Citi Custom Cash Review, $200 Bonus Plus 5% Monthly Categories

Citi Custom Cash Review

Citi has announced the launch of a new credit card today to rival the Chase Freedom Flex and Discover it cards. The new card is called Citi Custom Cash. It comes with a $300 welcome bonus and 5% monthly categories that include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores and more. Unlike existing cards from its competitors, Citi Custom Cash doesn’t require users to enroll or select the categories. The 5% earning rate automatically applies to a user’s top category of spending. Let’s get into this Citi Custom Cash Review.

Update: This offer is now available online again through Credit Karma offers. You need to spend $1,000 within three months to get 30,000 ThankYou Points (worth $300). It’s also available in-branch. (HT: philosophers_groove)

Offer

Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $750 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. (This offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.)
Get 0% Intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. After that, the variable APR will apply.
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Card Details

Earn 5X ThankYou points on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1X point thereafter.
- Eligible categories include: Restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment.
Earn unlimited 1X ThankYou point on all other purchases.
No Annual Fee
Mastercard Benefits
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Redeeming Rewards

Citi Custom Cash is marketed as a cash back card, but it actually earns ThankYou points. You can redeem your ThankYou points through the usual avenues, which include cash back as a direct deposit, a statement credit or check. You can also redeem points for gift cards, travel and Shop with Points at Amazon.com.

Eligibility

Citi will only issue one Citi Custom Cash Card account per person. You will qualify for the bonus offer only if you have not received a bonus offer for opening a new Citi Custom Cash Card in the past 48 months.

Citi Custom Cash Review: Guru’s Wrap-up

This is a great product that will give customers more bandwidth to earn 5% on popular categories such as grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants. Unlike the Freedom Flex and Discover it cards that give you 5% on $1,500 spend every quarter, the Citi Custom Cash gives you 5% cash back on the highest spend category each billing cycle up to the first $500 spent. So it adds up to $1,500 every quarter. But there are no rotating categories, and you don’t need to enroll to earn 5% or 5X ThankYou points. You will automatically earn that rate on your top spending category for the month, and the eligible categories are already set.

Considering that the card has no annul fee, and also comes with a $200 bonus with a $750 spend requirement, it can make sense to apply. That’s especially true if you heavily spend on the eligible categories. However, you should also be able to product change to this card soon. It’s not an option just yet though.