Last updated: August 2026. Card terms change often — and this card's application status already has. Confirm current details on the issuer's page.
The Citi® Custom Cash Card automated the 5% game: every billing cycle it looks at your spending and pays 5% back on your top eligible category — no activation, no calendar, no choices. Two things make this guide different from the others. First, the big one: Citi closed the Custom Cash to new applications on May 28, 2026 — existing cardholders keep everything, and a product change from another Citi card has remained a back door. Second, the quiet one: its "cash back" accrues as ThankYou points, which become transferable to airlines the moment you also hold a Citi Strata Premier or Strata Elite.
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At a glance
| Annual fee | $0 |
| Application status | Closed to new applications since May 28, 2026 — product change from an existing Citi card has still been possible (verify) |
| Rewards | 5% on your top eligible category each billing cycle (on up to $500 spend, then 1%) — earned as ThankYou points |
| Best for | Set-and-forget 5% on one category; feeding a Citi Strata setup |
| Points earned | Citi ThankYou Points (transferable only when paired) |
| Foreign transaction fee | Yes — leave it home when you travel abroad |
| Card network | Mastercard |
Card details & current status →
How the 5% actually works
Each billing cycle, the card automatically applies 5% (as 5x ThankYou points) to your single highest-spend eligible category, on up to $500 of spend — a maximum of 2,500 bonus points (~$25) per cycle — then 1% beyond the cap and on everything else. The ten eligible categories:
restaurants · gas stations · grocery stores · select travel · select transit · select streaming services · drugstores · home improvement stores · fitness clubs · live entertainment
Spend $480 on groceries and $200 on gas in a cycle? Groceries get the 5x automatically. Next month your top category can be different — the card adapts on its own. The discipline it rewards is concentration: point one predictable $500/month category at it and it never underperforms.
What the points are worth
- Held alone, redeem ThankYou points for cash at a flat 1¢ each — a clean 5% cash-back card with a monthly cap.
- Held alongside a Citi Strata Premier or Strata Elite in the same ThankYou account, the pooled points transfer 1:1 to Citi's airline partners, where we value them at 1.8¢ each — making the 5x category an effective 9% back in travel value.
Be clear-eyed about it: without a Strata card, there is no transfer button. You have a very good capped cash-back card, and that is all. The pairing is what turns $25/month into flight currency.
Where your points can go
Only once paired with a Strata Premier or Elite, your pooled points transfer to these programs — tap any partner to see how to use those points, what they're worth, and the best redemptions:
Airline transfer partners Air France/KLM Flying Blue · American AAdvantage · Avianca LifeMiles · British Airways/Qatar Avios · Cathay Asia Miles · Emirates Skywards · Etihad Guest · EVA Air · Qantas Frequent Flyer · Singapore KrisFlyer · Turkish Miles&Smiles · Virgin Atlantic · JetBlue TrueBlue
Hotel transfer partners Wyndham Rewards · Accor Live Limitless · Choice Privileges
For every transfer ratio, transfer time and current bonus, see the complete transfer partners chart.
Earning rates
| Rate | Category |
|---|---|
| 5x | Top eligible category each billing cycle (first $500 spend, then 1x) |
| 1x | Everything else |
Maximum bonus haul: 30,000 points a year if you hit the cap every cycle — worth $300 as cash or ~$540 transferred at our valuation.
Getting it in 2026 (and keeping it worthwhile)
- New applications are closed. If you don't have the card, the remaining route has been a product change from an existing Citi card (many report chat handles it in minutes). Product changes don't earn a sign-up bonus, and Citi could close this door too — verify before you plan around it.
- Existing cardholders lose nothing: same 5%, same $0 fee, same ThankYou earning.
- The shutdown makes existing Custom Cash cards more valuable, not less — treat yours as a keeper, especially inside a Strata setup.
Best uses (sweet spots), with examples
Every example uses the same formula: (cash price − taxes) ÷ points × 100 = cents per point (CPP) — and assumes pairing with a Strata card.
1. One dedicated category, maxed monthly. $500/month of groceries = 30,000 points/year. Transfer to Flying Blue toward a ~$4,000 lie-flat seat to Europe at 55,000 miles + ~$250 taxes: (4,000 − 250) ÷ 55,000 × 100 = 6.8¢ per point — your grocery card is funding business class.
2. The Citi trifecta. Strata Premier for travel and its own 3x categories · Custom Cash for one 5x category · Double Cash at 2x on everything else. Nothing in your budget earns below 2x, and it all pools into one transferable balance.
3. AAdvantage access. Citi is the transferable currency with a live American AAdvantage pipeline — a genuine differentiator when AA has saver space.
4. Unpaired fallback. No Strata? $25/month maximum at 5% is still $300/year from one category, fee-free. Good — just half of what the same swipes are worth transferred.
Fine print worth knowing
- The 5% cap is $500 of spend per billing cycle — it does not roll over, and the category is picked automatically (you can't override it).
- Foreign transaction fee applies — not a card for overseas spend.
- If you close your only Strata card, remaining points typically fall back to 1¢ value — keep the premium card open to preserve transfers.
- Citi's 48-month bonus rules are moot here (product changes and closed applications earn no bonus anyway).
Who should get it
Keep (or product-change into) the Custom Cash if you have one strong monthly category — groceries, gas, dining — and ideally a Strata Premier to give the points somewhere to go. As a trio with the Double Cash, it's the cheapest 5x anywhere in a transferable currency.
If you can't get it anymore, the closest live substitutes are a Chase Freedom Flex (rotating 5x, activation required) or simply concentrating category spend on a Strata Premier's own 3x categories. Map your options in Points Path and track balances in your Rewards Wallet.
Bottom line
The Custom Cash was the smartest no-fee 5% card ever built — automatic, capped but generous, and secretly a ThankYou-points earner. Closed to new applicants, it's now a card to hold onto and maximize: point one $500/month category at it, pair it with a Strata, and 30,000 transferable points a year show up for spending you were doing anyway.
Card details & current status →
Related: How much are your points worth? · Citi transfer partners · Citi Strata Premier guide · Citi Double Cash guide · Citi Strata Elite guide
