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Citi® Double Cash Card: 2% cash back – 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay

Citi Double Cash® Card card art
Citi Double Cash® Card

The Citi Double Cash is the credit card that brought 2% cash back rewards into the mainstream. The card earns 1% cash back when you make any purchase, plus 1% additional cash back as you pay for your purchases. The Double Cash carries no annual fee.

The card’s 2% rewards are earned as ThankYou Points. If you hold a premium ThankYou Point-earning credit card like the Citi Premier, you can transfer your ThankYou points to travel partners. Points transfers are one way to get more than 1 cent of value out of each of your points. Additionally, if you hold the Citi Rewards+, the first 100,000 points you redeem in a year will trigger the 10% point refund benefit, getting you 10,000 points back.

Unfortunately, the card offers no notable benefits beyond its cash back earnings. You will earn generous cash rewards on all purchases, but you won’t get any additional perks. Citi removed additional benefits like auto rental collision damage waiver or cell phone protection from this card.

Citi Double Cash® Card welcome bonus

bonus_miles_full

All information about the Citi Double Cash® Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

Click here to learn more and apply.

Our take on the welcome bonus: The Citi Double Cash card hasn’t always offered a welcome bonus, so if you are considering getting this card, now is a good time to apply.

The link above is a link directly to the bank’s website. We don’t make money when you use the above link, but we always show you the best offer.

Citi Double Cash® Card card art

Citi Double Cash® Card at a glance:
Annual fee: $0
Rewards: 2% – 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay

Citi® Double Cash Card at a glance

Here’s what you need to know about the Citi® Double Cash Card.

Rewards

All purchases: Earn 1% as you buy and 1% as you pay.2%

The Citi Double Cash rewards are earned as ThankYou Points. When you combine your ThankYou Points accounts. Holding a Citi Premier® Card or a card_name can make your Double Cash points more valuable. See our article on The Ultimate Citi ThankYou Points Wallet for more.

Benefits

This card offers no notable benefits beyond its cash back rewards.

Other important terms

  • No annual fee
  • 3% foreign transaction fee

Citi® Double Cash Card welcome bonus

Citi Double Cash® Card welcome bonus

bonus_miles_full

All information about the Citi Double Cash® Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

Click here to learn more and apply.

Our take on the welcome bonus: The Citi Double Cash card hasn’t always offered a welcome bonus, so if you are considering getting this card, now is a good time to apply.

The link above is a link directly to the bank’s website. We don’t make money when you use the above link, but we always show you the best offer.

Citi Double Cash® Card card art

Citi Double Cash® Card at a glance:
Annual fee: $0
Rewards: 2% – 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay

If you are considering applying for a new card, you might want to compare the current welcome bonuses with what was previously available. Welcome bonuses change frequently. So, if the current welcome offer is among the best ever, it might make sense to apply. However, if the card frequently offers a more generous welcome bonus, you might want to wait for a better offer. See our welcome bonus database for information on previous welcome bonuses.

Citi® Double Cash Card rewards

The Citi® Double Cash Card offers an effective 2% cash back on all purchases, awarded as 1% when you buy, plus 1% when you pay. The card does not offer bonus rewards in spending categories.

The Double Cash earns its rewards as ThankYou Points. If you hold a Citi Premier card that enables point transfers to travel partners, you have access to a handful of ways to increase the value of the points you earn.

Citi ThankYou Points card synergies

When you hold multiple Citi cards that earn ThankYou Points, you can choose to combine your ThankYou Rewards accounts and earn a single pool of points. This feature of the ThankYou Rewards program means that holding multiple Citi ThankYou Points cards will enable you to both earn more points on your purchases and give you more options when you redeem your points.

Here’s a quick overview of how these ThankYou Points synergies work.

Earning ThankYou Points across cards

Citi offers four cards that earn ThankYou Points to new cardmembers. You’ll earn the most points from your spending by using the card that earns the most points for your purchase. For example, at grocery stores, you might choose to use the Citi Premier® Card over the Citi Double Cash because you’ll earn 3 points per dollar rather than 2.

Here’s an overview of how many points the four ThankYou Points cards earn in their respective bonus categories.

Citi® Double Cash CardCiti Custom Cash℠ CardCiti Rewards+® CardCiti Premier® Card
Citi Double Cash® Card card artCiti Custom Cash℠ Card card artCiti Rewards+® Card card artCiti Premier® Card card art
RestaurantsUp to 5x3x
DrugstoresUp to 5x
Gas stationsUp to 5x2x
(on the first $6,000 spent across bonus categories)
3x
SupermarketsUp to 5x2x
(on the first $6,000 spent across bonus categories)
3x
Streaming (Select providers)Up to 5x
Travel – Citi Travel Portal5x

Hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel through June 30, 2024.
5x

Hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel through June 30, 2024.
10x

Hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel through June 30, 2024.
Travel – Air TravelUp to 5x3x
Travel – HotelsUp to 5x3x
Travel – Cruise line and travel agencyUp to 5x
Select transitUp to 5x
Home improvement storesUp to 5x
Fitness clubsUp to 5x
Live entertainmentUp to 5x
Everywhere else2x

(1% as you buy, plus 1% as you pay.)
1x1x1x
Reward earnings on ThankYou Points credit cards

All of the cards in the table above earn ThankYou® Points, even though some are marketed as cash back cards.

The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card earns 5% cash back in the one eligible category where you spend the most each statement cycle, on up to $500 of spending. Other purchases earn 1%.

Redeeming Citi ThankYou Points with multiple cards

The key to maximizing the value of your ThankYou Point redemptions is holding multiple ThankYou Points cards and earning your ThankYou points in a combined ThankYou Points account. When you combine your ThankYou Points accounts, you get access to the best redemption options available from each of your cards. Here are the ThankYou Points redemption options that vary between cards.

Citi® Double Cash CardCiti Custom Cash℠ CardCiti Rewards+® CardCiti Premier® Card
Citi Double Cash® Card card artCiti Custom Cash℠ Card card artCiti Rewards+® Card card artCiti Premier® Card card art
Cash back rewards
(Including statement credits, direct deposit, and check by mail)
1 cent/point1 cent/point0.5 cents/point1 cent/point
Point transfers to airlines and hotelsSelect partners only
Lower transfer ratios
Select partners only
Lower transfer ratios
All transfer partners
Best transfer ratios
Redemption bonus10% bonus on up to 100,000 points redeemed per year
Redemption options available on ThankYou Points cards

The table above doesn’t include some redemption options, like gift cards and pay with points. This is because the redemption options either do not vary across cards (gift cards) or because the value of the redemption is less than the cash back redemption value.

How to apply:

Citi Double Cash® Card welcome bonus

bonus_miles_full

All information about the Citi Double Cash® Card has been collected independently by cardsandpoints.com.

Click here to learn more and apply.

Our take on the welcome bonus: The Citi Double Cash card hasn’t always offered a welcome bonus, so if you are considering getting this card, now is a good time to apply.

The link above is a link directly to the bank’s website. We don’t make money when you use the above link, but we always show you the best offer.

Citi Double Cash® Card card art

Citi Double Cash® Card at a glance:
Annual fee: $0
Rewards: 2% – 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay

A few notes on applying for Citi credit cards

  • Citi has limits on the number of applications you can submit. You can only apply for one personal card every eight days and no more than two cards every rolling 65 days. Business cards are subject to the same eight-day limitation, but you can apply for no more than one business card every 95 days.
  • You can get a new customer welcome bonus on Citi cards multiple times, but Citi has rules on how often you can earn a welcome bonus.
    • ThankYou Point welcome offers are typically not available if you’ve received a new account bonus on the same card in the past 48 months.
    • Welcome bonuses on AAdvantage cards are only available if you have not received a welcome bonus for the same card within the past 48 months.
  • There is no limit to the number of Citi cards you can hold.
  • You can check your application status on the Citi website or by calling 1-866-606-2787.

Should you keep the card after the first year?

The Citi Double Cash card carries no annual fee and offers good ongoing rewards for general purchases. Unless you have a specific reason to close the card, it’s a good idea to keep this card after the first year as keeping accounts open longer can help you improve your credit score.

Card Benefits

While the Citi Double Cash card offers generous rewards on all purchases, it doesn’t offer any additional notable benefits.

This card is issued as a Mastercard World Elite card. World Elite cards come with a standard set of benefits from Mastercard. Learn more about Mastercard World Elite benefits at Mastercard’s website.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Citi® Double Cash Card offer an extended warranty benefit?

The Citi Double Cash no longer offers an extended warranty benefit. That benefit is available on the Citi Rewards+® Card, which carries no annual fee.

Does the Citi® Double Cash Card earn points or cash back?

The Double Cash is marketed as a cash back card. Behind the scenes, it earns ThankYou Points which can be redeemed for cash back at one cent each. The ThankYou Points you earn with the Citi® Double Cash Card can be combines with the ThankYou Points you earn from other Citi cards.

About the author

  • Aaron Hurd

    Aaron Hurd is a credit card, travel rewards, and loyalty program expert. Over the past 15 years, he has authored over a thousand expert contributions published by leading outlets including WSJ, TIME, Newsweek, Forbes, NerdWallet, The Points Guy, Bankrate, CNET, and many others. He has also served in consulting roles for many of these same outlets, designing content strategy, hiring teams of teams of editors and contributors, developing thought-leadership pieces, and ghost-editing for senior editors. Aaron is well-known in the miles and points community and regularly presents about travel rewards at conferences like the Chicago Seminars and Minnebar. Aaron has enjoyed the game of optimizing credit card rewards since getting his first credit card shortly after he turned 18. He started learning about credit cards and travel rewards from the (now defunct) FatWallet Finance forums and FlyerTalk. He holds more than 40 open credit cards and has first-hand experience with almost every major credit card product.