citi

CITI CUSTOM CASH

mastercard

Citi

Citi Custom Cash

No annual fee · 20,000 point signup bonus · targeted category bonus, no annual fee TYP, gas or groceries slot

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Quick Stats

Annual Fee

Signup Bonus

20,000 pts

Spend Requirement

$1,500 in 6mo

Foreign Transaction Fee

Yes

Credit Score

good

Currency

TYP

Earning Rates

top eligible category5x

dining1x

travel1x

groceries1x

gas1x

other1x

Earning Caps

top_eligible_category: up to $NaN/billing_cycle

Travel portal value

Worth 1¢ per point when booking through Citi's travel portal

1¢/pt

Transfer Partners

Citi ThankYou Points

Airlines

Turkish Miles&Smiles

TK·Star Alliance

1:1

instant

Singapore KrisFlyer

SQ·Star Alliance

1:1

12-24 hours

Air France/KLM Flying Blue

AF·SkyTeam

1:1

instant

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

VS·SkyTeam

1:1

instant

Avianca LifeMiles

AV·Star Alliance

1:1

instant

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

CX·oneworld

1:1

instant

Emirates Skywards

1:1

instant

Etihad Guest

1:1

instant

JetBlue TrueBlue

1:1

instant

Qantas Frequent Flyer

QF·oneworld

1:1

instant

Qatar Airways Privilege Club

QR·oneworld

1:1

instant

Hotels

Accor Live Limitless

1:1

instant

Choice Privileges

1:1

instant

Wyndham Rewards

1:1

instant

Perks & Benefits

5x on top eligible category each cycle ($500 cap)
Auto-detected highest category
No annual fee
TYP transfer eligible with Strata Premier

The Verdict

4/5

ByEllis Church·Mar 11, 2026

The set-it-and-forget-it 5x card — auto-detects your top category every month.

The Custom Cash is a genius concept: a 5x card that requires zero effort. Slot it into your wallet for one specific category (gas or groceries work best) and stay under $500/month in that category. It's perfect as a specialist card in a larger portfolio. Pair it with a Strata Premier and your ThankYou Points become transferable to airline partners. Don't try to make it your only card — the 1x base rate is too weak.

Pros

5x on your top spending category each billing cycle — no activation, no choosing, it just picks the highest one
No annual fee with access to ThankYou Points transfers (when paired with Strata Premier)
Effectively 5% back on gas, groceries, dining, or whatever you spend most on — automatically
Low spend requirement for signup bonus ($1,500 in 6 months) makes it very achievable

Cons

$500/billing cycle cap on 5x earning limits the upside to $25/month in bonus value
Only 1x on everything that isn't your top category — weak for general spending
3% foreign transaction fee rules out international use
Auto-detection means you can't choose — if gas edges out groceries by $10, that's your 5x category whether you wanted it or not