Citi Custom Cash® Card Review: 5% Cash Back in Your Top Spending Category, and More

With the Citi Custom Cash® Card, the category where you spend the most is also where you earn the most. Every billing cycle, it earns 5% cash back on up to $500 spent in one eligible category from a list of 10, which includes grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations. In addition to one of the highest cash back rates you'll find, it also offers a valuable sign-up bonus. Read our detailed Citi Custom Cash® Card review to find out if you should apply.

This credit card is a good fit for: Consumers who want to maximize cash back in one spending category. This card also works well in combination with a flat-rate rewards card.

Top perks

A few key benefits make the Citi Custom Cash® Card a great value.

Up to 5% back

The Citi Custom Cash® Card earns 5% cash back in your top eligible spending category every billing cycle, up to a spending cap of $500. Other purchases earn 1% cash back, including bonus category purchases beyond that $500 spending cap. Here are the categories that are eligible to earn 5% back:

• Restaurants
• Gas stations
• Grocery stores
• Select travel
• Select transit
• Select streaming services
• Drugstores
• Home improvement stores
• Fitness clubs
• Live entertainment

That high cash back rate is the card's most valuable perk. Not many cash back credit cards offer 5% back, and to make it even better, you get it in whichever category you spend the most. If you max it out by always spending $500 in your top bonus category, that's $25 cash back per billing cycle, which can add up to $300 per year.

You can also earn an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/2025.

OTHER OPTIONS: Best Gas and Groceries Credit Cards

$200 cash back sign-up bonus

You'll earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. The bonus offer is fulfilled as 20,000 Citi ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back. If you have a Citi travel card, such as the Citi Premier® Card, you can also transfer points to Citi's travel partners.

This is one of the better credit card sign-up bonuses. It offers a large bonus amount, and you don't need to spend too much to get it. If you put at least $250 in purchases per month on the card, you'll spend enough to get the welcome bonus.

No annual fee

If you're looking to avoid extra credit card fees, the Citi Custom Cash® Card will work for you. It's a no annual fee card, so you can carry it free of charge.

SEE MORE: Best No Annual Fee Credit Cards

0%, 15 months APR offer

The Citi Custom Cash® Card packs in a long 0% intro APR offer for 15 months on both purchases and balance transfers. Balance transfers must be completed within the first four months of account opening to qualify for the 0% intro APR. The go-to 19.24% - 29.24% (Variable) APR applies after the intro period is over.

A 0% intro APR can help you finance the cost of large purchases or get out of debt faster. This perk gives you another way to save money with the Citi Custom Cash® Card.

MORE OPTIONS: Best 0% APR Credit Cards

Free FICO® Score

One of the nice things about Citi credit cards is that they provide free access to your FICO® Score. This is the most widely used type of credit score by lenders. You'll be able to monitor it every month, see the factors that are affecting it, and learn how to improve your credit.

What could be improved

There are a couple of areas where this Citi credit card could be better.

Foreign transaction fee

This Citi card charges a foreign transaction fee of 3%, so it's not a good card to use abroad. If you travel outside the United States much, you may want to check out credit card reviews for travel cards or cash back cards that don't charge this fee.

RELATED: Best Credit Cards With No Foreign Transaction Fee

Bonus cash back limits

You earn a high cash back rate with the Citi Custom Cash® Card -- but only in one category, and only on up to $500 in spending per billing cycle. Some of the other top credit cards offer multiple bonus categories or have bonus categories without spending caps. Make sure you compare credit cards to see how much you could earn with different card products.

It'd be great to see Citi offer more bonus cash back, such as 3% back on your second-highest spending category each billing cycle. Another option would be bumping up the spending cap to $1,000 per billing cycle. Either of those would help consumers maximize credit card rewards even more.

It helps to have a FICO® Score of 580 or higher when applying for the Citi Custom Cash® Card. It's intended for consumers who have fair to excellent credit. Your credit score isn't the only factor Citi considers, so that alone doesn't guarantee an approval or a denial. But it is one of the most important factors.

You want to earn cash back and you have high spending in one of its bonus categories. The best thing about the Citi Custom Cash® Card is that just about anyone can get good value from it. If you spend anywhere from about $200 to $500 per billing cycle in one of its 5% eligible categories, you'll collect plenty of cash back with this Citi card.

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.