If you have a Citi Costco credit card, you’ve been earning some great rewards all year.
I love the card because you get 4% at gas stations (first $7,000 each year), 3% at restaurants, 2% from Costco and Costco.com, and 1% everywhere else.
What I don’t love as much about the card is that you get your rewards once a year, usually in your February statement. It would be nice if the rewards were just deposited as cashback each month, but I suppose this does seem like a more frugal option… which is in line with Costco’s brand.
Normally, you can redeem the certificate at the Costco cash register. If your certificate is over $300, you can also opt to direct deposit the certificate – a really nice feature.
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How to Direct Deposit Your Costco Rewards Certificate
We do a ton of our shopping at Costco and with four kids, this means we get a pretty sizable check from Costco – way more than $300. (we also put our gas and restaurant spending on the card too!)
To get your reward certificate direct deposited, log into your Citi account and scroll down until you see this part of the screen:
When your certificate is ready, the Certificate Status will say Issued. You will also get an email that contains your certificate’s bar code.
At this point, you can click on Direct Deposit and it’ll reveal this screen:
If you haven’t added your bank, you can click Add an Account and and you’ll be prompted to add your back via Plaid. If it’s a non-Citi account, they require two payments from it before they’ll accept it for direct deposit.
Otherwise, you can select your bank and click redeem.
Once you click redeem, you’re shown this confirmation screen:
That’s it! Super easy.
✨ Related: Check out the latest Costco Coupon Book Scans
How to Redeem Your Costco Rewards Certificate in Warehouse
If you want to redeem your certificate in the warehouse, simply bring it to the cash register. You cannot redeem it at Customer Service.
Just note that they will pay you the reward from the cash register so if it’s a really large reward certificate, it’s better to get it direct deposited. Or, wait for a larger shopping trip so you can use the certificate on the purchase and get what’s left over.
If you lost your certificate, you can always log into your Citi account and get it reprinted. Just click on Access Certificate and this screen will appear:
Requesting a new one will invalidate previous ones, as they will invalidate the bar code.
Other Important Notes
Remember to redeem your certificate before the end of the year! The certificates expire on 12/31/2024 and there’s nothing you can do if you forget.
Also, only you and any authorized users will be allowed to redeem it. You have to show your card at the register anyway so this is usually not a problem… but note that you can’t give it to a friend.
I’ve never tried redeeming it at the self-checkout but I’d suspect you can’t get it redeemed there.
Finally, if you didn’t get a certificate this year, they will only issue it if you’ve been a member for at least a year. If you signed up last year but after the last certificate, unfortunately you’ll have to wait an additional year. I don’t know why this rule exists but that’s one reason why.
Richard and Susan Schoenfeldt says
We took our copy of the 2024 Credit Card Reward Certificate to our local Costco with the intention of using it for shopping. In the upper right corner, there is a 01 and we need the certificate with a 02. I found the certificate in my e-mail, but it doesn’t print out. Is there another way we can acquire a copy of our certificate? Thank you.
If you log into your Citi account, there’s a way to access your certificate and (I believe) print it out. I’m not 100% sure on this and I can’t check because I already direct deposited my check so all the certificate options are gone.
If you can’t print it out, you can ask them (online) to re-issue you a new certificate, which invalidates the existing certificate. I do remember that option clearly.