Here's how the Prime Visa and the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi compare in a few key areas.
Prime Visa vs. Costco Visa Card annual fee
These are both no annual fee cards, so they're even in this area. However, you need a membership to the respective to store to get each one. For the Prime Visa, you need an Amazon Prime membership. That costs $14.99 per month, or $139 per year.
For the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, you need a Costco membership. Costco is much more affordable, with a $60 annual membership fee. Even an Executive membership, which includes an additional 2% annual reward, costs $120 per year, still less than Amazon Prime.
Winner: Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi
Prime Visa vs. Costco Visa Card welcome offer
With the Prime Visa, you get a $200 Amazon gift card instantly upon approval. It's one of the more valuable welcome offers you'll find on a store credit card. The fact that you get it instantly, without any spending required, is also a big plus.
The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi doesn't have a welcome offer. So for upfront value, there's a clear winner here.
Winner: Prime Visa
Prime Visa vs. Costco Visa Card intro APR
Neither of these cards has an intro APR offer. If that's a feature you need, check out The Ascent's picks for the best 0% intro APR credit card.
The Prime Visa does have 0% promo APR offers available. You can pay off eligible purchases of $50 or more in six equal monthly payments and eligible purchases of $250 or more in 12 equal monthly payments. You don't earn rewards on purchases when you choose this option. But the Prime Visa at least gives you the option, while the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi doesn't.
Winner: Prime Visa
Prime Visa vs. Costco Visa Card rewards
The Prime Visa earns bonus rewards in several categories, with the highlight being a huge rate at Amazon. It earns:
- 5% cash rewards on Amazon, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods, and Chase Travel purchases
- 2% cash rewards at restaurants, gas stations, and local transit and commuting (including rideshares)
- 1% cash rewards on other purchases
You'll also have plenty of bonus opportunities with the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi. This card earns:
- 4% on eligible gas and EV charging purchases, up to your first $7,000 in spending per year in these categories
- 3% at restaurants and on travel, including Costco Travel purchases
- 2% on other purchases from Costco and Costco.com
- 1% on all other eligible purchases
This is a competitive category, and you could earn lots of cash back with either card. But the Prime Visa has a couple of key advantages. It earns a much higher rate at Amazon (5%) than the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi earns at Costco (2%, on the low side for a store credit card).
Also, your cash back is available as soon as the next day in your Amazon.com account. And if you don't want to use it on Amazon, you can also redeem it as cash back through Chase, since this is a Chase credit card. Costco and Citi make you wait much longer -- they send you a reward certificate for your Costco card once a year.
Winner: Prime Visa