Citi Custom Cash Card Review
Updated June 11, 2021.
The Facts
The Math
Obviously this card is best for bonus categories, and you'd better use other cards for general spending. As the eligible 5% categories include groceries, gas, dining, select travel, home improvement, we think this might be the best 5% cashback card in the market right now, and in addition there is a potential to achieve even higher rewards (e.g. 7.5% in our book). The $500 monthly spending cap could be annoying, but it compares to other similar products. For example, Amex Blue Cash Preferred offers 6% on groceries with an annual spending cap of $6K and a $95 annual fee - if you max out the spending cap on either card, you will see the extra 1% cashback on Amex won't even cover the annual fee and thus Citi Custom Cash is actually a better card for groceries. Check out our review Best Credit Cards for Rewards for other cards that offer high bonus for select categories and do your math based on your spending pattern - note that some of them don't have spending limit; some of them have annual fees; some of them have lower bonuses (e.g. 3-4%). We highly recommend Custom Cash as the first 5% cashback card in your wallet due to its flexibility.
Citi Custom Cash vs. Chase Freedom Flex vs. Discover it: All three offer 5% cashback on select categories; however, Custom Cash earns bonus on the top one eligible category each billing cycle, while Freedom Flex and Discover it rotate bonus categories (usually 2-3 categories) every quarter. While Freedom Flex and Discover it require enrollment to earn bonus, Custom Cash automatically applies bonus based on your actual spending. Considering the fact that Custom Cash's 10 eligible categories include groceries, gas, dining, select travel, home improvement, we think it provides better flexibility than the other two cards. The spending caps are similar: Customer Cash has a $500 limit per billing cycle, while Freedom Flex and Discover it have a $1,500 limit per quarter. Ultimately, it all comes down to your spending pattern and the 5% calendar to decide which card is the best for you. Another important consideration is that Chase UR or Citi TY rewards ecosystem could potentially increase the 5% cash rewards to 7.5% travel rewards when you have a premier UR or TY product.
The Conclusion
Introduced in 2021, Citi Custom Cash is Citi's new attempt after the previous Citi Dividend to compete in the market of cards that offer 5% cash back on select categories. In our opinion, even with the spending cap, this might be the best 5% cashback card in the market right now.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: None
- Signup Bonus: $200 (20,000 ThankYou points) after spending $750 within 3 months of new account opening. The bonus is not available if you have not receive a signup bonus for opening this card within 48 months. In addition, you can only have one Custom Cash Card.
- Rewards: even though the card is advertised as a cashback card, it actually earns ThankYou points: 5x on the top eligible category you spend the most (the current eligible categories include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment), up to $500 spent each billing cycle, and 1x everything else. The 5x bonus will be automatically applied - no enrollment is required.
- Best Use of ThankYou points: ThankYou (TY) Rewards is Citi's rewards program and the points can be redeemed for cash, merchandise, gift cards, and travel, returning up to 1 cent per point (note: cash rewards have 1 cent value). If you have a premium TY card such as Citi Premier ($95) or Citi Prestige ($495), you might pool all your TY points together and take advantage of the better miles/points transfer feature: transferring TY points to miles/points of multiple frequent traveler programs at 1:1 ratio. In this way, you increase the value of TY points earned from Custom Cash substantially; based on our current valuation of 1.5 cents per TY point using this feature, Custom Cash returns 7.5% flexible travel rewards for the 5x categories and 1.5% for other purchases. The caveat is that you will need to know how to leverage the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature, which can be both rewarding and challenging at the same time. Please see our featured review Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. C1 vs. CR for the programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler accounts.
The Math
Obviously this card is best for bonus categories, and you'd better use other cards for general spending. As the eligible 5% categories include groceries, gas, dining, select travel, home improvement, we think this might be the best 5% cashback card in the market right now, and in addition there is a potential to achieve even higher rewards (e.g. 7.5% in our book). The $500 monthly spending cap could be annoying, but it compares to other similar products. For example, Amex Blue Cash Preferred offers 6% on groceries with an annual spending cap of $6K and a $95 annual fee - if you max out the spending cap on either card, you will see the extra 1% cashback on Amex won't even cover the annual fee and thus Citi Custom Cash is actually a better card for groceries. Check out our review Best Credit Cards for Rewards for other cards that offer high bonus for select categories and do your math based on your spending pattern - note that some of them don't have spending limit; some of them have annual fees; some of them have lower bonuses (e.g. 3-4%). We highly recommend Custom Cash as the first 5% cashback card in your wallet due to its flexibility.
Citi Custom Cash vs. Chase Freedom Flex vs. Discover it: All three offer 5% cashback on select categories; however, Custom Cash earns bonus on the top one eligible category each billing cycle, while Freedom Flex and Discover it rotate bonus categories (usually 2-3 categories) every quarter. While Freedom Flex and Discover it require enrollment to earn bonus, Custom Cash automatically applies bonus based on your actual spending. Considering the fact that Custom Cash's 10 eligible categories include groceries, gas, dining, select travel, home improvement, we think it provides better flexibility than the other two cards. The spending caps are similar: Customer Cash has a $500 limit per billing cycle, while Freedom Flex and Discover it have a $1,500 limit per quarter. Ultimately, it all comes down to your spending pattern and the 5% calendar to decide which card is the best for you. Another important consideration is that Chase UR or Citi TY rewards ecosystem could potentially increase the 5% cash rewards to 7.5% travel rewards when you have a premier UR or TY product.
The Conclusion
Introduced in 2021, Citi Custom Cash is Citi's new attempt after the previous Citi Dividend to compete in the market of cards that offer 5% cash back on select categories. In our opinion, even with the spending cap, this might be the best 5% cashback card in the market right now.