American Express is gone from Costco Canada stores and Mastercard is in. While Capital One® took the co-branded card away from American Express with essentially the same offering on their Capital One® Platinum Mastercard® it does not mean you have to have that card to shop at Costco. In fact any Mastercard card is accepted at Costco locations across Canada and with so many Mastercard cards to choose from here in the Great White North we thought it would be best to pass along our picks for the five best cards to use at Costco.

1. mbna Rewards World Elite Mastercard - 1.67% to 2% return on Costco purchases

This card underwent some changes not too long ago that made it drop from being the best card to use at Costco to the second best. Ulltimately it is the best when you redeem your MBNA Rewards points for travel. When you do you are earning a 2% return on your Costco and all other purchases. However if you redeem for cash back the rate is lower where you will earn a 1.67% return.

2. Brim World Elite Mastercard - 2% return on Costco purchases*

The Brim World Elite Mastercard has one of the highest returns for purchases at 2% but there is a reason we have that asterisk above. The 2% on the Brim World Elite Mastercard is limited to $25,000 in annual spending - not just at Costco. So if you spend more than this your rate of return drops to 1% on any spending over and above $25K so it will dliute your return over time. Add in a $199 annual fee and you get the picture as to why we don't actually place this card as the best one to use at Costco. Note this card does have the first year annual fee waived right now

3. HSBC World Elite Mastercard - 1.5% return on Costco purchases

This card has the best welcome bonus offer right now (until Dec 28, 2020) of 100,000 bonus points and a first year no annual fee. Those 100K points are worth $300 in cash back or $500 towards any travel! The card itself will earn 3 HSBC Rewards points per dollar spent at Costco. Those 3 points equate to a 1.5% return towards any travel. On top of that the card has excellent benefits and insurance coverage!

4. BMO CashBack World Elite Mastercard - 1.5% return on Costco purchases

This card isn't travel rewards related but it offers up a good cash back return of 1.5% on all purchases at Costco and everywhere else. Add the limited time offer of 10% back on all purchases in the first three months (up to a total of $200 cash back) with no annual fee in the first year and you can see why this card would be good to use at Costco. The card also offers one of the better insurance packages out there for a cash back card.

5. Rogers World Elite Mastercard - 1.5% return on Costco purchases

This card used to be the number one card to use at Costco but it was devlaued on June 2, 2020. The old 1.75% earn rate at Costco has now dropped to 1.5% The Rogers card is a cash back card and you can redeem for cash back against a purchase once your rewards balance hits $20. The card doesn't have a huge sign up bonus but does provide a decent insurance package and best of all - it has no annual fee.

Remember all of the above cards come with the latest Mastercard World Elite benefits

What about the Capital One® Platinum Mastercard® - Exclusively for Costco members

UPDATE: Capital One ending its relationship with Costco and Hudson's Bay

Although it isn't travel rewards related, the Capital One® Platinum Mastercard® - Exclusively for Costco members is a essentially a cash back card that replaced the True Earnings Card from Costco and American Express. While it has some great cash back earnings for non Costco purchases, you will in fact only earn 0.5% to 1% back on your actual spending at Costco which is less than other cash back or travel rewards credit cards so that is why this card doesn't factor in as one of the best Mastercard cards to use at Costco.

Even if you have a Mastercard card that is not on this list but it earns rewards you are ahead of the game, it doesn't mean that your card is bad. It could very well be the right card for you or perhaps it is just OK and one of these will work better for you, especially if you spend a lot at Costco stores. You should also take into account all your other purchasing and loyalty program miles/points accumulation before applying for a new card or jumping ship from the card you currently have.

There are two other cards that are decent to use at Costco - the Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite Mastercard which provides a 2% return and the Diners Club Club Rewards Mastercard which provides a 1.5% return. The only issue with these two cards is that they aren't available for new applications. Only those people who currently have them can use them at Costco.

What do you think of this list? Are any of these cards in your wallet? If not are you apt to choose one of them or will you go with another Mastercard card?

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What card do you use at Costco? Do you think there are other cards that should be considered on this list? Tell us in the comments section below or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter!

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