What's the best credit card for Costco purchases?

The best credit card for Costco purchases is the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi. With this card, you earn 4% cash back on eligible gas (up to $7,000 spent per year), 3% back on restaurants and travel, 2% back on Costco and Costco.com purchases, and 1% back on all other purchases. You get your Costco cash as a yearly certificate every February, and you can redeem it for any Costco purchases.

The Costco Credit Card gives you very good rewards at Costco. But if you want a card that offers bonus rewards at other grocery stores, too, there are other options available. Plus, they’re all Visa options, since that’s the only card network that Costco accepts for both in-store and online purchases.

5 of the Best Credit Cards for Costco Purchases

Rewards: The Costco Credit Card gives you 4% cash back on eligible gas (up to $7,000 spent per year), 3% back on restaurants and travel, 2% back on Costco and Costco.com purchases, and 1% back on all other purchases.

Why it’s good for Costco: The card comes with a good rewards rate for Costco purchases, as well as other everyday bonus categories.

The card has a $0 annual fee and requires excellent credit. You also need to be a Costco member to qualify for this card.

Rewards: Chase Freedom Unlimited offers 5% cash back on travel through Chase, 3% back at restaurants and drugstores, and 1.5% back on all other purchases (plus an additional 1.5% cash back on everything, up to $20,000 spent the first year).

Why it’s good for Costco: It offers 1.5% cash back at Costco, which is about 40% more than the average cash back card will give you. Plus, you get solid everyday rewards outside of Costco.

This card has a $0 annual fee and requires at least good credit.

Rewards: The Wells Fargo Active Cash card gives $200 cash rewards after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months. Plus, the card offers 2% cash rewards on all purchases.

Why it’s good for Costco: This card offers above-average, unlimited cash rewards at Costco and everywhere else.

This card has a $0 annual fee and requires at least good credit.

Rewards: The Upgrade Credit Card offers a $200 bonus after opening a Rewards Checking account and making 3 debit card transactions. The card also gives 1.5% cash back on all purchases every time you make a payment.

Why it’s good for Costco: People with at least fair credit can benefit from above-average cash back rewards on Costco purchases.

This card also has a $0 annual fee and requires at least fair credit.

Rewards: The Bank of America Cash Rewards for Students offers $200 for spending $1,000 in the first 90 days. This card also gives 3% cash back in a category of your choice, 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 spent on these categories combined per quarter), and 1% on all other purchases.

Why it’s good for Costco: Students will automatically get 2% back at wholesale clubs like Costco until they hit the quarterly spending cap.

The card has a $0 annual fee and accepts applicants with limited credit.

As you can see, you don’t need a credit card with Costco in the name, or even one with extra rewards on groceries, to save on Costco purchases. For more options that will work at Costco and beyond, take a look at our editors’ latest picks for the best Visa rewards credit cards.  

Obviously, it's gonna be the branded card, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi. It's not incredible as far as rates go, but the rewards are moulded specifically for them.

That’s obviously going to be the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi. It’s not only great for Costco purchases, as you can use it for all your other purchases and earn rewards. It also doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee. The card offers 4% cash back on all gas purchases, not just Costco, 3% on restaurants and travel, 2% on Costco purchases, and 1% on all other purchases.