I don’t usually make credit card decisions based on rumors.
There are always rumors in the points-and-miles world. Some turn out to be true, some turn out to be partly true, and some disappear as quickly as they showed up. That’s why I usually try not to overreact every time someone says a bank might be changing, closing, refreshing or “enhancing” a card.
But every once in a while, a rumor comes from a source reliable enough and involves a card useful enough that ignoring it feels like the bigger risk.
That’s where I found myself with the Citi Custom Cash Card.
The Rumor That Got My Attention
Frequent Miler recently wrote about the possibility that Citi may be pulling the Custom Cash from new applications, based on a rumor first posted by Doctor of Credit.
Doctor of Credit clearly labeled it as a rumor, which is important. But the report also noted that the tip came from someone who had previously shared accurate Citi information. That doesn’t make it official, and I’m not going to pretend that it does.
Still, I took action.
Banks Rarely Give A Last Call
The problem with waiting for official confirmation is that, by the time a bank confirms something, the useful part may already be over.
Credit card issuers don’t usually say, “Hey, everyone! You have two weeks left to apply for this card.” More often than not, the application page just disappears. We’ve seen that before with cards like the American Express Everyday cards, the Citi Rewards+ and plenty of others over the years.
Sometimes there are rumors first. Sometimes there are data points. Sometimes there’s nothing until people realize the application link is dead.
That’s why this kind of rumor is different from a random “this card might change someday” discussion. If a card is still available, has no annual fee, and is one you already have a use for, waiting for perfect certainty can mean missing the window entirely.
Why The Citi Custom Cash Is Worth Caring About
I’ve already written about why the Citi Custom Cash is worth a spot in a points-earning wallet, but the short version is that it’s useful because it’s simple.
The card earns 5% cash back, awarded as ThankYou points, on up to $500 in purchases each billing cycle in your top eligible spending category. After that, purchases in that category earn 1%. All other purchases also earn 1%.
The key is that you don’t have to choose the category in advance. You don’t have to activate anything. You don’t have to remember whether gas stations are this quarter’s bonus category and grocery stores are next quarter’s bonus category. Citi looks at your spending for the billing cycle and applies the 5X earning to your top eligible category.
The eligible categories include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs and live entertainment.
That makes the card especially useful if you keep it focused. Use it mostly for one category, and it can effectively become a 5X card for that type of spending. The $500-per-billing-cycle cap matters, so this isn’t a card for unlimited 5X earning. But for a no-annual-fee card, earning up to 2,500 ThankYou points per month in one category is still a pretty good deal.
Why I Finally Applied
I already have a Citi Custom Cash, so this wasn’t about grabbing a card I had completely ignored.
But my wife Sharon didn’t have one.
She also hadn’t applied for a new card in a while, so there wasn’t much downside for us. The card has no annual fee, so we’re not incurring another yearly cost just because of a rumor. There’s also a sign-up bonus of 20,000 ThankYou points after meeting the spending requirement, which gives the card some immediate value.
And most importantly, this wasn’t a card we were applying for only because it might disappear.
That’s the difference for me. If the rumor turns out to be wrong and Citi keeps accepting applications for the Custom Cash, I won’t be upset that Sharon has one. It’s a card we can actually use.
How It Fits Into Sharon’s Citi Setup
This also helps complete Sharon’s Citi setup.
She already has the Citi Double Cash and the Citi Strata Premier. Adding the Custom Cash gives her a pretty solid ThankYou points combination without making things overly complicated.
The Double Cash can be used for everyday purchases. The Premier can be used for groceries and broader travel-related spending. The Custom Cash can then be aimed at a specific 5X category, depending on what makes sense at the time.
For us, that could mean gas. It could also mean live entertainment if we have a larger purchase coming up, such as Halloween Horror Nights tickets at Universal. I’ve written before about how the Custom Cash can be surprisingly useful for live entertainment expenses, and theme park event tickets are exactly the kind of purchase where that category can matter.
That’s what makes this card valuable. It isn’t trying to be the one card you use for everything. It’s better as a targeted card you pull out when one of its bonus categories lines up with your spending.
It’s also why I still think the Custom Cash makes more sense than some other options when building out a Citi setup. As I wrote when comparing the Citi Strata and Custom Cash for a Citi Trifecta, the Custom Cash can fill a very specific role that’s hard to replace with a flat-rate card or a card earning 3X in selected categories.
This Wasn’t Panic. It Was A Nudge.
I don’t think applying for a credit card just because of a rumor is a good idea.
If you weren’t interested in the card yesterday and have no real use for it tomorrow, a possible discontinuation rumor shouldn’t change your plans. That’s how people end up with cards they don’t need, inquiries they regret and spending requirements they weren’t prepared to meet.
But this was different.
The Custom Cash was already a card that made sense for us. Sharon didn’t have one. There was no annual fee. The sign-up bonus was useful. And if the rumors are correct, waiting could have meant losing the ability to apply altogether.
That made the decision pretty easy.
Final Thought
I’m still not one to chase every credit card rumor. Most rumors are not worth changing your plans over.
But when the rumor involves a card you already wanted, comes from sources that have been right before, and the downside of acting is low, I think it’s reasonable to move before the application disappears.
That’s why this one was different.
I didn’t apply because I was afraid of missing out on something I didn’t need. I applied because this card already fit our plans, and the rumor was enough to stop procrastinating.
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