A grocery bonus only pays if the store's merchant code falls inside your issuer's grocery category. The store name does not decide it. This guide explains who sets the code, why Costco is a special case, and how to check what your own purchases coded as before you rely on a bonus rate.
Chase's rewards FAQ explains it this way: every merchant that accepts Visa or Mastercard is assigned a merchant code, set by the merchant or its payment processor under network rules, based on what the business mainly sells. The issuer then groups codes into its own reward categories. Chase adds that a merchant can look like it fits a category and still carry a code outside it, and then the purchase does not earn that category's bonus. Other issuers work on the same principle, with their own definitions.
Chase's grocery category covers supermarkets, merchants that offer a full-service grocery line, and smaller grocery stores. It excludes larger stores that sell a wide variety of goods and groceries, such as warehouse clubs and discount stores, and merchants that specialize in only a few grocery items. That last exclusion matters for Asian shoppers. A bakery, tea shop, or food stall inside a supermarket that rings you up on its own terminal is a separate merchant with its own code. Read your own card's definition; issuers word it differently.
We do not list H Mart or 99 Ranch as "grocery" or "not grocery" for any card. Codes are set per merchant account, can differ between locations, and are applied by each issuer's own rules. Posts on forums and in comments are reader reports, not issuer rules, and they can be out of date. To check: make one purchase, then open the transaction in your card's app or online account and look for its category label. Then check the rewards breakdown on the next statement. If the label says groceries and the rewards line shows the bonus rate, that location coded as grocery for that card.
Costco's member privileges page lists Visa cards, debit/ATM cards, cash, checks, EBT and Costco Shop Cards for its U.S. warehouses. Citi, which issues the Costco Anywhere Visa, says Costco accepts only Visa credit cards for in-person purchases. Costco.com also takes Mastercard. Costco is a warehouse club, and Chase's grocery definition excludes warehouse clubs. So a Mastercard or Amex grocery card does not work at the register, and a Visa grocery card from Chase will not earn its grocery rate there. Check your own issuer's terms for how it treats warehouse clubs.
Contact the issuer and ask how the transaction was categorized. The code itself comes from the merchant, so the issuer may or may not adjust your rewards. Keep the receipt and the transaction date. For regular shopping at a store that codes outside the bonus, a flat-rate card that pays the same on every purchase avoids the problem.
Chase, Rewards category FAQs (merchant codes, grocery store definition) https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/rewards-category-faq Costco, Member Privileges and Conditions (accepted payment methods) https://www.costco.com/f/-/member-privileges-conditions Citi, What credit cards does Costco accept? https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/understanding-credit-cards/what-credit-cards-does-costco-accept Checked 2026-10-16. Store coding is not published by H Mart, 99 Ranch or the card networks; check your own transactions.
It depends on the merchant code that location uses and on your issuer's definition. Check the category label on your own transaction after one purchase.
Not credit cards. Costco's U.S. warehouses take Visa credit cards plus debit/ATM cards, cash, checks, EBT and Costco Shop Cards. Costco.com also accepts Mastercard.
The merchant's code probably falls outside your issuer's grocery category, or the purchase was rung up by a separate vendor inside the store. Look at the category label on the transaction.
They are reports, not issuer rules. Codes can differ by location and change over time. Your own statement is the only check that applies to your card.
⚠️ About this data: Where we have checked a card's annual fee, APR and foreign-transaction fee, the page shows the date and the source. Welcome offers, rewards and benefits change often, so the issuer's own site is the final word. Approval is decided by the issuer. Nothing here is financial advice.