Citi Custom Cash℠ Review

Overview

The Citi Custom Cash℠ is a points-earning card from Citi, running on the Mastercard network. The Citi Custom Cash℠ earns up to 5x on dining, groceries, and gas, so it pays you the most exactly where you already spend. There is no annual fee, which means every dollar of rewards is pure profit. New cardholders can earn Not available (no longer open to new applicants).

It earns its keep without an annual fee, which is rare for a card with real bonus categories. That combination makes it a strong everyday keeper that you never have to justify paying for.

Our 4.0 out of 5 rating

Each score weighs the rewards rate, value after the annual fee, welcome offer, points flexibility, and perks, with every point valued at a flat 1 cent. This is our editorial assessment to help you compare cards, not a guarantee of approval or of the value you will get.

Rewards: how it earns

Where the Citi Custom Cash℠ earns its rewards is its bonus categories: 5x on dining (about $150 a year on the $3,000 a typical household spends there), 5x on groceries (about $300 a year on the $6,000 a typical household spends there), and 5x on gas (about $108 a year on the $2,160 a typical household spends there). Across a full year of average household spending, the card returns roughly $791 in rewards before any welcome bonus, so the more your spending overlaps those categories, the better it does.

The fine print on rates: 5% applies to only your single top eligible category each billing cycle (up to $500 in spend); all other purchases earn 1%.

Every point and mile above is valued at a flat 1 cent, the same honest standard we use for every card. Run your own spending through the calculator to see what this card would actually return for you.

Pros and cons

The welcome bonus

The current welcome offer is Not available (no longer open to new applicants). Stacking the welcome offer on top of a typical year of rewards and accounting for no annual fee, the first year is worth roughly $791.

Is the annual fee worth it?

The Citi Custom Cash℠ has no annual fee, so there is no break-even math to worry about. Every dollar of rewards is profit, and you can keep it open for free, which also helps the average age of your credit over time.

Benefits and protections

Beyond the rewards, the perks and protections worth knowing about include:

• Eligible categories include restaurants, gas, groceries, select travel, transit, and streaming
• Earns Citi ThankYou Points, poolable with a Strata Premier for airline and hotel transfers

Statement credits

This card does not come with recurring statement credits. Its value is in the rewards rate and welcome offer.

Ecosystem and transfer partners

The Citi Custom Cash℠ earns ThankYou Points, one of the more valuable currencies in rewards because of where the points can go. On its own it earns flexible points, but paired with a premium Citi card you can pool them together and unlock 1 to 1 transfers to 8 airline and hotel partners: American Airlines AAdvantage, Turkish Miles & Smiles, JetBlue TrueBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Avianca LifeMiles, Air France/KLM, Wyndham Rewards, and Choice Privileges. As an earner, its job is to rack up points cheaply that you move to a hub card before transferring. The sweet spots are usually premium-cabin flights and high-end hotel nights, where a single point can be worth well more than the 1 cent we value it at here.

Who should get it, and who should skip it

It is best for people whose biggest monthly spending is dining and groceries and who want to maximize those categories without paying an annual fee.

Skip it if your spending does not line up with its bonus categories, or if you would rather not think about where you swipe at all.

How it compares

If the Citi Custom Cash℠ is not quite the right fit, these related cards are worth weighing against it:

Frequently asked questions

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