[UPDATE: Some offers mentioned below have expired and/or are no longer available on our site. You can view the current offers from our partners in our credit card marketplace. DISCLOSURE: Cards from our partners are mentioned below.]
What Is the Citi Double Cash Card?
Like its name suggests, the Citi Double Cash Card is a cash back rewards card for those with good credit. Cardholders earn 1% cash back on all purchases and an additional 1% cash back when a payment is made. There is no limit to the amount of cash back that can be earned, and your rewards never expire. Credit card users also receive APR financing Intro: 0%* for 18 months on Balance Transfers*, with a 3% or $5 balance transfer fee (whichever is greater). After the introductory rate expires, the standard rate can be a 15.24%-25.24%* Variable APR, depending on your creditworthiness when you apply.
This card also comes with an extensive benefits package. First, cardholders will receive their first late fee waived automatically. After that, it is up to a $35 fee for late payments. In addition, customers can use Citi’s Price Rewind to receive a refund on eligible purchases when a lower price is found within 60 days of your initial purchase date. Other perks include worldwide car rental insurance, trip cancellation and interruption protection, damage and theft protection, and extended warranty coverage. There is annual fee for this card, but there is a 3% foreign transaction fee added to all charges processed outside of the U.S. This card carries a 15.24%-25.24%* Variable, based on your credit standing.
Pros & Cons of the Citi Double Cash Card
The cash back rate for this card (after you pay off your balance) is more than reasonable. Although there are many cards that will offer bonus levels of cash back on specific categories of purchases, these cards typically offer just 1% cash back on all other charges. This card also comes with a competitive promotional financing offer, although a few cards feature more than 18 months of 0% APR introductory financing on balance transfers. Other strengths are this card’s excellent benefits, such as the Price Rewind service, and the lack of an annual fee.
While this card offers a good cash back rate, it must be noted that initially only half of that will appear on your statements. Customers will have to wait to receive the second 1%, which only comes when the purchases are paid for — both when paying the full statement balance and paying over time. Many cardholders find this rewards program to be unnecessarily complicated.
This is also a card that may not be right for those who tend to carry a balance and incur interest charges. Despite having a strong promotional financing offer, it does have a higher standard interest rate than most of the low-interest credit cards that do not offer rewards. In addition, those who are struggling with debt may want to instead focus on paying off their purchases as soon as possible rather than spend more money to earn rewards.
Finally, this card has a 3% foreign transaction fee. This is unfortunate considering that this card does offer worldwide rental car insurance, in contrast to other cards that exclude many popular tourist destinations.
Who Should Get This Credit Card?
The Citi Double Cash Card can be a great card for people who are looking to maximize the amount of cash back they receive without having to memorize the categories of stores where they’re eligible to receive bonuses. This card also makes sense for those who can utilize its promotional financing offer to pay off their debt and then avoid the standard interest rate by paying off their balances in full every month. This card also has strong travel insurance and purchase protection policies that may appeal to many applicants.
Before You Apply
Before you apply for the Citi Double Cash Card, check with the issuer to be sure you meet their credit guidelines. In fact, before you apply for any credit card, it can be helpful to check your credit scores to see where you stand. There are many ways to check your credit scores for free — one way is through Credit.com, which offers you two of your scores for free so you can monitor important changes and track your credit-building progress. Checking your scores will not harm them in any way.
If you meet the issuer’s general credit requirements and fully understand the card’s terms, this card may be a good match for you. If you find your credit standing falls short of the requirements, you may want to consider taking steps to work on your credit and apply when your scores are higher.
At publishing time, the Citi Double Cash Card is offered through Credit.com product pages, and Credit.com is compensated if our users apply and ultimately sign up for this card. However, this relationship does not result in any preferential editorial treatment. This content is not provided by the card issuer. Any opinions expressed are those of Credit.com alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer.
Note: It’s important to remember that interest rates, fees and terms for credit cards, loans and other financial products frequently change. As a result, rates, fees and terms for credit cards, loans and other financial products cited in these articles may have changed since the date of publication. Please be sure to verify current rates, fees and terms with credit card issuers, banks or other financial institutions directly.
This article last updated September 12th, 2017. It originally published April 27, 2015.
