Compare
Prime Visa vs the Costco Anywhere Visa
Both cards require you to pay a retailer for the privilege. The real difference is how and when each one hands the money back.
The short answer
Prime Visa or Costco Anywhere Visa?
Two membership cards, two completely different jobs. The Prime Visa pays 5% at Amazon and Whole Foods with an eligible Prime membership. The Costco card pays 5% on gas purchased at Costco warehouse locations worldwide and 4% on other eligible gas and EV charging, on a combined $7,000 of spend per year, then 1% — and hands the money back once a year as a certificate rather than at checkout. Gas versus Amazon, and payout timing, decide this.
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Side by side
The two membership cards
| Prime Visa | Costco Anywhere Visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Top rate | 5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods, with eligible Prime | 5% on gas at Costco warehouses |
| Other gas | 2% back at gas stations, no cap | 5% on gas purchased at Costco warehouse locations worldwide and 4% on other eligible gas and EV charging, on a combined $7,000 of spend per year, then 1% |
| Restaurants and travel | 2% back at restaurants | 3% on restaurants and eligible travel, including Costco Travel |
| At the sponsoring retailer | 5% at Amazon, with eligible Prime | 2% on all other Costco and Costco.com purchases |
| Everything else | 1% back | 1% on all other purchases |
| Annual fee | $0 | no annual fee with your active, paid Costco membership |
| Membership required to apply | No — but the 5% needs eligible Prime | an active Costco membership is required to apply |
| Foreign transaction fees | None | None |
| How you get the money | Points at 100 points = $1 (each $1 in % back rewards earned is equal to 100 points), redeemable at any time | An annual reward certificate after the February statement |
Sources: Chase — Prime Visa · Citi — Costco Anywhere Visa · verified 2026-08-11
The real difference
One pays you continuously, one pays you in February
Everything above is ordinary category comparison. This row is the one that changes how the card feels to hold.
Citi states that cash back is provided as an annual credit card reward certificate once your February billing statement closes, redeemable for cash or merchandise at U.S. Costco warehouses (Citi — Costco Anywhere Visa, verified 2026-08-12).
So the rewards accumulate all year and become spendable once, in a specific form, at a specific place. If you earn $340 of Costco cash back in 2026, you cannot touch it in July. You get a certificate after the February statement closes and you redeem it at a U.S. warehouse.
The Prime Visa works the other way. Points are worth 100 points = $1 (each $1 in % back rewards earned is equal to 100 points) (Chase — Prime Visa, verified 2026-08-11), they are available as soon as they post, and eligible purchases at Amazon.com checkout, cash back, travel and gift cards (Chase — Prime Visa, verified 2026-08-11). There is no annual event and no place you have to physically go.
Neither structure is wrong. An annual certificate is a forced-savings mechanism that some people genuinely prefer, and Costco members are going to the warehouse anyway. But it is a real constraint, it is easy to miss when comparing headline percentages, and it belongs near the top of this comparison rather than in a footnote.
Sources: Citi — Costco Anywhere Visa · Chase — Prime Visa · verified 2026-08-12
The category that matters
Gas, and its cap
If you drive, the Costco card is not close to beatable by the Prime Visa. Citi states 5% on gas purchased at Costco warehouse locations worldwide and 4% on other eligible gas and EV charging, on a combined $7,000 of spend per year, then 1% (Citi — Costco Anywhere Visa, verified 2026-08-12).
Two things to notice. The 5% is at Costco warehouse locations specifically; other gas and EV charging earns 4%. And the whole thing is capped: after $7,000 of combined qualifying gas spending in a year, the rate drops to 1%.
That cap is generous. At $60 a fill-up, $7,000 is over a hundred fill-ups a year, which is more driving than most households do. For a heavy commuter or a two-car family it is reachable, and worth knowing about before it arrives.
The Prime Visa earns 2% back (Chase — Prime Visa, verified 2026-08-11) at gas stations, restaurants, and local transit and commuting (including rideshare) (Chase — Prime Visa, verified 2026-08-11), uncapped. At $7,000 of gas that is $140 against the Costco card’s $280 to $350. The gas comparison is not a comparison; it is a rout.
Sources: Citi — Costco Anywhere Visa · Chase — Prime Visa · verified 2026-08-12
The membership question
Both cards rent their best feature
This is the genuinely interesting parallel between the two, and it works differently in each case.
Citi states that an active Costco membership is required to apply (Citi — Costco Anywhere Visa, verified 2026-08-12), and that the card has no annual fee with your active, paid Costco membership (Citi — Costco Anywhere Visa, verified 2026-08-12). So the Costco membership is a gate on having the card at all, and its fee-free status is tied to keeping that membership paid.
The Prime Visa is gentler. You can hold it without Prime — Chase states that without an eligible membership the rate becomes 3% back at Amazon.com, Whole Foods Market and the participating Amazon stores and sites without an eligible Prime membership (Chase — Prime Visa, verified 2026-08-12). The membership gates the rate, not the card, and if it lapses the card keeps working at a lower rate rather than becoming a problem. That difference is covered on the Prime Visa without a Prime membership.
The practical upshot: if you are the kind of person who keeps memberships, both cards are fine. If you are not, the Prime Visa fails more softly.
Sources: Citi — Costco Anywhere Visa · Chase — Prime Visa · verified 2026-08-12
The verdict
This is a both-or-neither comparison
You shop mostly at Amazon and rarely drive. Prime Visa. The Costco card has almost nothing to offer you — Amazon purchases would earn its 1% on all other purchases.
You are a Costco member who drives a lot. Costco Anywhere Visa. 5% and 4% on gas is the strongest fuel earning on this site, and no Amazon card competes with it.
You do both. Hold both. They overlap almost nowhere — one covers Amazon and Whole Foods, the other covers gas, Costco and restaurants — and both are fee-free while their memberships are paid. This is the answer for a lot of households and it is a genuinely efficient pairing.
You want one card for everything. Neither. Both are specialists with 1% base rates, and a flat-rate card beats either on general spending — see Prime Visa vs Freedom Unlimited.
One last note on groceries, where these two come closest to overlapping. The Prime Visa pays 5% at Whole Foods; the Costco card pays 2% on all other Costco and Costco.com purchases. If your grocery shopping is split between the two, that is a real comparison, and the Whole Foods page runs it against every grocery card we could source.
Source: Citi — Costco Anywhere Visa · verified 2026-08-12
#ad New cardmembers only. Chase decides approval and the 5% requires an eligible Prime membership. We have no relationship with Citi or Costco and earn nothing if you choose their card. We earn a flat fee if you sign up through this link, at no cost to you. How we’re paid.
Common questions
Common questions
- Prime Visa or Costco Anywhere Visa?
- They serve different spending. The Prime Visa pays 5% at Amazon with Prime; the Costco card pays 5% on gas at Costco and 4% on other gas, capped at $7,000 of combined gas spending a year. Neither is better in general.
- Do both cards require a paid membership?
- Effectively yes. The Costco card requires an active Costco membership to apply and its no-annual-fee status depends on that membership staying paid. The Prime Visa's 5% requires an eligible Prime membership.
- How does Costco cash back get paid out?
- As an annual credit card reward certificate once your February billing statement closes, redeemable for cash or merchandise at U.S. Costco warehouses. It is not available at checkout throughout the year.
- Which card is better for gas?
- The Costco card, clearly. It pays 5% on gas at Costco and 4% on other eligible gas and EV charging on a combined $7,000 a year, where the Prime Visa pays 2% at gas stations with no cap.
- Do either of them charge foreign transaction fees?
- No. Chase states the Prime Visa has no foreign transaction fees, and Citi states the Costco Anywhere Visa has no foreign transaction fees on purchases.
Related
Read next
- Which card pays the most at Amazon? — the ranked table, if Amazon spending is what you are optimizing
- Prime Visa foreign transaction fees — one of the few places these two cards genuinely tie
- The Prime Visa at Whole Foods — the grocery comparison, which is where these two overlap most
- Prime Visa vs Savor Rewards — another card built around a category rather than a store
Written by Stephen V. — An enthusiast who's genuinely into this. I read the terms, compile the published rates, and do the math. No lab coat, no credentials, no test lab.
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Last verified: 2026-08-12