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- Citi Rewards+ Review
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Citi, an advertising partner with The Ascent, offers the Citi Rewards+℠ Card, which offers something wholly unique with its round-up feature. On every purchase, the number of points you earn automatically rounds up to the nearest 10 points. It's an interesting perk that will certainly earn you some extra points, but does it make the card worth your time, or is it just a gimmick? That will depend on how often you use your Citi credit card and how you plan to redeem those rewards. Learn more in our in-depth Citi Rewards+℠ Card review below.
Great for: Innovative rewards program
Rating image, 4.0 out of 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.
Bottom Line
Cardholders can secure premium rewards with the innovative program that rounds up every point earned. Plus, there's a well-rounded suite of perks, including no annual fee and a long 0% intro APR offer.
Rewards
2X ThankYou® Points at Supermarkets and Gas Stations for the first $6,000 per year, 1X ThankYou® points on All Other Purchases.
Annual Fee
$0
Intro APR
Purchases: 0%, 15 months
Balance Transfers: 0%, 15 months
Ongoing APR
13.49% - 23.49%, variable
Welcome Bonus
15,000 points after spending $1,000 within 3 months
Highlights
- The Citi Rewards+SM Card - the only credit card that automatically rounds up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase - with no cap.
- Earn 15,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 in purchases with your card within 3 months of account opening; redeemable for $150 in gift cards at thankyou.com
- 0% Intro APR on balance transfers and purchases for 15 months. After that, the variable APR will be 13.49% - 23.49%, based on your creditworthiness. Balance transfer fee — either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
- Earn 2X ThankYou® Points at Supermarkets and Gas Stations for the first $6,000 per year and then 1X Points thereafter. Plus, earn 1X ThankYou® Points on All Other Purchases.
- The standard variable APR for Citi Flex Plan is 13.49% - 23.49%, based on your creditworthiness. Citi Flex Plan offers are made available at Citi's discretion.
Full Citi Rewards+ review
Top perks
No annual fee: You can carry this credit card without paying an annual fee.
15,000 bonus points: To earn this sign-up bonus, you need to spend $1,000 within the first three months. While this isn't one of the biggest sign-up bonuses available, it's a solid bonus for a no-annual-fee card, and the low spending minimum is easy to reach.
Citi ThankYou points are generally worth $0.01 each when redeemed for travel or slightly below $0.01 each when redeemed for cash back or online shopping purchases.
Earn up to 2 points per $1: The Citi Rewards+℠ Card earns 2 points per $1 on your first $6,000 in combined supermarket and gas station spending per calendar year. On all other purchases, it earns 1 point per $1.
Round up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase: As mentioned above, your points are rounded up on every purchase. So a $0.75 purchase that would normally earn you 1 point will instead earn you 10 points, a $45 purchase will earn you 50 points, and so on.
This also applies to purchases that earn 2 points per $1 due to the card's bonus categories. Let's say you spend $13 at a supermarket. Since that's a bonus category with this card, that $13 purchase would double to 26 points, and that would round up to 30 points.
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers: This intro rate lasts for 15 months for both purchases and balance transfers, making it one of the longest 0% intro APRs on the market. You must make any balance transfers within the first four months of opening the card for that 0% intro APR to apply, but that's not much of a drawback. After all, if you open the Citi Rewards+℠ Card to refinance credit card debt, you'll probably want to transfer balances over as soon as possible.
10% of your points back: You'll get 10% back on the first 100,000 points that you redeem per calendar year. If you max this out by redeeming 100,000 points, you'll get 10,000 points back.
Transfer points to other Citi cards: If you also have a travel rewards card with Citi, you can transfer your ThankYou points from your Citi Rewards+℠ Card to that travel card. The reason this is important is because Citi's top travel cards offer more high-value ways to use ThankYou points, including transfers to partner airlines. You could use the Citi Rewards+℠ Card to earn the most possible points on small transactions through its round-up feature, and then get more out of those points by transferring them to a card with better redemption options.
What could be improved
Rewards rate: Although the Citi Rewards+℠ Card has two bonus categories, two bonus categories, there are plenty of top credit cards available that have either higher rewards rates or more bonus categories.
Foreign transaction fee: Each foreign transaction has a fee of 3% of the transaction amount in U.S. dollars, so you wouldn't want to use this card for international purchases.
Suggested credit score
You'll need a FICO® Score of at least 700 to have a good shot at getting approved for the Citi Rewards+℠ Card. Although approval isn't guaranteed with any credit score, this card is intended for those who have good to excellent credit.
Alternatives to consider
- If you want to earn a better sign-up bonus: The Discover it® Cash Back may not round up your rewards points, but it offers another powerful way to boost your earnings. At the end of your first year, Discover will match all the cash back you've earned, down to the last cent. If you use the card regularly or make a big purchase, that could be a hefty way to multiply your rewards.
- If you want to use your card abroad: The Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card doesn't carry any foreign transaction fees, so you won't need to pay more for purchases on international vacations. For a no-annual-fee card, it also has some solid earning potential with an unlimited 1.5 points per $1, and 25,000 bonus points for spending $1,000 on purchases within 90 days.
As of Jan. 05, 2021
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| Discover it® Cash Back | Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card |
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Rating image, 5.0 out of 5 stars.
5.0 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. |
Rating image, 5.0 out of 5 stars.
5.0 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 Bank of America's Secure Website. |
| Read Full Review | Read Full Review |
| Rates & Fees | |
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Credit Rating Requirement: |
Credit Rating Requirement: |
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Welcome Bonus: Dollar-for-dollar match of all cash back earned the first year |
Welcome Bonus: 25,000 points after making at least $1,000 in purchases within 90 days of account opening |
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Rewards Program: Cash back on everyday purchases at different places each quarter like Amazon.com, grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations and when you pay using PayPal, up to the quarterly maximum when you activate. Unlimited cash back on all other purchases - automatically |
Rewards Program: Unlimited 1.5 points per $1 on purchases, 25%-75% more points for Bank of America Preferred Rewards members |
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Intro APR: Purchases: 0%, 14 months Balance Transfers: 0%, 14 months |
Intro APR: Purchases: 0%, 12 billing cycles Balance Transfers: N/A |
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Regular APR: 11.99% - 22.99% Variable APR |
Regular APR: 14.99% - 22.99% Variable |
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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. |
Apply Now
On Bank of America's Secure Website. |
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This credit card is right for you if:
The Citi Rewards+℠ Card may be a good fit for you if either of the following is true:
- You use your credit card frequently for small transactions.
- You have the Citi Premier℠ Card or the Citi Prestige® Card and you're interested in boosting your rewards.
If you're the type to buy a $3 coffee here, a $6 lunch there, and other small purchases throughout the day, the Citi Rewards+℠ Card could earn you quite a few extra points through its round-up feature.
This card also works extremely well as a complementary option to either the Citi Premier® Card or the Citi Prestige® Card. Since it has bonus categories that those cards don't, it will give you the opportunity to earn more bonus points. You can also use it for any non-bonus spending to get your rewards rounded up.
Those who don't fit into either of the categories above will most likely be better off with cash back cards or travel cards that have higher rewards rates.
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.
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