Citi Custom Cash℠ Card Review and Details

In this Citi Custom Cash^℠ Card review, we’ll highlight who this card is for, its credit score requirements, fees, benefits, and more.

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Who is the Citi Custom Cash Card for?
Citi Custom Cash Card Credit Score Requirements
Citi Custom Cash Card Fees
Citi Custom Cash Card APR
Citi Custom Cash Card Rewards Program
Citi Custom Cash Card Benefits
Key Characteristics of the Citi Custom Cash Card
Alternatives to Citi Custom Cash Card

Who is the Citi Custom Cash Card for?

The Citi Custom Cash card is a cash back card for consumers with good to excellent credit.

You earn 5% cash back in your top eligible spending category, up to the first $500 spent in each billing cycle, 1% cash back thereafter. On all other eligible purchases, you get an unlimited 1% cash back. This high cash back rate is ideal for people who want lucrative rewards for everyday purchases like groceries or gas.

The custom cash card is also great for existing Citi card holders as the cash back is accumulated in the form of Citi ThankYou^® points. So if you already hold a Citi travel rewards card (like the Citi Prestige^® card or Citi Premier^® card), you can combine its points with your Custom Cash card points. This also works if you hold the Citi^® Double Cash Card.

Citi Custom Cash Card Credit Score Requirements

To qualify for this card you need to have a credit score ranging between 670-850. This is a relatively high credit score requirement as this is a feature-loaded offering from Citi intended for consumers with good credit.

Citi Custom Cash Card Fees

The Citi Custom Cash card has no annual fee. However, there are some transaction fees, including:

Foreign Transaction Fee: 3% of the amount in U.S. Dollars
Balance Transfer Fee: $5 or 5% of the amount of each balance transfer, whichever is greater
Cash Advance Fee: $10 or 5% fee for each cash advance, whichever is greater

Now let’s go over the card’s APR to get an idea of the interest you’ll have to pay.

Citi Custom Cash Card APR

The Citi Custom Cash card offers a 0% introductory APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers.

What's an introductory APR?

Credit card companies offer a promotional interest rate to a new customer for a set period for opening a credit card account.

After the 15-month introductory period, a 14.74% - 24.74% (Variable) APR applies to both, purchases and balance transfers. Additionally, this Citi card has a 25.99% variable APR for every cash advance.

With all the APR information in your mind, let’s move on to the Citi card rewards program.

Citi Custom Cash Card Rewards Program

The Citi Custom Cash Card rewards program is convenient because it earns you cash back from everyday purchases.

You’ll get 5% cash back for every purchase in your highest spending category and 1% cash back for other eligible purchases during each billing cycle.

Note: The 5% cash back applies till you hit the $500 spending cap.

After that, the cash back rate for that top category drops to 1%, and for other eligible purchases, you continue to receive 1% cash back.

The main benefit here is that the Citi card rewards program doesn’t encourage altering your spending habits to qualify for reward points. Instead, the card automatically adjusts to your spending behavior, unlike a card that only offers reward points for dining or traveling.

For example, let’s say you spend the most on restaurant bills in one billing cycle but end up splurging in warehouse clubs the next billing cycle. In that case, your category for the 5% cash back will automatically change from restaurants to warehouse clubs.

How do you redeem your cash back?

Cardholders can redeem their Citi ThankYou points as a direct deposit, statement credit, or check. They can also opt for the gift card redemption option.

How much is each Citi ThankYou point worth?

According to our estimates, 1 Citi ThankYou point has an average worth of 0.8 cents. However, this varies depending on the redemption option you choose. A gift card may get you 1 cent per reward point, whereas a statement credit or cash back may get you 0.5 cents.

You should know that cash back isn’t the only benefit this Citi Custom card has to offer.

Citi Custom Cash Card Benefits

The Citi Custom Cash card comes with certain benefits to help and protect its customers.

Here are some of them:

Choose Your Payment Due Date - With this Citi card, you can pay your dues on any available date at the beginning, middle, or end of the month.
Mastercard^® Theft Protection - Since the Citi Custom card is a Mastercard, you don’t have to worry about theft or misuse. Their protection program monitors and alerts cardholders if suspicious activity is detected. You’re also protected against unauthorized charges on your credit card with $0 liability.
Citi^® Quick Lock - If you ever misplace your card, you can use Citi Quick Lock to block new charges immediately. That’ll give you time to locate your credit card.

Key Characteristics of the Citi Custom Cash Card

Here are some notable characteristics of this credit card you should consider before applying

Welcome Offer - The Citi Custom Cash Card card comes with a welcome offer that earns you $200 in cash back after spending $750 on purchases. You need to make the purchases in the first 3 months of opening your credit card account to avail of this offer. Once done, the offer will reflect in 20,000 ThankYou reward points being credited to your Citi card, which are worth around $200.
High Reward Earning Potential in Important Purchase Categories - The Citi Custom Cash Card earns you 5% cash back in your top eligible everyday spending category. The category is up to you and can include grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, warehouse clubs, and more.
Low Reward Points in Non Bonus Categories - The profitable 5% cash back offered by the Citi Custom card is limited to one bonus category in each billing cycle. And eligible purchases in other categories will earn you just 1% in cash back. However, this is pretty standard for a cash back credit card or a rewards card.
No Annual Fee - The Citi Custom Cash Card doesn’t charge an annual fee.
Low Spending Cap - Like most cash back cards, the Citi Custom Cash card adds a spending cap for their high 5% cash back rate. After hitting the spending cap every billing cycle, you’ll earn a low 1% cash back for other eligible purchases.
Long 0% introductory APR Window - The Citi card offers a 0% introductory APR on every purchase and balance transfer for 15 months. This lengthy interest-free period can buy you some time to pay down a large purchase. After the intro period, an APR of 14.74% - 24.74% (Variable) applies.
Flexible Credit Limit - The credit limit for the Citi Custom card is determined by several factors. Some of the factors the card issuer looks at can be your total income, debt, credit score, and prior history with the card issuer. As a result, when it comes to this Citi card, you can get a $500 minimum credit limit, and the maximum credit limit can be higher depending on your creditworthiness.
Add Additional Users - You can add authorized users to your cash card and get Citi ThankYou point rewards on eligible purchases they make.

Alternatives to Citi Custom Cash Card

If you’re looking for more Citi credit card options or cards by other credit card companies, here are some solid alternatives:

Conclusion

If you're on the lookout for a great cash back card, the Citi Custom Cash card is a great option. It offers 5% cash back on your top-spending bonus category, automatically adjusting it in every billing cycle depending on your everyday purchases. And to top it off, the card has no annual fee while offering a 15 month long 0% introductory APR on balance transfers and purchases.

You can apply for the Citi Custom Cash here.