Citi Custom Cash Card Launches [Earn 5% Back on Your Top Purchases]

Citi has just launched a new credit card product, the Citi Custom Cash^® Card, that offers cardholders 5% cash-back on the purchases they spend the most on each month. Looking at the benefits, it appears that the Citi Custom Cash card was created to compete with the Chase Freedom Flex^®, and if so, Citi has really hit the mark.

For points and miles fans, there is a lot to love about the Citi Custom Cash card, so let’s dive in and see what the card has to offer.

Citi Custom Cash Card Details

Citi Custom Cash^® Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

Earn big on purchases in your top eligible spend category, up to the first $500 each billing cycle, without an annual fee!

All information about Citi Custom Cash^® Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

Citi Custom Cash^® Card

Earn big on purchases in your top eligible spend category, up to the first $500 each billing cycle, without an annual fee!

Welcome Offer

No welcome offer is available.

None

Annual Fee

$0

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.

Fair to Excellent (580-850)

Why We Like This Card

Update: The Citi Custom Cash^® card is no longer available for new applicants.

The Citi Custom Cash^® Card is inventive when it comes to cash-back credit cards. Instead of earning a set amount of cash-back on predetermined bonus categories, the Citi Custom Cash card earns 5% cash-back on your highest eligible spend category each billing cycle, with a $0 annual fee.

Thanks to that unique perk, you’ll never need to worry about whether you’re using the right card for the right purchase, as your Citi Custom Cash card will always pay you 5% back on whichever category you end up spending the most on each month.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 5% cash-back (on up to $500 each billing cycle) from your largest purchase category, including restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, and live entertainment
• $0 annual fee
• Multiple redemption options

Cons

• Your 5% category is limited to $500 in spend ($25 in cash-back) each month
• Not particularly rewarding for any purchases outside of your top 5% cash-back category

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Card Highlights

• Earn 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1% cash back thereafter. Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
• Earn an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
• No rotating bonus categories to sign up for – as your spending changes each billing cycle, your earn adjusts automatically when you spend in any of the eligible categories.
• $0 annual fee.
• Citi will only issue one Citi Custom Cash^® Card account per person.

Financial Snapshot

• Foreign Transaction Fees: 3%

With the Citi Custom Cash card, you’re going to earn 5% cash-back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent — allowing you to earn up to $25 in cash-back each billing cycle at this rate.

In terms of eligible spending categories, Citi gives you 10 options, and they are as follows:

• Restaurants (excluding delivery services)
• Gas stations
• Grocery stores
• Select travel (includes airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and travel agencies)
• Select transit (includes taxis/rideshares, subways, car rentals, and more)
• Select streaming services (includes Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, Spotify, and more)
• Drugstores
• Home improvement stores
• Fitness clubs
• Live entertainment

So, whichever category you happen to spend the most money on each billing cycle will earn 5% back, while the others will earn 1% back, plus 1% back on all purchases in your top category over $500.

Combine Points With a Premium Citi ThankYou Card

One of the best benefits of the Citi Custom Cash card is that since cash-back is earned in the form of Citi ThankYou Points, those who also hold a premium Citi ThankYou card like the Citi Strata Premier^® Card can pool their points together to then redeem with one of the Citi ThankYou travel transfer partners at the best transfer ratio available.

This means that the $500 cap on purchases for 5% rewards will actually come in the form of 2,500 ThankYou Points, so those that are able to hit this threshold each month on one of the 10 bonus categories can earn 30,000 ThankYou Points per year.

What can you do with 30,000 ThankYou Points? How does a round-trip business class flight to Hawaii bookable through Turkish Airlines (a Citi transfer partner) for just 25,000 points sound?

Hot Tip: Interested in more ways to redeem Citi ThankYou Points? Read through our guide covering some of the best value Citi ThankYou Point redemptions you can make!

Final Thoughts

Suffice to say, Citi has really outdone themselves with this card. Whether you’re looking for an excellent cash-back card or a card that can help boost your ThankYou Point earnings, the no-annual-fee Citi Custom Cash card is really a fantastic option.