Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi Review: Bonus Cash Back on Your Business Spending

Citi, an advertising partner with The Ascent, offers the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi, which stands out for its high cash-back rates, and if its bonus categories fit your spending habits, you could earn a large amount of money back. To see if you should apply, check out the good and the bad of this card in our Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi review.

Up to 4% back: Here are the cash-back rates with the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi:

• 4% for eligible gas spending worldwide, including gas at Costco (applies to the first $7,000 spent in this category per year)
• 3% on eligible travel and restaurants (including purchases made through Costco Travel)
• 2% on all other spending through Costco or Costco.com
• 1% on all other spending

Some credit cards earn more back on either gas and groceries or travel and restaurants, but not both. With the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi, you won't need to choose, because it earns ample cash back in all those categories.

No annual fee: This is a no-annual-fee card, although you will need to pay an annual fee for a Costco membership. One extra perk of having a Costco credit card is that you can carry that instead of your Costco membership card.

No foreign transaction fee: You can use this card anywhere in the world without paying an extra fee.

Damage and theft purchase protection: Your Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi may cover repair costs or refunds if eligible purchases you make with the card are damaged or stolen. The card's purchase protection lasts for 120 days from the date of the sale (or 90 days for residents of New York).

Extended warranty coverage: On eligible purchases that have a manufacturer's warranty, your Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi includes extended warranty coverage for 24 months and up to $10,000. Note that total warranty coverage won't exceed seven years from the purchase date.

Rewards for Costco purchases: While the cash back this card earns is a plus, it does fall a bit short when it comes to the percentage you can earn at Costco (besides the store's gas stations) and Costco.com. For a store card, 2% back at the store itself isn't the best.

Sign-up bonus: Sign-up bonuses are a popular incentive many credit cards offer to new clients, but the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi doesn't have one.

0% APR intro offer: Some business credit cards have 0% intro APR offers, which are useful for clients who have expensive business purchases they need to pay off over time. With this card, you'll pay the standard interest rate from the beginning.

One annual cash-back distribution: A potential frustration is that you can't just redeem your cash back at any time. Instead, you'll receive your cash back for the prior year after the close of February's billing cycle. Most cardholders get a reward certificate, although Citi and Costco reserve the right to send cash back of over $10,000 through alternative methods.

You can use your reward certificate for cash back or to purchase merchandise. The certificate is good until Dec. 31 of the year you receive it.

This method of receiving cash back is obviously less convenient than redeeming it online whenever you have enough for the redemption minimum, which is what most cash-back cards offer. And the bigger problem is that all your cash back is forfeit if your credit account is closed before reward certificates are sent out. If you decide to close your card in June, you’ll have to wait until the next year or throw away all your cash back.

To have the best chance of getting the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi, you should have an excellent credit score of at least 720. Although this is a business credit card, Citi also heavily weighs your personal credit during the application process.

You're eligible for a business card with any type of business, including a sole proprietorship, and your business doesn't need to be making money yet. A Costco membership number is required to fill out the application.

With its 4% cash-back rate on gas, the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi is ideal if your business has you or your employees on the road often. It's also obviously a fantastic option if Costco is your retailer of choice. If you shop at Costco for most of your business supplies and use Costco Travel to book your trips, then you'll get quite a bit of value from this card.