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Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer Review: Best-In-Class Cash Back
By: Lyle Daly
We are committed to full transparency in our mission to make the world smarter, happier, & richer. Offers on The Ascent may be from our partners - it's how we make money - and we have not reviewed all available products and offers. That transparency to you is core to our editorial integrity, which isn’t influenced by compensation.
Citi, an advertising partner with The Ascent, offers the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer, which boasts rewards at some of the highest flat rates you'll find on the market, plus a long 0% intro APR period. This review will take a detailed look at the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer to help you determine if it is worthy of your wallet.
Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer
Apply Now
On Citi's Secure Website.
Great for: Cash back and balance transfers Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer
Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5 stars
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor.
Rewards
2% cash back: 1% when you buy plus 1% as you pay
Annual Fee
$0
Intro APR
Purchases: 0%, 18 months
Balance Transfers: 0%, 18 months
Ongoing APR
13.99% – 23.99% (Variable)
Bonuses & Perks
FICO score for free
Highlights
- Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases.
- To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time.
- Balance Transfer Offer: 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 13.99% – 23.99%, based on your creditworthiness.
- Balance Transfers do not earn cash back.
- If you transfer a balance, interest will be charged on your purchases unless you pay your entire balance (including balance transfers) by the due date each month.
- There is a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
- The standard variable APR for Citi Flex Plan is 13.99% – 23.99% based on your creditworthiness. Citi Flex Plan offers are made available at Citi's discretion.
Top perks
Up to 2% cash back: Among personal credit cards, the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer has the highest potential flat rate for cash back. “Potential" is the operative word here, because you receive 1% cash back when you make a purchase, then receive the other 1% when you pay the bill by its due date (you just need to make the minimum payment). If you pay late, you lose the second half of your cash back. It's an interesting quirk that obviously can be annoying if you slip up, but it does motivate you to pay your bill on time.
0% intro APR on balance transfers: The Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer has one of the longest 0% intro APR offers for balance transfers, as that rate lasts for 18 months. Even though there's a 3% ($5 min.) balance transfer fee, this card remains a smart choice for consolidating all your debt with a balance transfer credit card. Once you do, you'll have those 18 months to pay it off without incurring any more interest. By the way, you don't earn any cash back on balance transfers, which is a standard term of cash-back cards.
No annual fee: Many cash back cards have no annual fee, so this isn't a big advantage for this card. But it's still nice for your budget when you don't have to pay anything for your credit card.
Multiple cash-back redemption options: You can use your cash back for a statement credit or request it as a check, and the redemption minimum for both methods is $25. You can also have your cash back deposited in either a Citi bank account or any checking account that you've used at least two times to pay your Citi credit card bill. With deposits, there's no redemption minimum.
What could be improved
No sign-up bonus: Sign-up bonuses have become commonplace, even for cash-back cards. The fact that the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer doesn't have one is a handicap.
No 0% intro APR on purchases: Purchases aren't eligible for that intro APR offer, making other cards a better choice if you need to finance anything.
3% foreign transaction fee: The card certainly isn't alone in charging a 3% foreign transaction fee, but that will increase your travel expenses if you go out of the country and don't have another card to use.
Suggested credit score
We recommend getting your FICO® Score in the 700 to 750 range before applying for the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer. Citi might approve you with a lower score, as that's not the only criteria the issuer uses when assessing your application. But a score over 700 will be a big help.
Alternatives to consider
- If you want to earn bonus cash back: The Discover it® Cash Back has one of the highest cash back rates for a no-annual-fee card. It earns 5% back on rotating quarterly bonus categories you activate, and this bonus rate is capped at $1,500 per quarter. To make it even better, Discover doubles all the cash back you earn in the first year.
- If you want free balance transfers: Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card has a 0% intro APR for 18 months on balance transfers. The card has no annual fee, but does have a small balance transfer fee. The card also offers a 0% intro APR period for 18 months on purchases.
As of Jul. 24, 2020
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| Discover it® Cash Back | Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card |
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Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5 stars
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. |
Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.
4.0 stars
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. |
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Apply Now
On Discover's Secure Website. |
Apply Now
On Citi's Secure Website. |
| Read Full Review | Read Full Review |
| Rates & Fees | |
| Bonus: Double cash back in the first year | Bonus: N/A |
| Rewards Program: Earn 5% cash back in rotating quarterly categories you activate ($1,500 quarterly spending cap), 1% back on all else | Rewards Program: N/A |
| Intro APR: Purchases: 0%, 14 months Balance Transfers: 0%, 14 months | Intro APR: Purchases: 0%, 18 months Balance Transfers: 0%, 18 months |
| Regular APR: 11.99% - 22.99% Variable | Regular APR: 14.74% - 24.74%, variable |
| Annual Fee: $0 | Annual Fee: $0 |
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Highlights:
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Highlights:
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Apply Now
On Discover's Secure Website. |
Show More
Apply Now
On Citi's Secure Website. |
This credit card is right for you if:
The Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer is the card to choose when you want your finances to be as uncomplicated as possible. It doesn't have much in the way of benefits, but the benefits it does have are very good. You should consider it if you're looking for any of the following in a cash-back card:
- The simplicity of a one-card wallet
- An unlimited flat rate of up to 2% cash back
- No annual fee
- A generous 0% intro APR period of 18 months for balance transfers
About the Author
Lyle Daly is a personal finance writer who specializes in credit cards, travel rewards programs, and banking. He writes for The Ascent and The Motley Fool, and his work has appeared in USA Today and Yahoo! Finance. He was born in California but currently lives as a digital nomad with a home base in Colombia.
