Citi offers a wide variety of credit cards. Most of them have $0 annual fees and even come with intro APR for purchases and balance transfers. There are, of course, other notable features Citi credit cards can offer, but just those characteristics alone already make them worthy for your next CC application. Nonetheless, before picking any Citi credit cards, knowing what they can do and offer to you is essential. With this, our finance experts examined the bank’s portfolio and rounded up the best options for your convenience. Here they are:
1 Citi Custom Cash Card
Citi Custom Cash Card
Intro Bonus: $200
Regular APR: 13.99% to 23.99% (Variable)
Credit Score: 700 to 749 (Good to Excellent)
Annual Fee: $0
Highlights:
- You can earn 5% cashback on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent.
- The card has a foreign transaction fee.
- It comes with perks like $0 fraud liability, FICO score access, digital wallet convenience, 24/7 support, and more.
- There is a 0% intro APR for 15 months on balance transfers and purchases, then variable APR will be 13.99% to 23.99%, based on your creditworthiness.
- The balance transfer fee costs $5.00 or 5.00% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Best Citi Credit Card for Cash Back Rewards
The Citi Custom Cash is packed with everything you need for a Citi credit card. The best thing about it is that you don’t need to pay a single dollar for annual fees every year, yet you can expect great rewards each time you use it.
It starts impressing users with the $200 cashback introduction bonus (will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou Points) that you can get after spending $750 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. Then, it is followed by the incredible rewards rate of the card. Unlike the other options in this round-up, the Citi Custom Cash offers 5% cashback on purchases in your top eligible spend category (restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, and live entertainment). This system means there is no need for you to select or activate any category to earn rewards. Just use the card, and Citi will automatically give you the 5% cashback on your top spend category. However, note that this highest rewards rate has a cap of $500 each billing cycle, and it will fall down to 1% afterward. On the other hand, the card earns 1% cashback on all other purchases without limits.
Another attraction of the card is the 0% intro APR on balance transfers and purchases for 15 months, making it a good tool for short-term financing, too. Nonetheless, keep in mind that the card requires a balance transfer fee, and after the intro APR ends, a variable APR of 13.99% to 23.99% (based on your creditworthiness) will apply.
2 Citi Simplicity Card
Citi Simplicity Card
Intro Bonus: None
Regular APR: 14.74% to 24.74% (Variable)
Credit Score: 700 to 749 (Good to Excellent)
Annual Fee: $0
Highlights:
- The card offers a long 0% intro APR for 21 months on balance transfers from the date of first transfer and 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases from the date of account opening.
- The card has no welcome bonus, rewards, or other significant benefits but charges $0 annual fees.
- It is identical to Citi Diamond Preferred, which offers the same intro APR.
- There are no late fees and penalty APR.
- The card has a 3% foreign transaction fee.
Best Citi Credit Card for Intro APR Offer
Citi Simplicity offers no rewards program or welcome bonus, but it has the best intro APR offer. The card comes with a 0% intro APR for 21 months on balance transfers from the date of first transfer and 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases from the date of account opening. Nonetheless, the former would require a 5% fee ($5 minimum) for each transfer and is only valid for transactions made within 4 months of account opening. And after the intro APR periods end, variable APR will be 14.74% to 24.74%, based on your creditworthiness.
On the other hand, besides the extended intro APR offer, the card offers no penalty APR and late fees to give cardholders more assurance and comfort in using it. Other additions include the $0 annual fee, purchase protection, Citi Quick Lock, and $0 liability on unauthorized charges.
The card is almost identical to the Citi Diamond Preferred, which offers Citi Entertainment benefits and has a lower standard APR (13.74% to 23.74%). If you compare the two, you won’t notice any difference except the ones mentioned. So if you need to choose between them, it’s either the safety net of Citi Simplicity’s zero penalty APR or the Citi Entertainment benefits of Citi Diamond Preferred.
3 Citi Double Cash Card
Citi Double Cash Card
Intro Bonus: None
Regular APR: 13.99% to 23.99% (Variable)
Credit Score: 700 to 749 (Good to Excellent)
Annual Fee: $0
Highlights:
- The card has an 0% intro APR on balance transfers but not on purchases.
- The card has a 3% foreign transaction fee.
- If you transfer a balance, interest will be charged on your purchases unless you pay your entire balance (including balance transfers) by each month’s due date.
- You need to pay at least the minimum due on time to earn the cashback.
- The intro balance transfer fee for transactions completed within the first 4 months of account opening is 3% of the amount of each transfer (minimum $5). After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).
- You can redeem the cashback as a check in the mail or as a statement credit on your credit card account.
- The cashback is convertible to Citi ThankYou points, allowing you to unlock most of the redemption options available on other Citi ThankYou cards.
Best Citi Credit Card for Flat-Rate Cashback
The Citi Double Cash Card can be an excellent flat-rate cashback credit card if you use it properly. It comes with a 1% cashback on every purchase you make and another 1% when payment is made on the account. This gives you a total of 2% cashback when you pay off your credit card balance in full every month.
On the other hand, despite the absence of an intro bonus, the card comes with some helpful features and benefits. Besides the 2% cashback you can get from it, the Citi Double Cash has no annual fees and has a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months (then 13.99% to 23.99% variable, based on your creditworthiness). Nonetheless, this comes with an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) made within the first 4 months of account opening. And after the period ends, the fee will increase to 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).
4 Citi Rewards+ Card
Citi Rewards+ Card
Intro Bonus: 20,000 points
Regular APR: 13.49% to 23.49% (Variable)
Credit Score: 700 to 749 (Good to Excellent)
Annual Fee: $0
Highlights:
- Points are automatically rounded up to the nearest 10.
- The 10% of the total number of points you will redeem will be given back to you.
- There is a 3% foreign transaction fee.
- You can only earn 2x points on the first $6,000 purchases made each year.
- The card has a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months from the date of first transfer and on purchases from the date of account opening.
- The redeeming options of the card are minimal.
Best Citi Credit Card for Fast Points Earning
This annual fee-free Citi Rewards+ stands out among the rest due to its unique rewards earning structures. Unlike other cards where you can only earn point/s for each dollar spent, the Citi Rewards+ rounds up your points to the nearest 10. The card can earn 2x ThankYou points at supermarkets and gas stations for the first $6,000 per year (then 1x points) and 1x ThankYou points on all other purchases. This means that when you spend $31 at a gas station, your initial 62 points will be turned to 80 points, thanks to the card’s Round-Up system. With this, earning points can be much faster and better for cardholders.
The generosity of the card is also extended through its Points Back offer. Here, you can get 10% of your points back when you redeem them, and this is valid for up to the first 100,000 points each year. There are also 20,000 bonus points that you can get by spending $1,500 on purchases within 3 months of account opening. This intro bonus is redeemable for $200 in gift cards at thankyou.com. The same thing applies to the other points you will collect in the future. However, since the rewards system only grants ThankYou points, the redemption options are limited. Besides the gift cards, you can only redeem the points for travel rewards, Pay With Points, and Shop With Points.
On the other hand, the Citi Rewards+ comes with a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months from the date of first transfer and on purchases from the date of account opening. This offer arms the card with an additional function that could benefit future cardholders for a limited time. Nonetheless, the card will apply a variable APR of 13.49% to 23.49% (based on your creditworthiness) when the intro period ends. It also has an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) made within the first 4 months of account opening. After this, the fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).
5 Citi Premier Card
Citi Premier Card
Intro Bonus: 60,000 points
Regular APR: 15.99% to 23.99% (Variable)
Credit Score: 700 to 749 (Good to Excellent)
Annual Fee: $95
Highlights:
- You can get 3 points per $1 spent at restaurants and supermarkets, gas stations, air travel, and hotels.
- The card has no foreign transaction fee.
- It charges a $95 annual fee.
- It has no blackout dates.
- You can add authorized users for no additional cost.
- There is no intro APR both on purchases and balance transfer.
- The hotel stay must cost $500+ (excluding taxes) to use the $100 off annual hotel savings benefit.
Best Citi Credit Card With Annual Fee
For those looking for a card offering a variety of rewards categories, the Citi Premier can be a solid choice. Using the card, you can earn 3 points per $1 spent at restaurants and supermarkets, gas stations, air travel, and hotels, and then 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. With these categories available, it is undoubtedly meant for frequent travelers. And to make the card even more beneficial for such users, the card comes with a $0 foreign transaction fee and $100 off on annual hotel stay.
On the other hand, getting approval for the card will give you the chance to earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou points by spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. The points can be redeemed for $600 in gift cards on thankyou.com. They can also be transferred to Citi partners such as Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles, JetBlue TrueBlue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and more.
Behind those positive things, however, this Citi credit card charges cardholders a $95 annual fee with no first-year waiver. Also, there is no intro APR both on purchases and balance transfer, so you might want to consider other travel credit cards if the features of this one don’t fit your needs.
