Citi Double Cash Benefits Guide

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Citi® Dual Cash Card comes with a unique cashback offer – the ability to receive an unlimited cashback of 1% on every purchase, as well as an additional 1% cashback every time you make timely payments on those purchases. Basically, you can get the full 2% cashback on every purchase you make and pay for, giving you an incentive to pay off your balances as quickly as possible.

But what are the other benefits of Citi Double Cash? Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of the Citi Double Cash Card, including the ability to convert your cash rewards into Citi ThankYou Points and a 0% APR on balance transfers.

Brief overview of Citi Double Cash

As a fixed rate cashback card, the Citi Double Cash Card provides a unique cashback reward of up to 2% to help motivate you to pay off your credit card bill in full. It also gives you 18 months of 0 percent APR (from 16.24 percent to 26.24 percent variable APR after) to pay off your old debt with no interest. Eighteen months is a pretty standard time frame among balance transfer offers, and you should have plenty of time to pay off your debt.

Receiving awards

Flat cashback

The Citi Double Cash Card offers an unlimited cash back of 1% on all purchases, as well as the ability to double cash back on timely payments on those purchases. For cardholders who regularly pay off their balances in full, this simple offer makes it easy and effortless to get up to 2 percent cash back on all your purchases.

Some people may dismiss Citi Double Cash as a low earner due to its simplicity, but don’t discount it too quickly. In fact, compared to its sister card, Citi Custom Cash℠ CardAnother top cash back credit card, Citi Double Cash brings in more cash per year for high spenders.

Let’s look at an example of expenses. If you charge $24,000 per year on your Citi Double Cash, you will earn $480 in cash. However, since the 5 percent Citi Custom Cash Card category is capped at $500 per billing cycle and all other purchases after that earn 1 percent, $24,000 on the card will also earn $480. Basically, those who spend $24,000 or more annually will get more money back thanks to Citi Double Cash unlimited cash back.

Bonus for registration

Sometimes it’s missing and sometimes it’s offered, but Citi Double Cash currently boasts a decent welcome offer. New cardholders who spend $1,500 in the first six months will receive $200 in cash. Considering other welcome bonuses on the market, a $1,500 spending goal is relatively doable, especially since you have six months to reach it, which requires you to spend as little as $250 per month for six months.

Repayment options

The Citi Double Cash Card has many redemption options to earn the rewards your card earns. While technically a cashback card, this card actually rewards you with Thank You Points, which are pretty versatile. Every 100 ThankYou Points earns a $1 refund and can be used to book trips through the Citi Travel Portal, shop online and more.

Please note that the card technically earns “base” ThankYou points, which means you will not be able to transfer them to Citi or partner hotels.

You can also turn your ThankYou Points into cash redemption options, such as credit statements, deposits into checking or savings accounts, or mailed checks.

Balance Transfer Offer

One of Citi Double Cash’s best selling points is its 0 percent APR initial offer, meaning no interest for 18 months on balance transfers, followed by a variable annual rate of 16.24 to 26.24 percent. The card even has an initial balance transfer fee of $5 or 3 percent (whichever is higher) for balance transfers made in the first four months after opening your account. After that, the commission increases to 5 or 5 percent, whichever is higher.

For most cardholders who have a small amount of credit accumulated on another high-interest card, the zero-interest Citi Double Cash offer should be enough time to pay off that debt.

Other benefits

The Citi Double Cash Card is a credit card with no annual fees, which also means it doesn’t offer as many benefits and perks as cards that charge an annual fee.

However, Citi Double Cash offers several useful benefits such as 24-hour fraud protection and zero liability for authorized payments in the event that fraudulent payments are detected in your account. As a Citi Card holder, you will also get access to Citi Entertainment, which gives you exclusive pre-sale tickets to concerts and sporting events, as well as dinners from renowned chefs.

How to Maximize Your Citi Double Cash Benefits

If you want to maximize your Citi Double Cash rewards, make sure you pay off your credit card balance every month. Remember that you only earn 1 percent cash on every purchase unless you pay for that purchase at the end of the billing cycle, which reduces most of the card’s value. If you make a late credit card payment, you will not receive the additional 1 percent.

For those with small credit debt, we recommend converting your balances to Citi Double Cash. Since the card does not have a 0% starting annual interest rate on new purchases, you should work on paying off those balances before charging a new card. And of course, be sure to spend $1,500 within the first six months to receive a $200 signup bonus. The good thing is that Citi Double Cash is currently offering a welcome bonus, so you should take advantage of it while it lasts.

We also encourage you to use your rewards as Citi ThankYou Points and not as cashback. Although repayment options such as credit statements and cash back are tempting in their simplicity, they cost an average of 0.5 cents per point. Instead, we encourage you to use ThankYou Points to travel on the Citi Travel Portal or even pay off your mortgage or student loan, as each point is worth 1 cent.

bottom line

The biggest benefit of the Citi Double Cash Card is the ability to double your cash back every time you make timely credit card payments. While you won’t get special travel perks or similar extra benefits, being able to earn up to 2 percent cash on every purchase you pay is a huge win. And when you add Citi Double Cash to the balance transfer offer, the card becomes a double win.

Nicole Dicker is a freelance writer specializing in personal finance and habit formation. She spent five years as a writer and editor on The Billfold, a personal finance site where people talk candidly about money, and she regularly teaches classes on how to increase your income as a freelancer.