Citibank Credit Card Offers

The bank, which is a subsidiary of Citicorp, has come a long way since its origins. It's still headquartered in New York City, but it's now a global bank. There are now more than 4,600 branches around the world. It serves approximately 200 clients in 160 countries and jurisdictions.

Fun fact about Citibank: Citibank is often credited for popularizing ATMs. Back in 1977, the chairman of Citibank spent more than $100 million to install ATMs throughout New York City. Why do you need a machine that gives you money when there's a perfectly good bank that can do it, people wondered. But that decision paid off the following January when a blizzard pretty much shut down New York City and closed businesses around the city, including banks. The ATMs, however, remained open.

Citibank is very much a bank, but they offer a lot of services beyond banking - life insurance, disability and long-term care insurance and credit cards, for instance.

Citi credit card holders are generally people with good to excellent credit. There are Citi credit card offers for small business owners, students, cards geared for travelers and for people who want to pay off their credit card debt by using a 0% introductory APR balance transfer card.

CardRatings has named several Citibank credit cards to its best credit cards of 2021 lists, including:

(Citi is a CardRatings advertiser)

• Citi^® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer (This card is not currently available on CardRatings) - Best Citi Card for Cash Back
• Citi^® Diamond Preferred^® Card - Best Citi Card for Balance Transfers
• Citi Premier® Card - Best Citi Card for Travel

Citibank offers many credit cards for just about every type of cardholder. It has travel rewards credit cards and business cards, and if you're looking for cash back credit cards and cards with long promotional intro APR offers, you can definitely find that as well. Plus, student credit cards and secured credit cards.

What Are Citi Credit Card Benefits?

Extended warranty. Your card may extend the manufacturer's warranty after it expires. The important thing to remember is that if the item doesn't have a warranty to begin with, the card won't create one. It only extends them. There are also exceptions to be aware of. For instance, it won't extend a warranty onto tires you bought for your car.

Damage & Theft Purchase Protection. If your card has this, you can shop with even more peace of mind. If something you bought with your Citibank card is damaged or stolen within 120 days (90 days for New York residents) of buying the item, you may be able to get it repaired or replaced. Up to $10,000 per item or $50,000 per year.

Citi Concierge. This is a nice benefit for cardholders. If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of booking a flight or a hotel, or getting a good reservation at a restaurant, Citibank concierges can help you do all of that around the clock.

Cell phone protection. If your cell phone is lost or damaged, your Citibank card may be able to replace or repair it. As long as you've been paying your cell phone bill with your credit card. Otherwise, well, you can use your Citibank credit card to buy a new one.

How Hard Is It To Get a Citibank Credit Card?

There's an old joke - "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" And the punch line is: "Practice, practice, practice."

It's kind of the same thing with applying for a credit card. Is it hard to get a Citibank credit card or any credit card? Not if you've been practicing good spending habits, like paying all of your bills on time and not taking on too much debt. If that's the case, and your credit score is high, it shouldn't be hard to get a Citibank credit card.

If your credit score needs a lot of work, it probably will be. That said, you could get a Citi^® Secured Mastercard^® . You'll have to put down a security deposit, but having the card will help you build credit, so that you can get a really good Citibank credit card.

What Are the Best Citibank Credit Cards?

There are a lot of Citibank credit cards, but here are the chosen few.

Best Citi Cash Back Card

Citi^® Double Cash Card - 18 month BT offer

This card is also a candidate for the "best credit card for balance transfers" offering a 0% intro APR for 18 months from the date of the first transfer, then 13.99% – 23.99% (Variable) but it's also an excellent cash back rewards credit card.

So about the cash…

You'll earn 2% cash back on every purchase. That said, it's a different system than most cards. You get an unlimited 1% cash back the moment you make your purchase - and another 1% cash back once you've paid for those purchases. As long as you at least pay the minimum monthly payment on time, you can earn 2% cash back.

(And worth noting - if you transfer a balance, it won't earn cash back.)

Anyway, it's a great credit card if you're looking for one with a simple cash back rate. It's not as good of a card if you want to travel (there's a foreign transaction fee of 3%) or were hoping for a welcome bonus (there is none).

Best Citi Credit Card for a Balance Transfer

Citi^® Diamond Preferred^® Card

As with many credit cards that brag about a long balance transfer period with an intro APR of 0%, it doesn't have all that much else going for it. The Citi^® Diamond Preferred^® Card has no welcome bonus. No rewards. No annual fee (oh, wait, that's a good thing).

But the big selling point is an introductory APR of 0% for 18 months for balance transfers and new purchases then 13.74% - 23.74% Variable.

So this may be a great card for you. Just keep in mind that you'll need to transfer the balance within four months of opening the account to get that 0% intro APR, and there is a balance transfer fee (which is so easy to forget about when you're excited about a 0% intro APR). The balance transfer fee is 3% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum of the amount of money you're transferring. Whatever is higher, naturally.

Best Citi Credit Card For Travel

Citi Premier® Card

Here's the good news: New cardholders earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first three months of opening an account (you can redeem those points for $800 in gift cards). And the even better news is that there's no bad news to go along with the good news.

In fact, there's a lot of praise one can offer for this card. Some highlights:

You'll earn 3 points when you spend money at restaurant at supermarkets.

You'll nab 3 points at gas stations, when you buy airline tickets, and when you go to hotels. On everything else, you'll get 1 point for every dollar you spend.

There is no foreign transaction fee with this card, and there's also a new annual hotel savings benefit. Spend $500 at a hotel (not including taxes and fees) through thankyou.com, once a year, and you'll get $100 off. Your points won't expire, and you can earn as many as you want. No limit.