The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card is a no-annual-fee credit card that earns 5% cash back on the first $500 you spend in your top eligible spend category each month. But what it lacks in features, benefits, and flash, it makes up in utility—the card is a good addition to to almost anyone’s wallet.
Our review of the Citi Custom Cash℠
Cards and Points Rating: 4.5/5.0
Read more about our star ratings.
The Citi Custom Cash® Card is a card that does one thing well: It offers 5% cash back in an eligible category where you spend the most each month, on your first $500 of spending in that category.
The ideal way to use the Custom Cash is to pick one category and use the card solely in that category for the month. (We’re thinking most people would choose gas stations, grocery stores, or home improvement stores, but we’ve provided the complete list of categories below.)
Unfortunately, with only 1% rewards on most other purchases and a very limited set of benefits, we can’t really recommend using the Custom Cash as your only card, but we’ll give it credit as being a useful secondary card in your wallet.
Likes
- 5% cash back in your top category
- Extended warranty benefit
- No annual fee
Dislikes
- 5% rewards are capped at $500 in spending each month
- Very limited set of benefits.
Citi Custom Cash® Card at a glance
The Citi Custom Cash® Card offers 5% rewards on up to $500 spent in your highest eligible category each statement cycle.
Citi Custom Cash® Card welcome offer
Welcome offer: Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
This bonus is marketed as cash back, but earned as Citi ThankYou® Points. This card enables cash back redemptions at 1 cent per point.
Annual fee: $0
Rewards
- 5% cash back on your top eligible spend category each billing cycle on up to $500 spent.
- 5% on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked with Citi Travel®.
- 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Rewards are marketed as cash back, but earned as Citi ThankYou® points.
5% eligible categories
5% eligible categories include:
- Restaurants
- Gas stations
- Grocery stores
- Select travel
- Select transit
- Select streaming services
- Drugstores
- Home improvement stores
- Fitness clubs
- Live entertainment
Benefits
- Extended warranty
- Citi merchant offers
- Virtual account numbers
- Free FICO score
Rates and Fees
- Annual fee: $0
- Foreign transaction fee: 3% of each purchase transaction in US dollars.
Citi Custom Cash® Rewards
With the Citi Custom Cash card, you will earn 5% rewards on your highest eligible spend category each billing cycle on up to $500 in spending. You don’t need to select a category and your bonus category can change month-to-month. Citi automatically awards 5% rewards in the category where you spend the most each month.
5% cash back on up to $500 spent during your statement cycle in your top eligible spending category. Eligible category with the greatest spending during your statement cycle. Eligible categories include: Restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs and live entertainment.
All other purchases: 1% cash back
The Citi Custom Cash card earns it rewards as Citi ThankYou Points. ThankYou Points can be redeemed for a variety of rewards, including cash back, travel rewards and gift cards. See our Guide to ThankYou Points for more details on how to maximize your rewards in the ThankYou Rewards program.
Complements: Cards that pair well with the Citi Custom Cash®
The Citi Custom Cash® card is a good add to almost anyone’s wallet—adding the card to your wallet and using it in a single eligible category will almost certainly increase the amount of rewards you earn.
But the card really shines as a part of the Citi ThankYou Rewards ecosystem. Although the card is marketed as a cash back card, it earns ThankYou Points behind the scenes, which means you can combine your Custom Cash rewards with the rewards you earn on some other Citi cards and get more value when you redeem your points thanks to the redemption options offered on Citi’s premium ThankYou Rewards cards.
Here are the cards that you’ll want to consider if you’re investing in the ThankYou Rewards ecosystem:
- The Citi Double Cash® Card is essential if you’re collecting ThankYou Points. With the Double Cash, you’ll earn 2% total cash back—1% when you buy, and 1% when you pay. Getting 2% cash back everywhere is a great deal—that’s twice as many points “everywhere else” when compared to the Custom Cash.
- The no-annual fee Citi Strata℠ Card can get you more points in everyday categories like supermarkets, transit, and gas stations. If you’re collecting Citi ThankYou Points to the end of redeeming for cash back, you can get away with having this card instead of paying an annual fee for a higher-tier card. And if you pick up the high-end Citi Strata Elite℠ Card, you’ll want the Strata card to fill in the gaps and earn 3x points in everyday bonus categories.
- If you want to transfer points to partners, including American Airlines, you’ll want to hold either the Citi Strata Premier® Card or the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card. Both of these cards have annual fees, but they unlock the most favorable transfer rates and Citi’s full suite of point transfer partners.
Bottom line: A useful card for almost anyone
The Citi Custom Cash Citi Custom Cash® Card wouldn’t be our choice for your only card, but it is a useful card for almost anyone. Getting 5% in a useful category on up to $500 spent each month is a unique benefit that makes this card well worth a look.
