payments
Before taking off with just any old credit card to shop at Costco, there are a few things to consider. To begin with, only Visa credit cards are accepted in-store at Costco. Costco online shopping offers more flexibility with credit card payment network options. Online, the wholesale giant accepts Visa, Mastercard, and Discover card payments.
Next, you should know Costco is not considered a grocery store. Costco does not code their products under groceries. Why should it matter? It matters when it comes to credit card rewards. As you may already know, there are many credit cards with cash back categories for grocery shopping. For example, the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card has nine different 5% cash back categories, one of which is for grocery stores. However, your Costco groceries would not qualify for 5% back on groceries because 1 – Costco doesn’t use merchant codes that grocery stores use, and 2 – The Citi Custom Cash Card is a Mastercard.
Now, just because Costco doesn’t use grocery store merchant codes and only accepts in-store Visa card payments, it doesn’t mean you can’t earn cash back. There are plenty of Visa credit cards out there that offer cash back rewards and can be used at Costco stores. These are our picks for the best credit cards to use at Costco.
Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi

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Up to 4% cash back on gas, dining, travel, and more
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2% Cash back on all Costco purchases
☆ No Foreign Transaction Fees
☆ Redeemable As rewards certificate
☆ No Annual Fee w/Costco Membership
It’s in the name. The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi was made for Costco shoppers. It is a rewards credit card with the potential to earn up to 4% cash back on purchases. Starting from the top rewards category cardholders can earn 4% cash back on eligible gas and EV charging purchases for the first $7,000 per year and then 1% after.
Next, cardholders earn 3% cash back on restaurants and eligible travel purchases. And finally, what we are all here for, this credit card earns 2% cash back on all purchases from Costco (in-store) and Costco.com. If you already have a paid Costco Membership there is no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees.
Chase Freedom Unlimited

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1.5% Unlimited Cash Back on everyday purchases
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5% Cash back on travel purchases made through Chase Ultimate Rewards
☆ Low Intro APR
☆ Cash Back Rewards Don't Expire
☆ No Annual Fee
Second, on our list is Chase Freedom Unlimited. This card has the potential to earn up to 5% cash back on things like travel, dining, and more. It features no annual fee, a low intro APR offer, and a bonus offer. With Chase Freedom Unlimited, cardholders get 5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You also get 3% cash back on dining, which includes takeout and eligible delivery services, for those times when you just want to dine in.
You will also earn 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and 1.5% on all other purchases. In other words, you can get 1.5% cash back on your purchases when you shop at Costco. If you have good to excellent credit you may qualify for Chase Freedom Unlimited.
Revvi Card

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Simple and fast application process
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Monthly reporting to all 3 major credit bureaus
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$300 credit limit (subject to available credit)
☆ Quick Pre-Qualification
☆ Perfect for Building Credit
☆ Ideal for everyday purchases to help build credit
Next up on your pick of the best credit cards to use at Costco is the Revvi Card. This one is an excellent option for anyone working on repairing their credit but would still like to earn credit card rewards. The Revvi Card is an unsecured credit card that earns 1% cash back rewards on payments to the card. As mentioned previously, perfect credit is not required to apply, however, keep in mind the card does have an annual fee. Use the Revvi Card to build your credit score and earn cash back while you’re at it.
Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa®

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Unlimited 1.5% cash abck on all purchases
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No fees of any kind!
☆ $0 Annual Fee, $0 Maintenance Fees
☆ Quick Online Pre-Approval
☆ Exceptionally Low APR
The Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa is another contender for Costco shoppers. The rewards credit card earns unlimited 1.5% cash back every time you make a purchase, including purchases at Costco. It’s comparable to Chase Freedom Unlimited, which also earns 1.5% cash back outside its other rewards categories. However, the Upgrade card requires fair credit or better and the Freedom Unlimited requires good credit or better. Other notable features of the Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa® include its $0 annual fee, $0 activation fees, and $0 foreign transaction fees.
Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi

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Up to 4% cash back on gas, dining, travel, and more
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2% Cash back on all Costco Purchases
☆ No Foreign Transaction Fees
☆ Redeemable As Rewards Certificate
☆ No Annual Fee w/Costco Membership
If you got a small business and you buy bulk at Costco for it, then the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi is for you. Excellent credit is needed for approval on this business credit card. If your credit is not at its best, consider these subprime business credit cards instead. The card shares the same rewards benefits as the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi. Earn 4% cash back on gas and EV charging, 3% cash back on restaurants and eligible travel, 2% cash back on all Costco purchases, and 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Honorable Mentions

U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card
Earn up to 6% cash back at your favorite stores, 3% cash back on your first $1,500 purchases on a category of your choice, and 1.5% cash back on everything else, including Costco purchases.

TD Cash Credit Card
Earn up to 3% cash back on dining including takeout, 2% cash back at grocery stores, and 1% cash back everywhere else, which is another option for shopping at Costco.
Related Article: The Best Cash Back Credit Cards of 2022
Featured photo by Syda Productions/ Canva