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The Citi® Double Cash Card is currently one of the best cash back credit cards for flexible spending.
This card fills the role as a long term, market-leading cash back rate option. You’ll earn 1% cash back on all your purchases, and then another 1% cash back once you pay off those purchases.
There’s no annual fee, so this makes a good choice for low spenders as well as those who are looking to maximize rewards with multiple cards. Competitor cash back cards with no annual fee that earn on flexible spending typically earn 1% to 1.5% (we’ll go over competitors below). For a no-annual-fee Citi card that earns ThankYou points, see the Citi Rewards+® Card.
*Citibank offers good bonuses for their Checking accounts also.
2% Cash Back & More With The Citi® Double Cash Card
You’ll earn 1% cash back on all your purchases, regardless of spending category. Then, once you pay off those purchases, you’ll receive another 1% cash back. If you carry a balance, that extra 1% won’t come right away so it’s a good incentive for responsible credit card usage.
There is no cap on the amount of cash back you’ll receive at the maximum 2% rate. Be sure to pay at least the minimum due to earn the additional 1% cash back if you’re not paying off the balance in full each month.
What Doesn’t Earn Cash Back
It makes total sense but it’s worth mentioning that you won’t earn cash back on balance transfers, cash advances, account fees, interest, or returned items. As you make qualifying purchases, the Purchase Tracker will keep a running tab on what will earn you cash back.
What Are The Cash Back Redemption Options?
- Checks mailed to you
- Statement credits
- Gift cards
This is a cash back card so there is no rewards conversion necessary. The 1-2% that you earn is the value you can redeem for.
Who’s This Card Good For?
- Users that don’t want to keep up with rotating categories and rewards limits on categories.
- Users that want to maximize rewards by using this card as a supplement to another card that earns higher cash back in spending categories.
Who’s This Card Bad For?
- Users looking for quicker short-term value with a sign-up bonus.
- Users wanting the option to redeem for flights, hotels, and other travel.
- Users who need a card to travel abroad. The Citi® Double Cash Card will incur a 3% foreign transaction fee, so you’ll definitely need another option.
- Users who tend to spend a lot on certain categories that other cards give a higher rate towards, such as Travel, Dining, etc.
What’s The Competition?
CAPITAL ONE® QUICKSILVER® CASH REWARDS CREDIT CARD
The Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card will earn a $200 bonus when you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months. The bonus offer is comparable to its top competitors, but this card earns a respectable 1.5% cash back on every purchase with no limit on how much you can earn. There are no spending categories to keep up with and the cash back won’t expire while the account is open.
People like this card because of the cash back rate, the flexibility to redeem your cash back for any amount, and there’s no annual fee.
CHASE FREEDOM FLEX℠
The Chase Freedom Flex℠ credit card is going to earn you a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. The welcome bonus comes in the form of 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points. This card has no annual fee.
This card earns 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate (new categories each quarter). Travel purchased through Chase also earns 5%.
This card earns Ultimate Rewards (UR) points and is a popular option for a multi Chase card strategy. You can pool points together with consumer cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Or, with a business card like the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card. The 20,000 UR points could be worth around $400 with this strategy, rather than the standard $200. Read more on this here.
CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED® CARD
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card currently has an offer for 100,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Redeeming the 100,000 bonus points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, which is praised by users, will get you $1,250 in value towards travel. The 100K bonus points are worth $1,250 because you get 25% more value whenever you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Even better, strategize with Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer partners to potentially get even more value. Each point can be worth up to 2 cents apiece (100k points = ~$2,000). Read more on this here.
Pool the Ultimate Rewards points earned from this card with Chase’s other Ultimate Rewards cards for a great strategy. Other Ultimate Rewards cards include the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Ink Business cards.
Ongoing rewards with this card include earning 2 points per $1 on Dining at restaurants (including eligible delivery and takeout) and Travel. It’s 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
You’ll now also get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced fees on eligible orders over $12 for a minimaum of one year with DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service. You must activate by 12/31/21.
There are no foreign transaction fees and the annual fee is $95 for this card.
| OFFER LINK | OFFER | OUR REVIEW |
| Bank of America Checking | $100 Offer | Review |
| Chase Business Complete Banking℠ | $300 Cash | Review |
| TD Bank Beyond Checking | $300 Cash | Review |
| TD Bank Convenience Checking℠ | $150 Cash | Review |
| HSBC Premier Checking | $450 Cash | Review |
| HSBC Premier Checking | Up To $600 | Review |
| Axos Business Checking | $100 Cash | Review |
| Aspiration Checking | $100 Cash | Review |
| Ally Invest | Up To $3,000 | Review |
| Betterment | Up To 1 Year Free | Review |
| Voyager (code BH5F1A) | $25 In BTC | Review |
| Coinbase | $10 In BTC | Review |
| BlockFi | Up To $250 BTC | Review |
The 2% on Citi’s card is nice, but customer service is pretty weak. Well, insulting. When you have a question that the automaton can’t find an answer to in the script binder, they suggest a manager call you back within 48 hours. I’m not joking. You see, all of the customer service managers are in meeting each time you call. Fancy that. So very busy. They’ll perhaps ring you if available on their own timeline, say, in about two days. Not worth it in my opinion.