Citi Custom Cash Card review 2024: Cash-back rewards tailored to your spending

Earn elevated rewards in one of 10 top eligible spending categories automatically every month—but the $500 monthly spending cap on the elevated rewards rate can limit how much you earn, especially if your purchases don’t all fall into the same category each month. Find out if this card is a good fit for your spending in our Citi Custom Cash® Card * The information for the Citi Custom Cash® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. review.

Citi Custom Cash Card basics

• Annual fee: $0.
• Welcome bonus: Earn $200 cash back, in the form of 20,000 ThankYou® points, after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening.
• Rewards: Earn 5% cash back on purchases in a top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent each month and 1% cash back on all other purchases. Plus, an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/25.
• APR: 0% intro APR for the first 15 months on purchases and from the date of the first transfer for balance transfers within the first four months. After that, the variable APR will be 19.24% to 29.24%. There is a balance transfer fee of 5% of each balance transfer with a $5 minimum.
• Recommended credit score: Good to excellent.
• Does the card offer preapproval? Yes.
• Other benefits: Free FICO score, identity theft protection, account alerts, fraud protection, 24/7 customer service, Citi Entertainment access, digital wallets.

Citi Custom Cash Card review

The Citi Custom Cash Card comes with a unique cash-back rewards structure. You can earn 5% cash back on purchases in a top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent each month and 1% cash back on all other purchases. Plus, an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/25. There’s no need to activate the elevated rewards or track categories as the Citi Custom Cash Card calculates it for you. 

Earning elevated rewards sounds great, however, if you don’t max out the $500 spending limit in a particular category one month, your cash-back rewards could be minimal. To maximize the rewards on the Citi Custom Cash, you’ll have to streamline your purchases every month to one of the eligible categories.

Whether you use the Citi Custom Cash as your primary card or decide to pair it with another card to maximize your rewards, the card offers a few other benefits worth a look. Along with no annual fee and a decent welcome bonus, the Citi Custom Cash card also features a 0% intro APR for the first 15 months on purchases and from the date of the first transfer for balance transfers within the first four months. After that, the variable APR will be 19.24% to 29.24%. There is a balance transfer fee of 5% of each balance transfer with a $5 minimum. Beyond its earning potential and offers, the card offers a handful of additional benefits. 

Dig deeper into the Citi Custom Cash Card benefits. Here are six little known perks you’ll get with this card

Pros 

• High rewards rate: Cardholders can earn elevated rewards in one of 10 eligible spending categories that is automatically calculated every month based on your spending patterns.
• Introductory APR offer: It comes with a lengthy intro APR offer on purchases and balance transfers.
• No annual fee: There’s no added cost to keep the Citi Custom Cash card.

Cons

• Spending cap: The elevated rewards rate is capped at $500 per billing cycle on your highest eligible spending category, netting a potential $25 in cash-back rewards each month at the higher rate (not including any other purchases that earn the lower rewards rate).
• Foreign transaction fee: The Citi Custom Cash carries a 3% foreign transaction fee on purchases made overseas.
• No travel benefits: The card does not come with any travel protections or perks.

Citi Custom Cash Card rewards

The Citi Custom Cash card earns 5% cash back on purchases in a top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent each month and 1% cash back on all other purchases. Plus, an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/25. The eligible spending categories for the elevated rewards rate include: 

1. Drugstores.
2. Fitness clubs (excludes virtual services and personal monitoring devices).
3. Gas stations (excluding warehouse clubs, discount stores and convenience stores).
4. Grocery stores.
5. Home improvement stores (excludes florists and wholesale construction stores).
6. Live entertainment (excludes sporting camps, charity benefits, golf courses, bowling alleys, movie theaters, museums, art galleries, tourist attractions and country clubs).
7. Restaurants (excludes bakeries, catering, warehouse clubs, third-party dining delivery services and restaurants located in other businesses).
8. Select streaming services.
9. Select travel (excludes timeshares, boat leases, campgrounds and trailer parks).
10. Select transit (excludes scooter/bike rentals and auto clubs).

An easy way to boost your cash-back rewards balance the first year of having the Citi Custom Cash is by earning the card’s welcome bonus of $200 cash back, in the form of 20,000 ThankYou® points, after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening.

Maximizing a card’s rewards can take a little know-how. Here are nine ways to maximize the Citi Custom Cash’s 5% categories

Using government data and other publicly available information, we estimate that a household in the U.S. that would be in the market for this card has $29,525 in expenses they are likely to be able to charge to a credit card. Here’s how our sample household’s rewards could break down:

SPENDING CATEGORY	SPENDING AMOUNT	CASH-BACK RATE	CASH-BACK EARNED
One of 10 elevated bonus categories listed above, capped at $500 in spending a month	$6,000	5%	$300
Car rental and hotel stays booked through Citi Travel until June 30, 2025	$1,466	4%	$58.64
All other purchases	$22,059	1%	$220.59
Total	$29,525		$579.23

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Cash-back rewards come in the form of Citi ThankYou® Points. Cardholders can redeem ThankYou Points for statement credits, direct deposit, paper checks by mail, gift cards, shop with points online or in-person at eligible retail partners, or donate them to select charities.

You can also redeem points for airfare, hotels, rental cars, and cruises through the ThankYou Travel Center. Point values vary depending on the redemption option. The minimum redemption amount for a check is $5. Citi may set minimum redemption requirements on other redemption options.

The Citi Custom Cash has no annual fee that would diminish the value of cash-back rewards earned annually. You could also earn an additional $200 cash back, in the form of 20,000 ThankYou® points, after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening – provided you meet the spending requirement necessary to earn that bonus.

Cash has its advantages. Read why this credit card expert chose the Citi Custom Cash over another travel rewards card

Citi Custom Cash Card perks

Unlike some competing cash-back credit cards, the Citi Custom Cash is rather unimpressive in terms of benefits. Some ancillary perks you receive with Citi Custom Cash include: 

• Free FICO Score: View your monthly-updated FICO credit score anytime.
• Identity theft protection: Cardholders receive extra protection through Mastercard, which monitors their account for suspicious activity. 
• Citi Entertainment access: Receive access to purchase tickets to various music, sports, culinary, and other exclusive experiences through Citi Entertainment.
• Digital wallets: Add your card to eligible digital wallets for safe, convenient use within apps and stores. 

How the Citi Custom Cash Card compares to other rewards cards

Citi Custom Cash Card vs. Citi Double Cash® Card * The information for the Citi Double Cash® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

While the Citi Custom Cash card will automatically calculate your rewards based on where you’re spending the most each billing cycle within its 10 eligible categories that earn the elevated rewards rate, the Citi Double Cash offers a simpler approach to earning cash-back rewards.

Instead of earning higher rewards rates in specific categories, the Citi Double Cash earns up to 2% cash back on purchases — 1% when purchases are made and another 1% when they’re paid off, plus, for a limited time, 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 12/31/24, with no spending cap. Regardless of your spending habits, you’ll earn rewards with responsible card use. Like the Citi Custom Cash card, this Citi card has no annual fee and it comes with a lengthy intro APR offer on balance transfers. 

Citi Custom Cash Card vs. Chase Freedom Flex® * The information for the Chase Freedom Flex® has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

The Chase Freedom Flex earns 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in categories that rotate quarterly (requires activation), 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3% cash back on dining and drugstores and 1% cash back on all other purchases. Unlike the Citi Custom Cash card, though, activation is required each quarter to earn the elevated rewards rate for spending in the rotating categories.

The Chase Freedom Flex has no annual fee and comes with a 0% intro APR for the first 15 months on purchases and balance transfers, then a variable APR of 20.49% to 29.24%. There is an intro balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of each transfer, whichever is greater, in the first 60 days. Then the fee is the greater of $5 or 5% of each transfer. Also, earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Another Chase Freedom Flex benefit is that the card also offers cellphone protection. 

Citi Custom Cash Card vs. Citi Strata Premier℠ Card * The information for the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

If you want to level up your travel rewards, the Citi Strata Premier is worth a look. While it carries a $95 annual fee, it features a generous welcome offer of 75,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening and a $100 annual hotel savings benefit (on a single hotel stay of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees) through thankyou.com per calendar year.

The Strata Premier card earns 10 ThankYou® points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com, 3 points per $1 on air travel and other hotel purchases, at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations and EV charging stations and 1 point per $1 on other purchases. Since it earns ThankYou points, the Citi Strata Premier Card offers the same redemption options as the Citi Custom Cash. Plus, the Citi Strata Premier Card does not assess any foreign transaction fees on purchases made abroad and offers a host of travel-related protections.

Is the Citi Custom Cash Card worth it?

The Citi Custom Cash Card offers hassle-free cash back earning that adjusts to your spending habits every month. However, with its $500 monthly spending cap on the categories earning the elevated rewards rate, the most you’ll be able to rake in at that elevated rate is $25 a month (not including any purchases that qualify for the lower rewards rate). The card earns 5% cash back on purchases in a top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent each month and 1% cash back on all other purchases. Plus, an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/25.

The Citi Custom Cash Card is right for you if:

• You know you’ll spend at least $500 a month in one of the 10 top bonus-earning categories every month.
• You want a lengthy intro APR period for either purchases or balance transfers.
• You don’t want to pay an annual fee.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

^{*Blueprint uses credit ranges derived from FICO® Score 8, which is one of many different types of credit scores. If you apply for a credit card, the lender may use a different credit score when considering your application for credit.}