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Citi Custom Cash Card Review

Written by Dayana Yochim
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Andrea Coombes

March 12, 2024

Why trust us? Investor.com has no financial relationship with any of the credit card providers whose products we analyze and review. Our opinions are based solely on data and our own extensive independent research — that means unbiased guidance for consumers. Rewards cards in our cashback credit card calculator are listed in descending order according to how much money they pay out annually based on the inputs.

The Citi Custom Cash card automatically pays a whopping 5% cash back on up to $500 in purchases within your biggest eligible monthly spending category each month ... and a meh 1% on everything else.

Having trouble deciding whether to get a grocery-, gas-, travel-, restaurant-, or whatever-focused rewards card? You don’t have to! The Citi Custom Cash card rewards your spending free spirit with 5% cash back (sorry — “ThankYou Points”) on whatever your largest eligible spending category is that month. This easy setup makes it our 2024 Annual Awards pick for Best No-Hassle 5% Cashback Card.

Here's what's awesome: Cardholders don't have to lift a finger to earn 5% cash back. It's calculated automatically based on how much you spend in one of the 10 eligible spending categories. (Note: The investor.com credit card calculator applies the 5% cashback bonus rate to "groceries.")
Less awesome: The 5% rate applies only to a single spending category per month, and only on up to $500 in purchases. Everything that doesn't qualify for the bonus rate earns just 1% cash back. If an equally no-hassle 2% cash-back-on-everything Citi card sounds appealing, check out the Citi Double Cash Card.

For more high-rewards options, see our guide to the Best 5% Cash Back Cards for gas, groceries, dining, travel and more.

The basics: Earn 5% cash back on up to $500 of spending within your biggest eligible purchase category each billing cycle and unlimited 1% cash back thereafter. (Eligible spending categories are: Restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment.) Welcome offer: Earn $200 cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening. 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers.

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dining Dining

theater_comedy Entertainment

local_gas_station Gas

shopping_cart Groceries

monetization_on Other

local_pharmacy Pharmacy

card_travel Travel

local_shipping Amazon

storefront Costco

construction Home Improvement

shopping_bag Online Shopping

smart_display Streaming

local_taxi Transit

power Utilities

kitchen Whole Foods

receipt_long Wholesale Clubs

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Best for Rewards Rotators

Citi Custom Cash Card

Cashback Per Year

$...

Annual Fee

Welcome Bonus

$200

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Want to compare more cards? Use our full calculator.

Citi Custom Cash Card pros and cons

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

5% cash back on your biggest monthly spending category
Hassle-free rewards — no enrollment required
No annual fee
Welcome bonus and 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

5% rate applies only to a single monthly spending category
$500 monthly rewards-eligible spending cap
Non-bonus purchases earn just 1%
Charges 3% foreign transaction fee
5% balance transfer fee

Citi Custom Cash Card cashback rewards spending categories

The following table shows the cashback rewards rate per $1 spent in the six most common spending categories. The “Bonus Rate” refers to the amount you can earn in excess of the card’s standard rewards rate.

Some cashback cards limit the spending amount eligible for the bonus rate (aka the “Spend Cap”). Once you hit that cap (e.g., $1,500 spending in a particular category during a defined time period), the rewards rate on future purchases in that category reverts to the lower “Default Rate.”

Category	Default Rate	Bonus Rate	Bonus Spend Cap	Bonus Spend Period (Months)
Gas	1.00%	-	-	-
Travel	1.00%	-	-	-
Dining	1.00%	-	-	-
Entertainment	1.00%	-	-	-
Pharmacy	1.00%	-	-	-
Groceries	1.00%	5.00%	$500	1
Other Purchases	1.00%	-	-	-

Note: The Citi Custom Cash Card is a rotating rewards credit card. You earn 5% cash back on your biggest spending category each month on up to $500 in purchases, and an unlimited 1% on everything else. Categories eligible for 5% cash back are: Restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment.

The investor.com credit card calculator applies the 5% cashback bonus rate to "groceries."

What we like

You don’t have to lift a finger to figure out which spending category earns cash back at the Citi Custom Cash card’s 5% rate. It’s automated by complex computer machine algorithm thingies based on your monthly purchases.

5% cash back with no annual fee? Yes, please. (Although see limitations below.)

Lots of goodies on offer for new cardmembers, including a welcome bonus and 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers.

There are 10 5% bonus categories: Restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs and live entertainment (concerts, theatrical and sporting events, amusement parks).

The long list of streaming services eligible for the bonus rate is much, much, much (did we mention much?) more robust than other cashback cards with the same category. The list includes: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Paramount+, Disney+, DirectTV Stream, ESPN+, fuboTV, HBO Max, NBA League Pass, Netflix, Pandora, Showtime, Sling TV, Spotify, Starz, SiriusXM, Vudu, YouTube Red, YouTube TV, and Tidal.

Includes access to Citi Entertainment perks, with access to presale tickets to concerts, sporting events, and curated arts and cultural experiences.

What we don't like

Being limited to a single monthly bonus category will annoy rewards card maximizers who will need to keep a running tab of spending to determine if this is the card to reach for at the checkout.

A $500 monthly cap on the 5% cashback category — oy. The max you’ll earn a month with the Citi Custom Cash card each month is $25, plus whatever you get from the 1% cash back on non-bonus category purchases.

Too many eligible bonus categories? We typically like robust offerings, but in this case cardholders whose monthly purchases are spread across multiple spending categories may inadvertently shortchange their cash back haul. Remember, the 5% rewards rate applies only to your single largest spending category each month.

The 1% default rate on purchases that don’t fit in the monthly bonus category is sus when there are plenty of other cards offering 1.5%, or ones like the Chase Freedom Flex card with a set 3% unlimited cash back rate on dining and drug store purchases on top of the 5% on a rotating roster of bonus categories.

That 5% balance transfer fee is an extra little surprise, and not the good kind. That’s $250 to transfer a $5,000 balance.

Groceries purchased at superstores and wholesale/warehouse clubs don’t qualify for the supermarket bonus rewards rate, as is the case with many cashback cards.

The 3% foreign transaction fee is pretty standard. But if you’re a frequent international traveler (or purchaser of fine foreign goods), this might not be your card.

The bottom line

Is the Citi Custom Cash Card the best rewards card for your wallet? The answer depends entirely on your spending patterns. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Use the investor.com Cashback Credit Card Calculator to see which credit card pays back the highest rewards based on how much you spend each month.

Citi Custom Cash Card fine print

All that stuff we just said, but in more detail detail and written in legalese.

Does the Citi Custom Cash Card charge an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee for the Citi Custom Cash Card.

tips_and_updates Trivia time!

How common are annual fees? Roughly 17% of the consumer cash back cards we review charge an annual fee. They range from $39 to $99, with an average annual fee of $67.

Does the Citi Custom Cash Card offer a welcome bonus?

Yes, the Citi Custom Cash Card has a welcome bonus of $200.

tips_and_updates Fun fact

More than half (55%) of the consumer cash back credit cards we track in the investor.com database offer a welcome bonus, ranging from $30 up to $300. The average sign-up bonus for new cardholders is $197, with the median being $200.

How much cash back can I earn with the Citi Custom Cash Card?

The average American that spends $1000 per month will earn $215.52 in cash back per year using the Citi Custom Cash Card. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the cashback credit cards in the investor.com database is $191.26, and $180 is the median.

These calculations are based on average consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the reward payout rates from the providers we track. Of course, you’re so much more than an average data point (aka “consumer unit,” in BLS parlance). The amount you can earn in cashback rewards using the Citi Custom Cash Card depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the Citi Custom Cash Card by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

The average business that spends $2580 per month will earn in cash back per year using the Citi Custom Cash Card. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the business credit cards in the investor.com database is $483.97, and $464.40 is the median.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the Citi Custom Cash Card by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

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Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

Spend category inputs: The default dollar values for each “Spend Category” in the Best Cashback Credit Cards tool — gas, groceries, travel, restaurant, entertainment, pharmacy, other — are based on average American spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also include additional spend categories (such as streaming services, online shopping, utilities, transit, Amazon and more) to help you see which rewards cards are most closely aligned with your actual spending patterns. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
Tiered rewards rates: If a rewards credit card pays higher cashback rates on certain spending categories (also called “Bonus Rewards”), that difference is reflected in the total “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on groceries on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)

About the Editorial Team

Dayana Yochim

Dayana Yochim has been writing (articles, books, podcasts, stirring speeches) about personal finance and investing for more than two decades, focusing on bringing clarity and the occasional comedic aside to what is often a murky, humorless topic. She’s written for NerdWallet, The Motley Fool, HerMoney.com, Woman’s Day, Forbes, Newsweek and others, and been a guest expert on "Today," "Good Morning America," CNN, NPR and wherever they’ll hand her a mic.

Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is Managing Editor for Reink Media Group and the lead editor for content on investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes has 20+ years of experience helping people reach their financial goals. Her personal finance articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, and other publications, and she's shared her expertise on CBS, NPR, "Marketplace," and more. She's been a financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, and is working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She knows that owning pets isn't necessarily the best financial decision; her dog and two cats would argue this point.