Citi Rewards Card – Purchases and Balance Transfer Offer

Pauline Hatch

Pauline is a personal finance expert at CreditCard.com.au, with 8 years in money, budgeting and property reporting under her belt. Ask Pauline a Question about this card.

The new, limited-time offer on the Citi Rewards Card makes it a much more versatile card. Kind of an impressive one, to be honest, especially since there’s no annual fee the first year, giving you time to use the perks without paying for it out of pocket.

Already a decent low-cost rewards card, Citi has now added two helpful bonuses: 14 months interest-free on new purchases and balance transfers. It’s worth a gander if you want to make a big purchase and pay it off interest-free, or be the boss of your debt and still get points and perks.

Note: you’ll need to apply before 31 October 2023 to get the 0% purchase offer.

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I’ll go through the promotional offers and clear up some of the fine print.

The 0% purchase offer: The 14 months kick in on the date of your application approval (you must be a new customer to Citi Rewards credit cards to apply, but you can have had a different Citi card before). Once the 14-month promo period ends, the regular purchase rate of 21.49% p.a. will start up again.

The balance transfer offer: You won’t pay interest interest on any debt you move from a non-Citi-branded credit card for 14 months. You can transfer up to 80% of your existing credit limit (ie, if your limit was $10,000, you could transfer $8000). You won’t pay a balance transfer fee, either.

A note about Citi balance transfers: Citi’s balance transfers are a cut above because you can transfer more than just credit card debt. Unlike most credit providers, it also includes flexible personal loans, lines of credit like Buy now pay later services, and Visa and Mastercard balances from all banks. You just can’t transfer from an existing Citi account.

No annual fee: The Citi Rewards Card is helpful if you’re paying off big purchases or balances, and the waived annual fee gives you chance to do it faster. Even when the annual fee kicks back in, it’s still on the lower end for a rewards card at $149 p.a.

Discounts: Citi has some nice deals with partnering companies that turn into discounts for you. For instance, you can get a 10% discount Limited Time Lux Exclusive hotel offers (up to $250). Use your card and enter the promo code when you’re booking. The offer ends 1 March 2024.

Citi has also introduced its new My Cashback program, where you’re sent personalised offers for your favourite stores through the Citi Mobile app, and earn cashback when you use an offer and pay with your Citi Rewards Card.

You can take advantage of the Citi PayAll feature which lets you schedule recurring payments for your rent, education fees, childcare, taxes, bills, and more. Effective 1 November 2023, the Citi PayAll fee changed to 0.95%.

Other benefits include:

• Earn Citi reward Points on eligible transactions.
• Complimentary insurance covers.
• Up to 55 days interest-free on retail purchases.
• Anti-fraud security features.
• 24/7 personal concierge service available 24/7.
• Access to Citi instalment plans
• Compatible with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, and the Citi Mobile® App for personal account access.

What’s not so great…

Sadly, all good things come to an end, and it’s the same for interest on this card. Once the promotional interest-free period ends, you’ll be treated to an interest rate of 21.49% for retail purchases, and a very hefty cash advance rate of 22.24% on any remaining balance transfer.

While that’s standard practice for credit cards, it does highlight how important it is to use the interest-free time wisely. You can be a super-savvy credit card legend if you have a smart budget in place that pays your debt off completely before the promo period ends. Then just keep using all the best parts of the card: earning points and freebies.

While the card comes with 55 days interest free (after the promo period is finished), they won’t apply if you have money owing on your balance transfer. Another reminder to pay 👏 debt 👏 off 👏 quickly.

While Citi has waived the annual fee for the card, you will pay $90 for additional cardholders, even in the first year.

The PDS states that this card has a cap on points. You’ll earn “1 Point per $1 on eligible Domestic Spend up to $10,000 per Statement Period”. Points you earn on spending overseas are uncapped.

Earning points on the Citi Rewards Card

Citi is pretty generous with its points. You can transfer Citi rewards Points to frequent flyer programs, Flybuys and redeem them within its own rewards store.

• Earn 1 Citi rewards Point per $1 on all eligible transactions made overseas or online with a merchant that is based overseas
• Earn 1 Citi rewards Point per $1 on all eligible transactions in Australia (up to $10,000 per statement period)
• Earn 1 Citi rewards Point per $1 on all eligible transactions using Citi PayAll

Here’s how you can use your points.

• Pay with Points: Use your points to pay for eligible purchases and receive a credit back.
• Shop with Points: You can use your points to pay when shopping at Kogan.
• Travel: Access the Citi Travel Portal to use your points to book flights, hotels, car hire, activities or even create your own itinerary.
• Points Transfer: Choose to transfer your Citi reward Points to partner programs, including Velocity Frequent Flyer, Emirates Skywards, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Flybuys and more.

The Citi Rewards Card also comes with complimentary insurance which include the following:

• Complimentary Mobile Phone Insurance. Monthly cover on eligible mobile phones for accidental damage or theft when you use your card to pay your monthly mobile plan bill.
• Complimentary International Travel Insurance up to 6 months
• Complimentary Purchase Cover Insurance and Extended Warranty Insurance

Overall Rating

The Citi Rewards Card - Purchases and Balance Transfer Offer is a handy card if you want the rare combination of interest-free periods and to be able to earn rewards points at the same time.

There aren’t too many cards with that combo of offers in one place. It’s a card that shines for anyone wanting to get ahead of some debt (especially since Citi allows you to rollover debt from personal loans) and keep the costs to a minimum. Just remember applications for the 0% interest promo close 31 October 2023.