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Benefits of the Citi Custom Cash Card
Its elevated rewards are automatically adjusted, which makes it a valuable 5%-back card. Plus it features a lengthy intro APR offer on purchases and balance transfers.
Funto Omojola is a lead writer and content strategist on the credit cards team. Funto started writing for NerdWallet in 2020 and also has writing featured in MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance, Realtor.com, New York Post and Nasdaq, among others. Funto lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Erica Corbin is a former assigning editor at NerdWallet. Erica joined NerdWallet in 2020 as an assistant assigning editor at large. In 2023, she was promoted to assigning editor and helped lead the credit cards vertical at NerdWallet Canada. She previously wrote and edited content at companies such as GOBankingRates and Nasdaq. Her work has been syndicated to USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN and more.
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As of May 2026, theCiti Custom Cash® Card is no longer available, so this page is out of date.
The Citi Custom Cash® Card stands out for its simplicity in a competitive 5% cash-back field.
The $0-annual-fee card offers automatically adjusted 5% back in popular everyday categories, which makes it ideal for those who want elevated rewards with no fuss.
Here are the benefits of the Citi Custom Cash® Card.
The Citi Custom Cash® Card offers 5% cash back in your top eligible spending category, on up to $500 each billing cycle, and 1% back after that. What makes the card especially valuable is the fact that holders can earn high rewards in the following broad categories:
Grocery stores.
Restaurants.
Gas stations.
Streaming services.
Drugstores.
Home improvement stores.
Fitness clubs.
Select travel.
Select transit.
Live entertainment.
🤓Nerdy Tip
Until June 30, 2026, Citi Custom Cash® Card cardholders will earn an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi. So if that's your top spending category, you'll earn a whopping 9% back. If not, you'll still earn 5% back on these purchases.
Simplicity of rewards
A key feature of this card is that rewards are automatically adjusted based on your monthly purchases. This means that if your spending leans more heavily toward one eligible bonus category than it did the previous cycle, your rewards will automatically adjust.
Many other cards in the 5%-back market feature categories that are chosen by the issuers and announced only at the start of each quarter. This can make it difficult to plan your spending. Also, some cards require you to activate your bonus categories each quarter, which is an extra hurdle.
The Citi Custom Cash® Card features a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, and then the ongoing APR of 18.24%-28.24% Variable APR. This lengthy interest-free window is ideal for consumers who are looking to transfer over existing debt from another card, or pay off a large purchase without being charged the card’s APR.
Cardholders can redeem rewards for cash back as statement credit, check or direct deposit (at the rate of a penny per point), among other redemption options. Points earned from the Citi Custom Cash® Card can also be combined and transferred to other cards that earn Citi ThankYou points.
Plus, cardholders can transfer points to all of Citi’s travel partners, with the notable exception of American Airlines. Note that transfer ratios vary and may not be as ideal as what you would get with a more expensive Citi credit card.
Full list of Citi transfer partners Full list of Citi transfer partners
Transfer ratios will vary depending on which card you have.
Airlines
Aeromexico (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
American Airlines (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Air France/KLM (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Asia Miles (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Avianca (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Emirates (1:0.8 or 1:0.56 ratio).
Etihad (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Eva Air (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
JetBlue (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Qantas (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Qatar Airways (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Singapore Airlines (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Thai Airways (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Turkish Airlines (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Virgin Atlantic (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Hotels
Accor Live Limitless (2:1 or 2:0.7 ratio).
Choice Hotels (1:1.5 or 1:1.05 ratio).
The Leading Hotels of the World (5:1 or 5:0.7 ratio).
New account openers will get the following welcome offer: Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back. This can get holders a good amount of cash for meeting the card’s spending requirement.
Whether you want to pay less interest or earn more rewards, the right card's out there. Just answer a few questions and we'll narrow the search for you.