When it comes to retail shopping, several brands, retail stores, and departmental store chains have exclusive offers for their customers. Several big stores like Walmart, Amazon, Kroger, etc., have their reward programs and loyalty programs so that customers can get the best prices and the companies get more business.
What about wholesale shopping?
If you are a small retail business in any niche, you will be looking for the best prices for merchandise procurement. It allows retailers to increase their revenues and net profit by marginal values. But only a few wholesale stores and companies offer exclusive benefits for bulk purchases.
In today’s article, we will talk about Costco, an American wholesale store chain. Costco credit cards allow customers to enjoy exclusive membership perks, discounts and offers when shopping at any Costco store. How to become part of the reward program? What is the application procedure? How to activate your Costco credit card and a lot more will be discussed in today’s article.
So let’s get into it.
What Is Costco?
Costco Wholesale is a global company with operations extended to 8 countries. The company is regarded as the leader in its field. If we talk about the U.S., Costco is renowned as a top retail and wholesale store chain. What the world call Costco is a membership warehouse club that is living the promise of providing consumers and retailers with the best prices. There are 842 warehouses of Costco, with 118.9 million cardholders having a membership of the company.
If we look at the history of Costco, the company started its operations in 1976 with a different name. The company’s old name was Price Club, and the operations started in a converted airplane hangar on Morena Boulevard, San Diego.
The company evolved from serving a few businesses to a wide range of consumers and many businesses. Fast forward, the company opened its first warehouse in Seattle. The name Costco came up after the collaboration of Price Club and Costco Wholesale in 1983. The next 10 years of the company proved to be revolutionary in terms of business.
What Is Costco Credit Card?
Costco’s business model is a membership for consumers and businesses who want the best prices for different items. However, the company is also offering Costco credit cards in collaboration with CitiBank. Currently, there are two types of visa credit cards for the members of Costco: Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi and Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi.
The company focuses on both b2b and b2c customers so that they can maximize their revenues and serve the customers with the best options. Credit cards can be used at any location where Visa cards are accepted. Even more, you can enjoy several perks, exclusive discounts, and cash backs on purchases of different items. We will discuss each card’s benefits and features in the next section.
Features Of Costco Card
Although the credit cards of Costco are focused on different customers(businesses and consumers), the benefits offered to both categories are the same. So here is a brief overview of the benefits you can enjoy as a Costco visa credit card holder:
Cashbacks
You earn cashback on grocery purchases, gas bills, Costco purchases, restaurants, and even on general purchases made with your Visa credit card. Here are the details of the cashback for you:
- Get a 4% cashback on your gas bills and E.V. charging up to $7000. For purchases after $7000, a 1% cashback is given to the customers
- You will get a cashback of 3% on all eligible restaurant bills and traveling
- You will get a cashback of 2% on all purchases you make at the Costco warehouse or from Costco.com
- All other purchases are entitled to 1% cashback of the purchase amount
No Annual Fee
Although the Costco card is a Visa card that can be used anywhere, the company does not charge any annual fee for card maintenance when you are a paid member of Costco.
No Foreign Transaction Fee
The company does not charge any foreign transaction fee to the customers when they choose to pay for foreign purchases or transfers.
Use Card Anywhere
You have the freedom to make purchases or make payments with your Visa credit card at any location where Visa cards are accepted.
Variable APR
Unlike many companies, the customers get a variable APR(annual percentage rate) on their financing needs. For consumers and business users, the APR on purchases is 18.24%, and it is 28.24% for cash advances. If you do not pay the fee on time, the penalty APR of 29.99% applies to the returned amount.
Qualification Criteria Costco Credit Card
Costco credit card is a free card for paid members of Costco Wholesale. However, you must qualify for the Visa Anywhere card as offered by the company. Whether you are applying for a Costco Credit card or a Costco Business credit card, you must fulfill the following qualification requirements:
- Your credit score should be a minimum of 750. It means that people with lower credit scores cannot benefit from the Costco Visa credit card. Personal credit card is considered for business cards as well. In fact, a higher personal credit score is even more important for business users due to the longer and more predictive credit history.
- Your income and assets should be enough to showcase your ability to pay the credit card bills. Higher the value of your assets and income, the higher the chances of getting approved.
- Your existing debt should be lower to increase your chances of getting approved. The reason why Citibank considers your debts is to ensure that you have enough income every month to pay your credit card bills.
- Other factors include your age, residence, valid SSN, business, etc.
How To Apply For Costco Credit Card?
Here is how you initiate your application for a Costco credit card:
- Visit the official website of Costco, tap on Credit Card, and then click Apply Now against the type of card you want to apply for.
- A new webpage of Citicards will open where you will fill out the complete form. It includes the following details:
- Your Costco Membership Number
- Personal information like your name, address, SSN, date of birth, citizenship, phone number, email address, etc
- Setting up Security Code which is a question & its answer you can use to authorize your identity when calling Citibank for card-related queries
- Financial information like your total income, monthly mortgage, rent, etc
- Check the authorized user permission.
- Agree to the Terms and Conditions and click on Agree & Submit.
Activate Your Credit Card
Once you receive your Costco Visa credit card, you can activate it in two ways: via call and via the website.
Via Call
Call the number printed on the sticker pasted on the front of your credit card for phone activation. For your convenience, here is the number: 1-855-378-6467
Once you are on the call, you will have to verify your personal information like SSN, card number, phone number, etc. Follow the instructions and complete the activation process.
Via Website
For website activation, log in to your Citibank account or register for one. Look for the Activation option, enter the authentication information, and complete the activation process.
How To Make Bill Payments For Costco Card?
You can pay your Costco credit card bills in four ways: mobile app, website, phone, and mail.
Online
- Visit the official website of Citi credit card here.
- Login to your account, and if you don’t have one, tap on Register Now to make your account.
- Once logged in, tap on Account Details > Make A Payment.
- Enter the amount of your card bill, select the date, and enter the payment account.
- You will need to provide your bank routing number and bank account number to withdraw funds and pay card bills.
Phone Call
To make your payments via phone call, you will need to call on Costco Citi credit card bills hotline. The number to call for payments is as follows: 855-378-6467.
You must have your credit card along with you for convenient authentication. Make sure to write down your bank account number and routing number on a page. Also, check your credit card bill before calling on the hotline. Once on the call, follow the automatic prompts to complete the payment of your credit card bill.
You can also choose to pay the credit card bill by check or money order. Once you have written your check, mail it to the following address:
Costco Anywhere Card Payments
P.O. Box 9001016
Louisville, KY 40290
Costco Card Customer Service
Via Call
Customer care support is available during working and normal business hours. You can call on the following number to talk to customer support:
For consumer cards: 1-855-378-6467
For Business cards: 1-855-378-6468
Alternatively, you can send your credit card-related queries to the mailing address of the Costco credit card:
Payments:
Costco Anywhere Card Payments
P.O. Box 9001016
Louisville, KY 40290
Costco Wholesale
Costco Wholesale
P.O. Box 34331.
Seattle, WA 98124
