When it comes to rewards and balance transfers, Citicards are some of the best. Citi’s known for boasting some of the longest 0% intro APR periods, rewards on balance transfer cards, and one of the best credit cards for students. But with so many cards to choose from, deciding which card is best for you can become a challenge. We’re here to do the work for you, so read on for our top Citicard picks of 2011.
Best rewards credit card
The Citi Forward® Card offers an impressive 5% rewards rate on restaurants, movies, bookstores, and music, as well as 1% elsewhere. The best part of the bonus categories is that Citi considers Amazon.com to be a bookstore, so you earn 5% back on all your purchases there, be they trashy romance novels or hiking boots. The card also comes with a number of small bonuses and perks that add up:
- • 1,000 bonus points for going paperless
- • 0% interest on balance transfers for 12 months and purchases for 7*
- • Up to a 2% APR reduction and 1,200 bonus points a year for good behavior
- • No annual fee*
The only downside of the Citi Forward® Card is that it pays out in ThankYou points. While certainly not the worst rewards program out there, it’s pretty darn inconvenient. In order to get the full 1 cent per point value, you have to stockpile 10,000 points and trade them in for a $100 gift card or use your points for a mortgage/student loan payment. Want cash? Want to redeem fewer points? Too bad, your redemption rate will take a hit. Plus, the Forward limits you to 75,000 ThankYou points earned a year, so you should consider keeping a backup card if you max out your rewards on this one.
The Forward’s great for urbanites, who dine out and entertain rather than buy groceries and drive their kids to school. If that’s not quite your scene, two other great reward cards to consider are the Capital One Venture and the Chase Freedom. The Venture offers an all-around 2% reward rate, one of the highest in the business. The Freedom, another no-fee rewards card, gives 5% cash back on rotating bonus categories and 1% back elsewhere, on top of a $100 signup bonus.
Best low APR/balance transfer credit card
We can’t say enough good things about the Citi Simplicity! The card gets great marks in the balance transfer area, with 0% interest on transfers for a stunning 18 months. The balance transfer fee, at 3%, is lower than the standard 5%. Not only that, but the Simplicity offers the same 0% APR for 18 months on purchases as well, unusual among transfer cards. But what distinguishes the Simplicity from Citi’s other 18-month 0% APR cards is this: it has neither late fees nor a penalty APR. The Citi Diamond Preferred and Platinum Select (and most other credit cards, low interest or no) charge up to $35 if you’re late on your payments, and will jack your interest rate up to nearly 30%. The Simplicity doesn’t. If you’re late, you won’t have to pay a fee, and you’ll keep the relatively low APR of 12.99% to 21.99% (at the time of this writing). With the longest 0% intro period out there, and waived late fees and penalty APRs, the Citi Simplicity is a hands-down winner.
Best credit card for college students
The Citi Forward® Card for College Students, nearly identical to its adult counterpart, boasts a generous rewards program as well as a low interest rate. It’s got the same rewards program of 5 ThankYou points per $1 spent on books, music, movies, and dining out, but these categories take on a special value for students. They translate to bonus rewards on textbooks, campus bookstore purchases, fast food and pizza deliveries, and movie tickets. Plus, Amazon counts as a bookstore, so any Amazon purchase earns the higher reward rate, regardless of what you buy. All other purchases earn 1 TY point.
In addition to the rewards program, the Citi Forward® Card for College Students offers a 1000 TY point signing bonus. As for the intro APR promo, the card offers 0% interest for the first 7 months*, followed by an ongoing variable rate of 13.99% to 22.99%* (Variable). The Forward’s one of the best student credit cards out there, combining high rewards with a low APR and a 0% interest period.