Citi Custom Cash

Earning Rates

Key Benefits

• 5% on top category
• Auto-selected monthly
• No annual fee
• Convert to TY Points

All Benefits

• New cardmember welcome offer: $200 cash back (fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou Points) after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months from account opening; offer is unavailable if you received a new account bonus for the Citi Custom Cash Card in the past 48 months or if you converted another Citi credit card into a Citi Custom Cash Card, and Citi will only issue one Citi Custom Cash Card account per person
• $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)
• 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
• 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)
• 1% cash back on all other purchases that fall outside the 10 eligible 5% categories, with no spending caps and no enrollment required
• 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)
• 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)
• Cash back is earned in the form of ThankYou Points at a rate of 1 point per $1 in base earn, 5 points per $1 in the top eligible category (up to $500 per cycle), and 4 bonus points per $1 on Citi Travel hotels/cars/attractions; ThankYou Points can be redeemed for cash back as direct deposit, statement credit, paper check, gift cards, travel through ThankYou.com, Shop With Points at Amazon.com and PayPal, or various other redemption options at thankyou.com
• ThankYou Points transfer partner access: Not offered directly on the Citi Custom Cash Card on its own; however, when you also hold a Citi Strata Premier Card or Citi Prestige Card (or the new Strata Elite), you can pool/combine ThankYou Points across accounts and unlock transfers to Citi's full airline and hotel transfer partner list at 1:1 ratios (partners include Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Avianca LifeMiles, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Choice Privileges, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, JetBlue TrueBlue (typically 1:0.8), Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Privilege Club, Singapore KrisFlyer, Thai Royal Orchid Plus, Turkish Miles & Smiles, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Wyndham Rewards, and the new Accor Live Limitless and Leading Hotels of the World partners) - this pairing is widely considered the best way to unlock outsized value from a no-annual-fee card
• 0% intro APR on purchases for 15 months from account opening (always confirm the current intro period on Citi's pricing terms before applying, as Citi sometimes runs 12-month or 18-month variants of this promo)
• 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months from the date of first transfer (transfers must be completed within 4 months of account opening to qualify for the intro APR); after the intro period ends a variable APR currently in the range of approximately 18.24% to 28.24% applies, based on creditworthiness and the Prime Rate
• Balance transfer fee: intro fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) for transfers completed in the first 4 months; after that, a 5% of each transfer (minimum $5) fee applies on subsequent balance transfers (always verify current fee on Citi's pricing terms as Citi sometimes adjusts the intro fee window)
• Cash advance fee: 5% of each cash advance, with a $10 minimum, and a cash advance APR significantly higher than the purchase APR (interest accrues from the day of the transaction with no grace period on cash advances)
• Foreign 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)
• Late payment fee: up to $41 per late payment; Citi has eliminated the penalty APR on most consumer cards including the Custom Cash, but late or missed payments can still be reported to credit bureaus and damage your credit score
• 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)
• 24/7 Citi fraud monitoring: Citi monitors your account for unusual activity and will text, email, or call you if suspected fraud is detected; chip and contactless tap-to-pay are standard
• 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 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)
• Citi Flex Pay: ability to convert eligible purchases of $75 or more into fixed monthly installment payments at a fixed APR with no separate origination or enrollment fee (similar to Chase Pay Over Time or Amex Plan It; helpful for managing large purchases while preserving rewards earn)
• 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
• Mobile wallet support (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay) and contactless EMV chip on the physical card; the Citi Mobile App provides real-time alerts, instant card lock, virtual card numbers, and FICO score tracking
• Free FICO score: complimentary FICO Score on your monthly statement and through the Citi Mobile App at no charge
• Add Authorized Users at no cost and earn ThankYou Points on all purchases they make, all consolidated into the primary cardmember's rewards balance
• 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
• Cell Phone Protection: Not offered (Citi removed cell phone protection from the Citi Custom Cash Card as part of broader benefit cuts to its consumer card portfolio in recent years; if you want cell phone protection, the Chase Freedom Flex, Wells Fargo Active Cash, Capital One Venture X, or Amex Platinum offer this benefit instead)
• Purchase Protection: Not offered (Citi removed purchase protection coverage from most of its consumer cards including the Custom Cash in 2019; new purchases are not covered against damage or theft by Citi)
• Extended Warranty Protection: Not offered on the Citi Custom Cash (this was another benefit Citi cut from most of its consumer cards in 2019; the Chase Freedom Flex, Amex consumer cards, and Capital One Venture X still offer extended warranty)
• Return Protection / Price Rewind: Not offered (Citi discontinued its Citi Price Rewind program in 2019; the card no longer offers return protection or automatic price drop refunds, which had previously been signature Citi perks)
• Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Insurance, Trip Delay, Baggage Delay, Lost Luggage, Travel Accident Insurance: Not offered on the Citi Custom Cash (these travel insurance benefits are not part of Citi's no-annual-fee cash-back product; they are reserved for the Citi Strata Premier and Citi Strata Elite premium travel cards)
• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver: Not offered on the Citi Custom Cash (Citi removed CDW coverage from most of its consumer cards in 2019; the Chase Freedom Flex offers secondary CDW in the U.S. and primary abroad, and the Capital One Venture X and Chase Sapphire Preferred offer primary CDW worldwide on rentals)
• Lounge access, Priority Pass, elite status, annual travel credits, Global Entry / TSA PreCheck application credit: Not offered (the Custom Cash is a $0 annual fee cash-back card so these premium travel perks are reserved for Citi Strata Premier, Citi Strata Elite, and Citi Prestige cardholders)
• Visa Signature / Visa Infinite Concierge: Not offered (Custom Cash is a Mastercard product; concierge services on the card are limited to Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services for World Elite cardholders)

Citi ThankYou points transfer to these loyalty programs:

Turkish Miles&Smiles

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Air France/KLM Flying Blue

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Singapore KrisFlyer

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Cathay Asia Miles

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Avianca LifeMiles

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Qantas Frequent Flyer

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British Airways Avios

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