Citi Custom Cash
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Affiliate link, we may earn a commission. Terms, rates, and sign-up bonuses are set by the issuer and can change. See the issuer site and our advertiser disclosure.
Earn $200 cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening; the $200 cash back is fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou Points that can be redeemed for $200 in cash back or transferred to a Citi Strata Premier or Citi Prestige cardholder for travel redemptions; offer is unavailable if you received a new account bonus for the Citi Custom Cash Card in the past 48 months or converted another Citi credit card to a Citi Custom Cash Card; Citi will only issue one Citi Custom Cash Card per person
Genuinely clever. 5% on whichever category you spent most on each month, capped at $500/month. Earns $25/month = $300/year effortlessly. Pairs with Premier to convert to transferable ThankYou Points.
Earning Rates
At a glance
- 5% on top category
- Auto-selected monthly
- No annual fee
- Convert to TY Points
Earning rates
4- 5%
5% cash back automatically on your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent in that category per cycle (effective $25 cash back maximum from the 5% tier per billing cycle, or $300 per year if you max out 12 cycles in a row); after the $500 monthly cap is hit, spend in that category earns the base 1% rate
- 1%everything else
1% cash back on all other purchases that fall outside the 10 eligible 5% categories, with no spending caps and no enrollment required
- 1%
1% cash back on the portion of any 5% category purchases that exceed the $500-per-cycle cap (the card never penalizes spend - it just downgrades that category's rate to the base 1% once you've hit the cap, so functionally the card acts as an unlimited 1% card on everything once you max your top category)
- lodging
4% additional cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel (this 4% bonus stacks on top of the 1% base earn rate for non-top-category purchases, giving up to 5% on Citi Travel hotels/cars/attractions; rate is automatic with no annual cap; Citi Travel is operated by Booking.com Holdings)
Statement credits
1- Citi Easy Deals
Citi Easy Deals: rotating Citi-exclusive merchant offers and statement credits (typically opt-in by clicking a banner in Citi online banking) - these are separate from Citi Merchant Offers which are auto-applied
Perks & memberships
4- Authorized users$0 annual fee on the primary card and on authorized users (Citi does not charge an annual fee on Custom Cash, and authorized users may be added at no cost; the primary cardmember earns ThankYou Points on all authorized-user spend into a single account)
- No foreign feesForeign transaction fee: 3% of each purchase transaction in U.S. dollars (this makes the Citi Custom Cash a poor choice for international purchases; the Citi Strata Premier and Strata Elite both charge $0 foreign transaction fees and are better choices for travel abroad)
- ExperiencesCiti Entertainment: complimentary access to ticket presales and special offers for thousands of concerts, sporting events, dining experiences, and family entertainment events throughout the year (this is one of Citi's signature non-monetary perks and applies across most Citi consumer cards including Custom Cash)
- Authorized usersAdd Authorized Users at no cost and earn ThankYou Points on all purchases they make, all consolidated into the primary cardmember's rewards balance
Travel & purchase protections
2- Mastercard World / World Elite network benefits: the Citi Custom Cash is issued on the Mastercard World tier (with World Elite available at Citi's discretion for higher credit lines) and includes Mastercard ID Theft Protection (free enrollment-based identity monitoring), Mastercard Priceless experiences and Priceless Cities offers, Lyft credit promotions when applicable, Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services concierge-like booking benefits at select hotels (World Elite only), and various Mastercard merchant offers
- $0 fraud liability: you are not held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information (does not apply to use of an account by an authorized user)
More benefits & fine print (3)ShowHide
- Eligible 5% categories that the card automatically tracks each cycle (no enrollment, no activation, no quarterly rotation, no category selection): Restaurants, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Select Travel, Select Transit, Select Streaming Services, Drugstores, Home Improvement Stores, Fitness Clubs, and Live Entertainment (Citi's system identifies whichever of these 10 categories you spent the most in that billing cycle and automatically applies the 5% rate to the first $500 of that category, so the bonus category can change every cycle without any action on your part)
- Citi Quick Lock: lock and unlock your card in seconds through the Citi Mobile App or citi.com if your card is misplaced (re-enables transactions instantly once you find it without needing to request a new card)
- Citi will not issue more than one Citi Custom Cash account per person (this is a hard issuer rule and is a meaningful difference from Chase, which allows one of each Freedom product); the 48-month bonus restriction also applies
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Transfer Partners
Full guide →Citi ThankYou points transfer to these loyalty programs:
How to Earn the Bonus
Spend $1,500 in the first 6 months to earn the $200 cash back bonus.
See the Current Offer
Earn $200 cash back
View OfferAffiliate link, we may earn a commission. Terms, rates, and sign-up bonuses are set by the issuer and can change. See the issuer site and our advertiser disclosure.
