Citi Double Cash Card Review

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

May 05, 2023

Finally, being a goody-two-shoes (aka paying down your balance) pays — as in it doubles your cash back to 2%.

If you need encouragement to pay your credit card bill in full every single month — and the specter of shelling out double-digit interest on outstanding balances doesn’t do it for ya — the Citi Double Cash Card doubles your rewards rate to 2% when you pay off purchases. That makes it a no-annual-fee, 2%-cash-back-on-everything card, aka a cashback card unicorn.

The basics: Earn 2% cash back on everything — 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay off your balance, no caps on cash back earned. 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. Transfers must be completed within four months of account opening and incur a 3% balance transfer fee.

Citi Double Cash Card pros and cons

Citi Double 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 (a.k.a. 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.”

Note: The unlimited 2% cashback rewards rate applies only to purchases as they are paid off (either in full or over time). You earn 1% cash back when you buy, and the other 1% when you pay. We’ve factored the higher rate into the calculator to show your potential earnings.

What we like

A 2% cashback rate with no annual fee? Next you’re gonna tell us that the Citi Double Cash Card also does dishes and remembers to put down the toilet seat.

Although half (1%) of the cashback rate is withheld until you pay off the purchase, that’s a hurdle we can get behind. The alternative is shelling out 14%-plus interest on unpaid balances.

No spending categories to track or quarterly opt-in thingamajigs to deal with? We likey.

The Citi Double Cash Card pays out rewards in the form of ThankYou Points. (E.g., 10,000 ThankYou Points = $100 cash back). They're redeemable for a direct deposit, statement credit, check or for gift cards, travel and more, although the redemption value on the latter may vary.

Offers a whopping 18 months at a 0% APR on balance transfers made during the first four months. Keep in mind that new purchases will incur interest.

What we don't like

No sign-up bonus throws a wet blanket on our enthusiasm.

No intro period with a 0% APR on purchases? Same reaction as above.

A 3% balance transfer fee is an extra little surprise, and not the good kind. That equates to a $150 fee to transfer a $5,000 balance. And it only applies to balances transferred in the first four months. After that...

You'll pay 5% of each balance transfer ($5 minimum) after the introductory balance transfer offer expires. Ouch.

Cash advances are a costly 5% ($10 minimum) of the amount of each cash advance. In other words, try not to do that, okay?

The 3% foreign transaction fee? Non merci!

p.s.: Redeeming cash back as a statement credit doesn’t count as paying off purchases. You’ve got to cough up your own money to earn the second 1%.

The bottom line

Is the Citi Double 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 Double Cash Card fine print

Everything above, written in dense paragraphs (and a few tables) by handsomely paid lawyers.

Does the Citi Double Cash Card charge an annual fee?

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

Does the Citi Double Cash Card offer a welcome bonus?

No, the Citi Double Cash Card card does not currently offer a welcome bonus.

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

The average American that spends $1000 per month will earn $240.00 in cash back per year using the Citi Double 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 Double Cash Card depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

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

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.)

Read next

• Best Cashback Credit Cards
• Best Business Cashback Credit Cards
• What Is Credit? (And Why It Matters)
• Best High-Yield Savings Accounts
• Find a Financial Advisor
• Our Complete Coverage of Credit Cards

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.