The Citi Rewards card stands out for those who enjoy shopping, especially online shopping. When you pair Citi Rewards with the right app, this card becomes significantly more powerful – unlocking 10X Points with even more merchants. Honestly, I didn’t expect to use this card as often as I do. In this review, let’s break down the Citi Rewards card and whether you should add it to your wallet.

Table of Contents:

1. What is the Citi Rewards Card
2. Sign-Up Promotion
3. Main Benefits
4. Other Notable Benefits
5. Main Cost
6. Eligibility
7. How I use the Citi Rewards Card
8. Redeeming the Reward Points
9. My Verdict (Who This Card is Best For)
10. Merchant Category Codes (MCC)

Disclosure: This post on Citi Rewards contains referral links. Hence, I may receive some money for coffee when you use my referral link for the credit card application. But no, there is no additional cost to you. In fact, you will receive some cash or cash equivalent incentives too! In any case, I will only recommend products or services that meet my needs and expectations.

One Minute Summary:

• Citi Reward card’s main benefit lies in giving 10X Points for charges that are made via the internet or mobile applications.
• As a result, this is equivalent to earning a cashback of 2.27%, or 4 miles per dollar.
• Summing up, such an earning rate is higher than some of the general cash back or miles credit cards.
• If you intend to sign up for the card, be sure to check out the sign-up promotion at the end of this post – you will enjoy the gifts!

Part 1: What is the Citi Rewards Card

Citi Rewards is a reward-based credit card that awards reward points for your spending. After the eligible transaction has been posted, Citibank will credit the points to your Citibank Rewards Balance. Thereafter, you may use these reward points to offset your spending, to convert them into airline miles or redeem them with partners.

Note: Citibank uses the term “Citi ThankYou Points” for the points earned on the Citi Rewards Card. Since there is no additional meaning behind the term, we will simply stick to the universal term “reward points”.

Part 2: Sign-Up Promotion

Part 2.1: SingSaver Exclusive Reward Options

Use my referral link to unlock the following offer as a new Citi Card Holder:

Spend a minimum qualifying spend of $500 within 30 days of card approval to receive one of the following reward options:

• $400 cash via PayNow
• $430 Grab Voucher
• Apple iPad (A16) 11″ WiFi 128GB (worth $499)
• Apple Watch SE Gen 3 40mm (GPS + Cell) (worth $419)
• Dyson Airstrait (worth $799)
• Top up $50 for Dyson Digital Slim Submarine™ (worth S$699)
• Top up $300 for Nintendo Switch 2 (worth $719)

Promotion Period: 5 December 2025 to 14 December 2025

Part 2.2: Citibank Welcome Gift Promotion

New cardholders who make a qualifying spend of $800 within 2 calendar months of card approval will also receive 40,000 Reward Points.

Promotion Period: 1 August 2024 to 28 February 2026

Part 3: Main Benefits

Citi Rewards operates on a two-tier awards system.

1. 1X Base Point
2. 9X Bonus Points

Part 3.1: 1X Base Point

Generally, you will earn 1 Base Point for every $1 spent. Once the transaction is posted, Citibank will credit the reward points automatically into your rewards balance.

Part 3.2: 9X Bonus Points

You can earn an additional 9X Bonus Points when you spend at

• Any store that sells shoes, bags and clothes as its main business activity; or
• Online retail merchants, excluding mobile wallet and travel-related transactions.

You may refer to Part 9 of this post for the list of qualifying Merchant Category Codes (MCC). Similar to the Base Point, Bonus Points will be credited once the transaction is posted.

Summary Table: Reward Points Earned per Category

Part 4: Other Notable Benefits

Part 4.1: Complimentary Travel Insurance

Charge the entire fare for travel onto your Citi Rewards card and enjoy the following travel insurance benefit:

Part 5: Main Cost

All things considered, you should know the cost and limitations associated with a Citi Rewards card.

Part 5.1: Fees and Charges

• Annual Fee: $196.20, waived for the first year
• Cash Advance Fee: $15 or 8% of the amount withdrawn, whichever higher
• Foreign Currency Transaction Fee: 3.25%
• Interest Charges: 27.9% per annum
• Late Payment Charge: $100
• Overlimit Fee: $40

Most credit cards charge an annual fee. That being said, based on my personal experience, Citibank has been generous in waiving mine. However, we shouldn’t take this kind gesture for granted. To reach the card’s breakeven point, you will need to spend at least:

• $8,630 a year, or $719 a month (based on a cashback rate of 2.27%), or
• $3,270 a year, or $272.50 a month (based on a mile valuation of $0.015).

Part 5.2: Limitations

Part 5.2.1: Computing the Reward Points earned

Citibank rounds your transaction amount down to the nearest $1. You will earn:

• 1 Base Point per rounded dollar on all qualifying merchants, and
• Additional 9 Bonus Points per rounded dollar on eligible merchants.

To illustrate, if you spend $9.99 online, you will earn a total of 90 reward points.

Formula: (1) Round $9.99 down to the nearest $1 block, i.e. $9; (2) Each dollar earns 1 Base Point and 9 Bonus Points, i.e. $9 x 1 Base Point + $9 x 9 Bonus Points = 90 Points

As can be seen, $0.99 was a part of your spending but was excluded under the computation for the credit card rewards.

Part 5.2.2: Earning Cap

There is no cap on the number of Base Points that you can earn. However, Citibank caps the Bonus Points at 9,000 Bonus Points per statement month. To illustrate, consider the following two transactions that occurred within the same statement month:

Although both transactions are eligible for 10X Points, Citibank will only award 9,000 Bonus Points in your statement (instead of 7,200 + 4,950 = 12,150 Bonus Points). Summing up, you will earn 10,350 Points in this statement month (take 800 Base Points + 550 Base Points + 9,000 Points).

Given the earning cap, you should spend at most $1,000 in each statement month. What a fantastic way to control your spending!

Part 5.2.3: Reward Points Expiry

Citi ThankYou Points has a 60-month points validity period starting from your card issuance date. The subsequent points earned will commence a new 60-month validity period from the expiration of your current points. Citibank will notify you 3 months before your points expire.

Part 6: Eligibility

To apply for a Citi Rewards card, then you must fulfil both of the following conditions:

• Age Requirement: At least 21 years old;
• For Singapore Citizens or Residents: Minimum annual income of $30,000;
• For Expatriate: Minimum annual income of $42,000.

P.S. Be sure to check out Part 2 of this post for the latest sign-up promotion!

Part 7: How I use the Citi Rewards Card

Citi Rewards accounts for all my online and app-based related expenditure that are below the $1,000 earning cap. Examples include:

• Online shopping on AliExpress, Amazon, AppSumo (MCC 7392), Lazada, Shopee, Taobao
• Order food delivery on Deliveroo, Foodpanda, Grab Food
• Payments made via Fave app, Shopback app
• Private hire rides with Grab

I also use Citi Rewards to pay for my mobile service bill with Giga. Since Citi Rewards does not award points for recurring transactions, I will manually buy a $10 gigaBucks pack to ensure I receive the 10X Points.

If a purchase exceeds $1,000, I use FavePay Later to split it into smaller payments. Each instalment will usually earn 10X Points.

When travelling overseas, I pair Citi Rewards with Instarem’s amaze card. Through this pairing, Instarem converts the offline transactions into online ones – allowing me to earn 10X Points on even more categories. Instarem’s FX rates also tend to be better than most banks.

Part 8: Redeeming the Reward Points

There are three ways to redeem your reward points:

1. Pay with points
2. Convert the points into airlines miles
3. Receive a cash rebate.

Part 8.1: Pay with Points

You may use 440 Reward Points to offset $1. This offset is equivalent to a 2.27% cashback.

Formula for Pay with Points: (1) Need to spend $44 to earn 440 Reward Points; (2) $1 / $44 = 2.27%

Here is a step-by-step guide:

1. From the top of the Citibank app, tap on your Points balance.
2. Tap “Pay with Points”.
3. Next, Citibank will show you the list of transactions and the number of points required to pay with your reward points.
4. Tap on the transaction that you wish to pay with your reward points.
5. Tap “Pay with Points”.

Rather than to do this manually, you may also choose to pay with points all the time. To do so, use the “Always Pay with Points” function to setup an automatic redemption for your purchase. This saves you the hassle to login to your Citi Mobile app to make an ad-hoc redemption each time.

Part 8.2: Convert into Miles (Points Transfer)

You may convert 25,000 reward points into 10,000 airline miles and transfer them to your airline loyalty programme. This conversion is equivalent to 4 miles per dollar.

Formula for miles: (1) Need to spend $2,500 to earn 25,000 Reward Points; (2) 10,000 airline miles / $2,500 = 4 miles per dollar

Here is a step-by-step guide:

1. From the top of the Citibank app, tap on your Points balance.
2. Tap “Points Transfer”.
3. Read the splash message and tap “Let’s go”.
4. Scroll through the list to find your favourite airline.
5. Select how many miles you would like to redeem.
6. Tap the right arrow to proceed.

Citibank charges an administrative fee of $27.25 (inclusive of 9% GST) for each redemption.

Part 8.3: Cash Rebate

You may also convert 4,400 reward points into a $10 cash rebate. This conversion is equivalent to 2.27% cashback as well.

Formula for cashback: (1) Need to spend $440 to earn 4,400 Reward Points; (2) $10 / $440 = 2.27% cashback

Here is a step-by-step guide:

1. Tap “Cash Rebate”.
2. Select the amount of cash rebate to redeem with points.
3. Tap “Redeem Cash Rebate Now”.

Upon successful redemption, Citibank will credit the cash rebate into your credit card account immediately.

Summary of the Citi Rewards Points Redemption

Part 9: My Verdict (Who This Card is Best For)

The Citi Rewards card is best for

• Online shoppers and frequent department store shoppers,
• Hybrid users who enjoy the flexibility of choosing between cashback and miles,
• Avid travellers.

By spending $1,000 consistently each month, you could well redeem a round-trip business ticket to Tokyo at the end of the year!

However, you may wish to consider other cards if you:

• Are a high spender,
• Pay mostly via Apple Pay or Google Pay,
• Prefer instant gratification from cashback.

Part 10: Merchant Category Codes (MCC)

Part: Store that sells shoes and bags and clothes

In this category, the merchant’s main business activity should be to sell shoes, bags and clothes. Here are the 11 Merchant Category Codes (MCC) that qualify:

Part: Travel-related transactions

The following Merchant Category Codes (MCC) are travel-related and will not qualify for 10X Points:

First Published: 16 March 2022
Last Updated: 17 November 2025