Citi Custom Cash Card Review: Should You Get It?
Citi Custom Cash Card Review: Should You Get It?
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card offers the best of 5% rotating cashback rewards programs, since it covers the same lucrative categories each month, like restaurants and groceries and automatically enrolls you in the most rewarding one.
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Pros
Cons
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card is a great supplemental card, with its $0 annual fee and high rewards for your highest spending category each month.
Earn 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1% cash back thereafter. Also, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
The 5% bonus rate covers common valuable spending categories each month, including restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores. However, this card removes all the guesswork for you — it automatically enrolls you in the category you spend the most in each month, awarding 5% cash back on up to $500 in purchases in the form of Citibank ThankYou® Points. All other purchases earn an unlimited 1% cash back.
The card could be a potentially great grocery, gas or restaurant card, given that it covers these categories every month. As a drawback, though, the card earns a low rate of cash back on everything outside your 5% category for the month. It’s a great companion to other cards (especially your Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer), but not the best option as a go-to card for every purchase.
$0
13.99% – 23.99% (Variable)
Excellent/Good
- Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $750 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
- 0% Intro APR on balance transfers and purchases for 15 months. After that, the variable APR will be 13.99% - 23.99%, based on your creditworthiness.
- Earn 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1% cash back thereafter. Also, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
- No rotating bonus categories to sign up for – as your spending changes each billing cycle, your earn adjusts automatically when you spend in any of the eligible categories.
- No Annual Fee
- Citi will only issue one Citi Custom Cash℠ Card account per person.
Earn $200 bonus cash back
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card offers a competitive sign on bonus:
Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $750 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
Although the threshold to receive the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card’s sign-on bonus is likely attainable for many new cardholders, it is still a bit higher than for some other competing cards. The Chase Freedom Unlimited®, for example, earns a similar bonus, but cardholders only need to spend $500 in the first three months to reach that bonus. If this is important to you, many other cards offer more competitive sign-on bonuses.
Up to 5% cash back
Earn 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1% cash back thereafter. Also, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
The 5% cash back makes the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card a very competitive choice in your highest spending eligible category, whatever it may be. Unlike competing 5% cash back cards — the Discover it® Cash Back and the Chase Freedom Flex℠ — the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card doesn’t make you jump through hoops to earn your bonus cash back:
- Rather than requiring you to enroll in your 5% category, your account automatically determines which category you spent the most on in a given month and awards you 5% in that spending area.
- Furthermore, there’s no risk that a rotating 5% category won’t match up with your spending: It offers the same categories every month.
5% cashback cards
Citi Custom Cash | Discover it® Cash Back | Chase Freedom Flex℠ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% category | Automatically awards 5% on your highest spending category each month | Awards 5% on different categories each quarter | Awards 5% on different categories each quarter |
| Spending categories | Offers the same categories each month, including groceries, restaurants and gas |
|
|
| Enrollment | No enrollment required | You have to enroll at the start of the quarter to earn the bonus on all your purchases | You have to enroll by the end of the enrollment deadline to earn the bonus on all your purchases |
Unfortunately, the 1% unlimited cash back on the remainder of your purchases is less competitive among cashback cards. The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card might be best used as a dedicated card for a specific high spending area like gas or groceries, paired along with another card with more competitive rewards for everyday purchases.
Ultimately, depending on your own unique spending habits, the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card could still leave you with more cashback rewards at the end of the day if you’re someone who’s looking for a new primary card.
Redeeming cash back
One major perk of the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card: Your cash back is extremely flexible and customizable. All rewards are earned in the form of Citibank ThankYou points — these points can be redeemed in a broad range of ways through Citi’s online portal, with no minimum redemption amount for many options.
Redemption options include:
- Getting cash back as a statement credit — No minimum
- Getting cash back as a direct deposit — No minimum
- Getting a check in the mail — $5 minimum
- Getting gift cards in exchange for points — Minimum varies by merchant
- Donate cash back to charity — $25 minimum
- Student loan or mortgage payments — $25 minimum
- Shopping with points — No minimum
Note that the redemption rate varies between the different options, meaning some are more valuable than others (cash back is generally the best way to go at 1 cent per point). Be sure to look at the redemption rate of a particular option before you redeem your points, to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck and receiving a payout that’s valuable to you. If the value is less than 1 cent per point, you should stick to redeeming your points for cash back.
Pairing the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card with other cards
The best use of the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card is as a supplemental card to other rewards cards, like the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer. You can use the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card to earn 5% cash back in one category (like grocery stores or restaurants) where you spend the most in a particular month, while putting most of your spending on the other card. In our sample below, the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card paired with the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer nets $180 more in cash back per year, than the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer alone.
Sample cashback earnings
Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer | Citi Custom Cash℠ Card + Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer |
|---|---|
| $20,000 in purchases x 2% = $400 |
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| Total cash back = $400 | Total cash back = $580 |
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card card also makes a good companion to the Citi Prestige® Credit Card and Citi Premier® Card. You can pool the points from your Citi Custom Cash℠ Card with ones earned from these cards to redeem for travel rewards. Plus, you can also transfer points from these cards to one of Citi’s travel loyalty program partners to get more value out of them.
Citi travel partners
- Aeromexico
- Asia Miles
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest Miles
- EVA Air
- Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
- InterMiles
- JetBlue
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
Other Citi Custom Cash℠ Card benefits
The main benefits of the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card are its sign-on bonus, competitive cash back and robust redemption options. Beyond these notable benefits, the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card offers a very limited number of additional benefits for cardholders, including:
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card offers a 0% intro APR for 15 months on balance transfers and a 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases. After that, the APR will be 13.99% – 23.99% (Variable). This is a longer-than-average 0% introductory period, making the card a good option for someone who wants to transfer a balance or finance a large purchase with a card they can keep around in the long run.
You can add additional users at no cost and earn points on the purchases they make.
How does the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card compare to other cards?
Citi Custom Cash℠ Card vs. Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer
The Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer is a great choice for people who value simplicity and are less concerned with optimizing their rewards. The card has a $0 annual fee and lets you Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. As a result, this is a great credit card to have as your primary card, since it earns competitive rewards on every purchase everyday. Unlike the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card, there’s no need to pay attention to categories: Every purchase earns the same rate, and you get rewarded as you pay for those purchases.
Determining whether the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer will get you more cash back than the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card largely depends on how much variety there is in your spending and where you shop.
Keep in mind that the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer doesn’t have a sign-on bonus, so this may not be the right card for someone wanting to earn a lot of cash back in a short span of time.
Citi Custom Cash℠ Card vs. Chase Freedom Flex℠
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ is one of the most valuable cashback cards. If used in the most optimal way, the card has the potential to earn even better cashback rewards than the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card. The Chase Freedom Flex℠ offers a $0 annual fee and lets you Earn 5% cash back on eligible purchases in rotating categories, 5% on travel purchased through Chase, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1% on all other purchases.
Unfortunately, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ doesn’t offer consistent bonus categories like gas, groceries, streaming, fitness clubs and live entertainment. If these categories were ones that drew you to the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card, then the Chase Freedom Flex℠ might not be for you. Otherwise, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ card's 5% bonus on rotating categories can be extremely rewarding for cardholders who can manage to hit the $1,500 spending limit each quarter, as well as the guaranteed additional cash back on travel, dining and drugstores.
You should also note that the Chase Freedom Flex℠ is a Chase Ultimate Rewards® credit card. This means that, like the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card, rewards earned with the card can be transferred to premium travel credit cards, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, and redeemed for travel with a 25% to 50% bonus, or transferred to one of Chase's travel partners for even better deals on travel. In general, Chase offers a stronger list of transfer partners than Citi — including major U.S. airlines United and Southwest — making the Ultimate Rewards program a better option for cardholders who want to maximize travel points.
Citi Custom Cash℠ Card vs. Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express credit card is a highly competitive cashback card for higher spenders earning up to 6% cash back. Earn 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%), 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations and on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more), 1% Cash Back on other purchases. Terms apply. These cash back rewards can be redeemed as a statement credit. The trade off for the great cash back structure is that, $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 a year annual fee for the card.
If the bonus categories appeal to your general spending habits, the annual fee may be worth it. If the annual fee makes the rewards less appealing for you, however, then the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card and its $0 annual fee might be a solid choice because you can still earn 5% where you spend most.
For rates and fees of Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, please click here.
Is the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card worth it?
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card is a highly competitive card in your highest spending category, but much less so on everyday purchases, as it only earns 1% cash back. This card might be best to bookmark for purchases in one specific category where you regularly spend most to maximize rewards. In fact, the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card is best maximized as a secondary card instead of a primary one.
If you are looking for a cashback card that earns competitive rewards on every purchase every day, or a card that doesn’t have the additional complication of other categories, the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer might be best, since you can earn a much higher rate of cash back on most of your purchases as long as your pay down your balance.
Citi Custom Cash℠ Card FAQs
What kind of card is the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card?
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card is a cashback Mastercard that earns 5% cash back on bonus categories each month.
Does the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card have foreign transaction fees?
Yes, the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card has a foreign transaction fee of 3%.
What are Citibank’s credit score requirements for the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card?
Applicants need an Excellent/Good credit score to qualify for the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card.
Do Citi Custom Cash℠ Card rewards expire?
No, points with your Citi Custom Cash℠ Card do not expire.
Does the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card have an annual fee?
No, the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card does not have an annual fee.
Is there a minimum to cash out rewards with the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card?
For some redemption options there is a minimum, but several popular choices, such as direct deposit or statement balance, have no minimums.
For rates and fees of Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, please click here.
The information related to Discover it® Cash Back and Citi Prestige® Credit Card has been independently collected by ValuePenguin and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply to American Express credit card offers. See americanexpress.com for more information.
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How We Calculate Rewards: ValuePenguin calculates the value of rewards by estimating the dollar value of any points, miles or bonuses earned using the card less any associated annual fees. These estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone, not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.
Example of how we calculate the rewards rates: When redeemed for travel through Ultimate Rewards, Chase Sapphire Preferred points are worth $0.0125 each. The card awards 2 points on travel and dining and 1 point on everything else. Therefore, we say the card has a 2.5% rewards rate on dining and travel (2 x $0.0125) and a 1.25% rewards rate on everything else (1 x $0.0125).