If you’re always on the go and value every minute of your packed schedule, the Citi Double Cash Card could definitely be your kind of thing.
Its straightforward 2% cashback on every single item can make your life a whole lot easier.
Go through its features with us, and see for yourself—
This article will show you:
- What the Citi Double Cash card is all about.
- Its pros, cons, benefits, and rewards.
- A bunch of alternatives.
Read more:
Citi Double Cash Credit Card at a Glance
Full name: Citi Double Cash® Card
Best for: Straightforward rewards system
Issuer: Citi
Credit score needed: Excellent, good, fair
How Does Citi Double Cash Card Work?
The Citi Double Cash Card has a pretty unique cashback concept.
It’s all about rewarding you not just for buying stuff, but also for paying off those purchases.
Here’s how it works—
For every purchase you make, you get 1% cashback right off the bat. So if you buy a coffee for $5, that’s five cents in your pocket.
But the rewards don’t stop there.
When you pay off that coffee (or any other purchase on your card bill), you earn another 1% cashback on the amount you pay off. So if you pay off that $5 coffee, you get another five cents.
This means you’re earning double the cashback (1% when you buy and another 1% when you pay it off). That’s why it’s called the “Double Cash” card.
And the best part?
There’s no limit to how much cashback you can earn—and your cashback doesn’t expire as long as you keep the card open.
So whether you’re buying groceries, filling up gas, or shopping online, the Citi Double Cash Card can help you earn some cashback. (Just remember to keep paying off those purchases to get the full 2%.)
Citi Double Cash Credit Card: Overall Card Review
Citi® Double Cash Card: Pros & Cons
Pros
- No annual fee.
- Straightforward cashback on everything.
- Flexible redemption options.
- Balance transfer offer at 0% for 18 months.
- Access to Citi Entertainment.
- Wallet protection and emergency card replacement.
Cons
- 3% foreign transaction fee.
- No specific bonus categories.
- No sign-up bonus.
- Requires good to excellent credit.
- Credit limit starts at as low as $500.
- No noteworthy additional perks.
- Cashback rewards might take longer to accrue.
Key Citi Double Cash Credit Card Fees & Rates
|
Fee |
Detail |
|
Annual fee |
$0 |
|
APR |
18.99%–28.99% (Variable) |
|
Intro APR for balance transfers |
0% 18 months |
|
APR for cash advances |
29.99% (Variable) |
|
Balance transfer fee |
Intro fee of 3% of each transfer ($5 minimum) made within the first 4 months of account opening; then 5% of each transfer ($5 minimum) |
|
Cash advance fee |
5% of each cash advance ($10 minimum) |
|
Foreign transaction fee |
3% |
|
Late fee |
Up to $41 |
|
Returned payment fee |
Up to $41 |
Things to Know About the Citi Double Cash Card
With basics out of the way, let’s focus on rewards and benefits.
Citi cash back rewards
Like we said, Citi Double Cash card rewards are simple. The table below answers questions like:
- Do Citi Double Cash rewards expire?
- How can I redeem Citi ThankYou points?
- Is there a limit to my spending?
|
Citi Double Cash Card |
|
|
Rewards rate |
2% |
|
Redemption |
|
|
Expiration |
Points don’t expire unless you close the account |
|
Cap |
None |
The redemption process is pretty flexible, too. You can get your cash back as a direct deposit, statement credit, or request a check by mail (as long as it’s at least $5).
The coolest bit? Your rewards never expire as long as your account stays open.
And with no cap on the rewards you can earn, the potential to earn cash back is limitless.
That makes this card a great bet if you’re after a no-fuss, high-earning cashback credit card.
Citi Double Cash points explained
As you already know, Citi Double Cash keeps its points system as simple as can be.
You get a friendly ThankYou Point in return for every dollar you spend. And each dollar you pay off on your card also earns you another ThankYou Point.
On top of that, converting your rewards into points is a piece of cake: one cent in rewards equals one ThankYou Point.
Let’s use some examples to see exactly how much you’d earn:
|
What you spend |
Points you earn when buying |
Points you earn when paying off |
Total |
Cash value |
|
$1,000 |
1,000 |
1,000 |
2,000 |
$20 |
|
$50,000 |
50,000 |
50,000 |
100,000 |
$1,000 |
|
$100,000 |
100,000 |
100,000 |
200,000 |
$2,000 |
Citi Double Cash benefits
Ok, so this part is going to be a bit underwhelming—
|
Categories |
Citi Double Cash Card |
|
Travel |
None |
|
Dining |
None |
|
Protection |
|
|
Other |
The Citi Double Cash Card won’t give you specific cash back rewards for travel or dining, but it does offer some decent protective features.
They include round-the-clock fraud protection and a $0 liability on unauthorized charges. That way, your account is safeguarded against any unauthorized activity.
Through its ID Theft Protection program, the card helps with additional security if it gets stolen.
On the non-protection side of things, the cardholders get exclusive access to presale tickets and VIP packages through Citi Entertainment® (perfect for live event lovers).
What’s the Citi Double Cash card credit limit?
The credit limit for the Citi Double Cash Card varies based on the individual cardholder’s creditworthiness.
In other words, your credit score, income, and existing debts will all play a role in determining your credit limit.
That’s why we went to cardholders to see the Citi Double Cash credit limit in practice—
“Citibank gave me a limit of $9k on this card.”
“Was just approved for the card but only a 3,000 limit.”
“My limit just got increased to 35k.”
But then—
“My Citi double limit is $40k. Income is $80k.”
“From my experience, their limit increases can be submitted often with no hard pull to your credit.”
And—
“The good news is after 3–6 months, you can usually qualify for a soft pull increase. They tend to be modest bumps, though. If you want the limit to go up substantially, you’ll have to be either very patient and do lots of soft pull increases (which are only usually every six months) or do a hard pull increase where you can request a larger amount.”
How Does Citi Double Cash Card Compare to Other Credit Cards for Good or Excellent Credit?
Let’s see:
|
Citi Double Cash Card 4.6/5 |
Citi Custom Cash Card 4.8/5 |
Wells Fargo Active Cash 4.8/5 |
|
Annual fee $0 |
Annual fee $0 |
Annual fee $0 |
|
Rewards 2% |
Rewards 1%–5% |
Rewards 2% |
|
Promotion None |
Promotion $200 Earn $200 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. |
Promotion $200 Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus when you spend $500 in purchases in the first 3 months |
|
Learn more |
Learn more |
Read more:
Double Cash Card Alternatives: Citi Cashback Cards
Citi Rewards+ Card
Citi Rewards+ Card offers 2x points at supermarkets and gas stations (up to $6,000 per year), 1x points on other purchases, and rounds up to the nearest ten points on every purchase. It’s great for daily expenses.
Citi Premier Card
With 3x points on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel, and hotels (and 1x on all other purchases), Citi Premier Card is perfect for travel and dining enthusiasts.
Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi
Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi is a good choice for Costco members, offering 4% cashback on eligible gas worldwide, 3% on restaurants and travel, 2% on all other Costco purchases, and 1% on everything else.
Remember
Although all the alternatives may be tempting, multiple credit inquiries in a short period of time might end up causing more bad than good.
Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard
Citi also offers the AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard.
Frequent flyers will appreciate 2x AAdvantage miles on eligible American Airlines purchases, gas stations, and restaurants (as well as 1x AAdvantage miles on other spending).
Citi Prestige Card
With 5x ThankYou Points on air travel and restaurants, 3x on hotels and cruise lines, and 1x on all other purchases, it’s ideal for high-spenders. Plus, this card offers multiple travel benefits.
Every time you apply for a new credit card, banks check your credit score. For this reason, simultaneous credit card applications will affect your credit standing, reducing your chances of getting approved. It’s best to wait at least six months before you apply for another credit card if you need more.
Simon BacherCEO and Co-founder, Ling App
Citi Bank Cashback Card: Useful Links
To make things easy for you:
Citi Double Cash Card Reviews Found Online
Some folks say the “1% when you buy, 1% when you pay off” system isn’t always a good thing—
“The small quirk is the fact that you get 1% first and the other 1% when you pay. If you choose to redeem your cash back as a statement credit, then Citi doesn’t consider that a valid form of payment, so you won’t get the full secondary 1% if you do that.”
Others mention the not-so-fun changes Citi introduced over the years—
“The DC has also lost features over the last few years. Price rewind, return protection, damage protection, extended warranty, etc. Citi really gutted the card. The DC is a product change of my very first credit card I was approved for 18 years ago, so I’ll always keep it, but it’s a shadow of what it used to be.”
And the customer service seems to be less than great, too—
“I like the Citi Double Cashback, and it used to be my daily driver. But Citi’s customer service is horrendous when there’s a problem. So, it’s just not worth it to me.”
But then, some cardholders do praise Citi—
“One thing I didn’t see mentioned is Citibank is one of the easiest banks to request credit increases from, as there is just a button on the website you can hit whenever that gives you an instant answer and doesn’t do a hard pull.”
Although this doesn’t seem to apply to everyone—
“They do not give me credit limit increases, even though my credit score is over 750.”
Others recommend it as a good card for travelers when combined with the Citi Premier card—
“The advantage of Citi Double Cash over those other cards is related to travel. With Double Cash alone, you can transfer points to a few of Citi’s travel partners, but at a reduced rate compared to the Premier card. The best way to use Double Cash is to pair it with Citi Premier, so you get access to all of Citi’s travel transfer partners at their best redemption rates.”
And finally—
“The greatest benefit of the Double Cash is that you can pair it with a Rewards+ to effectively turn this into a 2.2% cash back card. That beats most of the other competitors, except to the extent you get hit with a foreign transaction fee or the opportunity cost of not getting a sign-up bonus (but as others in this thread have suggested, you can get the bonus from another Citi card and then product change to Double Cash).
Then, as long as you’re getting Double Cash and Rewards+, you can add the Citi Custom Cash for (effectively) 5.5% in one category. That’s a pretty solid setup for relatively minimal effort.”
Is Citi Double Cash Card Good for Me?
Answer these questions to help you make up your mind:
- Do you like to keep rewards simple?
The Citi Double Cash Card offers flat-rate cashback on all purchases. No need to monitor spending categories.
- Do you pay off your balance each month?
This card rewards both purchasing and timely pay-offs. Beneficial if you keep your card balance under control.
- Do you need a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers?
This card provides 0% APR for a set period post-account opening. Ideal if transferring high-interest debt.
- Do you care about fraud protection and special offers?
If so, the card’s security features and access to the Citi Entertainment program can be appealing.
Remember
If you’re after the sign-up bonus and want to use your card internationally, you could find better alternatives.
FAQ
Is the Citi Double Cash Card good?
The Citi Double Cash Card is a simple and straightforward card.
It gives you 2% cash back on all purchases, but it doesn’t come with a sign-up bonus—which can be disappointing if you’re looking for that initial rewards boost.
You can find cashback cards with sign-up bonuses here.
Also, its rewards might not be as high for specific categories (like travel or dining) as some other cards.
Plus, if you carry a balance, the interest might take a bite out of your cashback, with the rate falling between 18.99% and 28.99%.
If you’re after simplicity and no annual fee and want a sign-up bonus, consider Capital One Quicksilver Rewards.
Does Citi Double Cash have foreign transaction fees?
Yes, the Citi Double Cash Card does have foreign transaction fees.
Cardholders are typically charged a 3% fee for transactions made in a foreign currency or with a foreign bank.
This is an important detail to consider if you travel internationally frequently or make a lot of purchases from foreign-based companies—those foreign transaction fees can add up, potentially offsetting some of your cashback rewards.
Check out better travel credit cards.
Is Citi Double Cash Visa or Mastercard?
The Citi Double Cash Card is a Mastercard. This means you can use it at millions of locations worldwide that accept Mastercard.
Plus, being a Mastercard, it comes with certain benefits such as identity theft protection, zero liability for unauthorized charges, and emergency assistance virtually anywhere in the world.
Nevertheless, it always pays to check the fine print so you know what’s included with your specific card.
What type of card is Citi Double Cash?
The Citi Double Cash Card is a cashback credit card.
It’s known for its simple and generous cashback structure, where cardholders earn 2% on every purchase—with unlimited 1% cashback when they buy plus an additional 1% as they pay for those purchases.
This applies to all purchases, not just those in specific categories.
Because of this structure, it’s popular among consumers looking for a straightforward way to earn cashback without tracking rotating categories or sign-ups.
The catch is that it doesn’t offer a sign-up bonus, which is often found with other reward credit cards.
It also has foreign transaction fees, which could be a potential downside for frequent travelers.
You can find cashback cards with sign-up bonuses and travel credit cards without international fees.
What credit score do you need for Citi Double Cash?
You’ll generally need a good to excellent credit score to be considered for the Citi Double Cash Card. That typically means a credit score within the range of 670 to 850.
However, having a credit score within this range doesn’t guarantee approval.
Other factors such as your income, existing debt, recent credit inquiries, and payment history also influence a credit card issuer’s decision.
Do Citi Double Cash rewards expire?
The cashback rewards from the Citi Double Cash Card don’t expire as long as your account remains open and in good standing.
However, it will expire if you haven’t earned any cashback from purchases or payments for 12 months.
To avoid expiration, ensure that some transaction activity earns cashback at least once a year.
It’s always a good idea to take note of such details in your card agreement to ensure you’re making the most of your rewards.
While at it, check out other cashback credit cards (up to 6% on groceries).
Is the Citi Double Cash Card hard to get?
Like many cashback credit cards, the Citi Double Cash Card typically requires a good to excellent credit score for the best approval odds. A credit score in the 670 to 850 range is generally considered good to excellent.
However, credit score is not the only factor considered in the application process.
Credit card issuers also care about your income, employment status, payment history, and overall creditworthiness.
If your credit history is rather short, or you’ve had trouble managing credit in the past, there may be some challenges to getting approved for this card.
But remember, each lender has their criteria, and the final approval comes down to individual circumstances.
If you’re not sure, it’s probably better to boost your credit score first before applying. And learn how long does it take to get an 800 credit score.
Where can you use the Citi Double Cash card?
Being a Mastercard, the Citi Double Cash Card is widely accepted around the globe.
This means you can use it at millions of merchants worldwide (anywhere Mastercard is accepted), which includes grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, online shops, and so on—in the US and overseas.
A word of caution, though—if you plan to use this card abroad or for purchases from foreign-based companies, remember that it has a 3% foreign transaction fee.
Another card with no such fees might be more economical for international travel or non-US purchases.
See some alternative cashback cards and travel cards.
