Citi Custom Cash Card Review: 5% Cash Back Made Simple

With Citi Custom Cash Card, you can earn cash back with every purchase, automatically receiving 5% bonus rewards for your top spending category each billing cycle. There’s no need to choose or activate an eligible category to receive your bonus rewards – simply use your card and enjoy watching your cash-back balance grow.

The Citi Custom Cash Card is a great cash-back credit card that offers many benefits and features, including a 0% APR introductory offer that makes it suitable for balance transfers and a 5% fee for cash advance. In this review, we will take a look at how the Citi Custom Cash Card stacks up against other well-known and established cash-back cards. We will also learn more about the card’s features and benefits, as well as how it works. This will help us understand whether the Citi Custom Cash would be a good fit for us and deserving of a spot in our wallet.

Is The Citi Custom Cash Card Right For You?

The Citi Custom Cash Card would be an ideal fit for cardholders who want to earn bonus rewards on common expenses. The offers 5% rewards rate on purchases in your top eligible spending category each billing cycle (up to the first $500 spent, and then 1% cash back after that) is one of the best bonus rates available, and it’s automatically applied.

Many different bonus categories can easily align with most people’s spending habits. It is unlikely that one of the categories would not somehow factor into your typical expenses. Some of the available categories include groceries, restaurants, gas stations, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, and live entertainment.

This rewards credit card might not be the best fit for you, depending on how you spend your money. For example, it wouldn’t make sense to use this card to earn in multiple bonus categories at the same time. Additionally, since there is a $500 limit in one category per billing cycle, it may not be ideal for those who spend more than that regularly. Finally, keep in mind that typically, only those with good to excellent credit scores will qualify for this card.

Pros

• As a newly registered cardholder, you are eligible for a one-time bonus of $200 cash back after spending $1500 on purchases within the first 6 months of account opening.
• 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. They do charge a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
• The Citi Custom Cash card gives you the flexibility to earn cash back on your purchases each billing cycle. You can earn 5% on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent. After that, you’ll earn 1% cash back on all your purchases.
• The great thing about this credit card is that the bonus categories match up with a lot of common expenses. It’s easy to earn the 5% rate on purchases in these bonus categories, which include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel and transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, and live entertainment.
• Without an annual fee, this card is more valuable because you don’t have to offset the cost each year.
• With the Citi Custom Cash Card, you can get more than just cash back. You’ll earn Citi ThankYou Points on your purchases after spending $1,500 the first 6 months of the account opening which can be redeemed for a variety of options like cash back, gift cards, travel, and even shopping at Amazon. 

Cons

• With the Citi Custom Cash Card, you can earn ThankYou Points which can be redeemed for a variety of perks and benefits. However, these points cannot be transferred to Citi travel partners. To enjoy this benefit, you’ll need to combine your points with a Citi Prestige or Citi Premier card.
• With the Cashback Bonus Mastercard, you’ll earn cash back on every purchase in your top spending category each billing cycle, up to $500. Plus, you’ll 1% cash back on all other purchases after that. If you typically exceed that spending cap in a certain category each month, you might have to dig into the calculations to see whether this card alone, another card, or a combination of cards makes more sense.
• Instead of using Citi Custom Cash for foreign purchases, consider one of these best travel credit cards instead. You’ll avoid a 3% foreign transaction fee and balance transfer free this way.

Citi ThankYou Points: Earning And Redeeming

Earning Tips

One great way to rack up Citi ThankYou Points is to use a Citi Custom Cash Card for your spending. This card offers 5% cash back on purchases in your chosen bonus category each billing cycle, up to $500 spent (then 1% after that), as well as unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. 

The ThankYou Points program is a great way to earn rewards on your everyday spending. With this program, you can earn 2,500 points for every $500 you spend in a bonus category, such as groceries. All other purchases will still earn the 1% rate. This makes it easy to rack up points and redeem them for valuable rewards.

Maximize Redemptions

With the Citi Custom Cash Card, you earn Citi ThankYou Points on every purchase, which can be redeemed for a variety of options.

• Cashback in the form of a mailed check, a statement credit, or a direct deposit
• Gift cards
• Shop with Points at Amazon
• Travel
• Charitable donations

Redeeming your Citi ThankYou points is easy and convenient. Simply log into your online account and visit the Citi ThankYou portal. There, you’ll be able to redeem your points for a variety of great rewards. Redemption portals like this are typical for many credit card rewards programs, so you’ll likely be familiar with the process. Using your points on Amazon is also a breeze. 

ThankYou points are a great way to save money on travel. You can redeem your points for travel at a 1:1 ratio, so 10,000 points equal $100 towards a travel redemption. You can also redeem your points for gift cards at the same ratio, but cash back or shopping with points on Amazon offers a lower redemption value.

If you have a Citi Travel card, you may be able to transfer your points to one of the Citi transfer partners, typically at a 1:1 ratio. These partners include airlines like JetBlue Airways, Emirates, and Qantas. You may be able to get more value from doing a points transfer like this by finding a good flight deal with a certain airline.

FAQs

What Kind Of Card Is The Citi Custom Cash Card?

With the Citi Custom Cash Card, you can get more cashback with flexible earning options. With this Mastercard credit card, you can earn up to 5% cash back on purchases. There’s no limit to how much you can earn, and you can redeem your rewards at any time.

To get the most out of your cash-back credit card, be sure to use it for your top spending category each billing cycle. With 5% cash back on the first $500 spent after account opening (and 1% thereafter).

Which is better: the Citi Custom Cash Card vs. the Citi® Double Cash Card?

There are a lot of great credit cards out there, so it can be tough to decide which one is right for you. However, when it comes to the Citi Custom Cash and the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18-month BT offer, it depends on your lifestyle and spending habits as to which card is better. The Citi Custom Cash has a higher 5% earning rate, but that’s only up to $500 per billing cycle in your top eligible spend category.

With Citi Double Cash, you can earn up to 2% cash back on all your purchases – 1% when you buy and 1% as you pay. This is a great option for those with expenses in multiple categories, as it allows you to earn rewards on all purchases. However, using both cards together is likely to give you even more rewards, so this may be your best option.

What is the credit limit for the Citi Custom Cash Card?

Some factors affect how much credit you can be approved for on a credit card, including things like credit score, credit history, and overall income. With the Citi Custom Cash Card, you can typically expect to be approved for at least a $500 line of credit, though in some cases it could be even higher. Citi doesn’t publish maximum credit limits, so you may be able to get even more depending on the circumstances.

Other Cards To Consider

Different people have different spending habits, so not every credit card will work for everyone. However, both the Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi Double Cash Card offer great cashback rewards on common purchases, making them two of our top picks.