Best Credit Card for Costco in the US and Canada

Costco narrows the question before you start: in the US its warehouses take Visa and no other credit card network, and in Canada they take Mastercard. Costco has changed networks before, so check the payment page on costco.com or costco.ca if you are reading this long after October 2026. The best card for Costco is the best Visa you can get in the US, or the best Mastercard in Canada, for the way you shop there. Rates below are as of October 2026, from Churn's card data.

Costco doesn't count as groceries

Most cards with a grocery or supermarket category leave warehouse clubs out. Costco codes as a warehouse or wholesale merchant, so a card that pays 4% or 5% at supermarkets usually pays its base rate at Costco. Canadian Tire's Triangle World Elite, for example, says its 3% grocery rate excludes Costco and Walmart. Plan on a card's everyday rate, not its grocery rate.

United States

Costco Anywhere Visa by Citi

Costco's own card has no annual fee beyond your membership and needs a membership in your name to apply. It earns 2% at Costco and Costco.com, 5% on gas at Costco and 4% on other gas and EV charging (the two share a $7,000-a-year cap, then 1%), 3% at restaurants and on travel, and 1% elsewhere. Citi pays it out once a year as a reward certificate you redeem at Costco.

A flat-rate Visa

2% is easy to match. The Wells Fargo Active Cash earns 2% everywhere with no annual fee, paid as cash rather than a certificate. The Capital One Venture X earns 2 miles per dollar on everything; at Churn's 1.4 cents a mile that is worth about 2.8% if you use the miles for travel, against an annual fee you would want to cover with the card's travel credit; the table shows it.

Many popular cards are Mastercard or Amex in the US, so check the network first. The Citi Double Cash and the Citi Strata Premier are Mastercards, and no Amex works in a US warehouse.

Costco gas

Gas is where the Costco card is hardest to beat: 5% at Costco pumps up to the shared cap. Some other cards' gas categories include Costco gas stations and some don't, and the pump takes the same networks as the warehouse. Check a card's gas terms before you rely on its rate at Costco.

Canada

CIBC Costco Mastercard

Costco Canada's card has no annual fee and earns 1% at Costco warehouses, 2% at Costco.ca, 3% on gas at Costco and 2% at other gas stations and EV charging, 3% at restaurants and 1% elsewhere. It is strongest for Costco gas and Costco.ca, and ordinary in the warehouse itself.

A Mastercard that earns more in the warehouse

In the warehouse, a flat-rate Mastercard can beat Costco's own card. The Rogers Red World Elite has no annual fee and earns 1.5% on everything, or up to 2% if you have an eligible Rogers, Fido or Shaw service; since 4 August 2026 that higher rate has an annual limit, so check the current one. It earns 3% on purchases in US dollars, which more than covers its 2.5% foreign transaction fee. It asks for C$80,000 of personal or C$150,000 of household income.

Bonus-category Mastercards like the PC World Elite and the Triangle World Elite earn their top rates at their own stores and grocers, and 1% at Costco. They are good cards to carry, just not for Costco.

The short version

• US warehouse: a 2% Visa, whether the Costco card or a flat-rate card, or the Venture X if you will use its miles for travel.
• US Costco gas: the Costco Anywhere Visa, up to the $7,000 cap.
• Canada warehouse: a flat-rate Mastercard like the Rogers Red World Elite (1.5%, or up to 2% with an annual limit for Rogers customers) beats the CIBC Costco card's 1%.
• Canada Costco gas and Costco.ca: the CIBC Costco Mastercard.

For supermarkets that do count as groceries, see the best US grocery cards and the best Canadian grocery cards.