Yesterday Citi launched a new credit card called the AT&T Access More Card from Citi, a lot has already been written about this card but I thought it would be useful to complete an in depth review of the card. Note, we are talking about the AT&T access more card, there is also an AT&T access card with no annual fee and different benefits. PFdigest has a post on this card.
Application Information
At the moment there isn’t a lot of application information available, because this card has just been launched. As it’s added, we will update this section.
What Credit Score Is Required
| Â | Credit Boards | Credit Karma |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest approved score | N/A | N/A |
| Average approved score | N/A | N/A |
Common Reasons For Denial:
- Bankruptcy on file
What Credit Bureau Does Citi Pull For The AT&T Access More Card?
The credit bureau that Citi pulls is dependent on which state you live in. To get a good idea of what bureau they are likely to pull, your best bet is to use the credit boards credit pull application and enter in Citi and the state you live in. This isn’t always 100% accurate, but it should give you a very good indication of what bureau they will pull.
What Credit Limit Will I Receive?
| Minimum Credit Limit | Highest Reported Credit Limit | Average Credit Limit |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Rewards Program
This card earns ThankYou points, keep reading for how to earn and redeem these points using your access more card.
Earning Rewards
This card has a 10,000 point bonus that you earn if you spend $10,000 or more in a single card member year. These bonus points will generally post 1-2 billing cycles after your membership year ends. You also earn points at the following rates:
- 3x points on all AT&T purchases
- 3x points on all travel websites (e.g online travel agencies, hotel websites and airline websites)
- 3x points on all retail websites (e.g websites that sell goods directly to the consumer through an online website and include department store websites, specialty store websites, warehouse store websites and boutique websites)
- 1x points on all other purchases
Sign Up Bonus
The sign up bonus on this card has always been the same, we will add in the history if this offer changes. The sign up bonus is a little bit difficult to explain so let’s break it down:
- You can use your AT&T access more card now (or later)Â to purchase a phone from AT&T at full price with no lock in contract from a special link that they provide
- If you spend $2,000 or more within three months of account opening (the phone purchae counts towards this)
- Then Citi will credit your account with up to $650 (this excludes any taxes, shipping, fees & wireless service)
- You must maintain your service with AT&T for at least 15 days
It’s not possible to get the sign up bonus again if you’ve had an open or closed AT&T access more card within the past 18 months. Your phone purchase does count towards the $2,000 minimum spend requirement.
Redeeming Your Rewards
these points can be redeemed for cash back, gift cards and can even be transferred to Citi travel transfer partners if you have another card that comes with this ability (e.g Citi ThankYou Premier or Citi ThankYou Prestige). You’ll receive 1¢ per point in value unless you’re using the benefits of the Premier or Prestige cards.
Our Verdict
Let’s break down the sign up bonus first, at the absolute maximum you’ll be able to get $555 in value, this is because you have to pay the $95 annual fee upfront. If you don’t want to be an AT&T customer you’ll also need to pay another $15-$60 fees (remembering you need to be a customer for at least 15 days and you need to wait 60 days to unlock the phone). Even so, a bonus of $500+ is great, this card is really best suited for those who are in the market for a new phone.
It’s too early to get excited about the potential for 3x on retail websites, as we don’t know how many will be eligible. 3x on AT&T purchases isn’t exactly exciting, considering it’s possible to get 5x on all telecommunication expenses. If the 3x on retail websites does end up being useful, those who spend over $10,000 will really be receiving a card with no annual fee (as the 10,000 points more than offsets this).
My personal recommendation? Sit tight. Let’s see the pricing on the phones they have on offer and how difficult that process is. In addition to this, let’s also wait and see what counts as a retail website. There are plenty of big offers on Citi credit cards at the moment and you can only apply for two of these cards every 65 days (and you need to wait at least 8 days in between applications)
We Recommend This Card For:
- People in the market for a new phone
We Don’t Recommend This Card For:
- Those who already have a phone they are happy with
F.A.Q’s & Tips
Is the AT&T access more card a Visa or Mastercard or American Express?
Currently unknown, probably Visa or Mastercard. Citi also did this when they launched the Citi Double Cash card (not listing the payment network) and that turned out to be a Mastercard. If you look at this marketing image, you can also see the Mastercard logo on the back of the card.
Is it possible do to a product change to this card?
Yes, it is possible to product change to this card but keep in mind if you do so you won’t be eligible for the sign up bonus.
What counts as a retail travel website (3x)?
At the moment we don’t have any concrete data points on what does/doesn’t work. The only thing we have to go on is the fine print from the card. It states the following:
Retail websites are websites that sell goods directly to the consumer through an online website and include department store websites, specialty store websites, warehouse store websites and boutique websites.
Will AT&T unlock the phone so it can be used with other carriers?
Because your a post paid customer, you’ll be able to unlock your phone after 60 days of service according to this page on the AT&T website. You can usually also pay a third party for an unlock code.
What’s the cheapest plan to go onto?
Their cheapest plan that I could find that seems to be eligible for this offer is $30 a month.
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I got my card today and called Citi to ask if there is any expiration date on the phone offer, the rep told me the offer expires 3 months after account opening. So basically that means I have to spend $2k to quality for the reimbursement AND buy a new phone from AT&T in 3 months. That sounds strange to me as it sort of contradicts with the offer bulletin “Use your card, now or later, to buy a new phone from AT&T”. Will call again tomorrow hopefully to hear from a different rep.
I actually found this line in the terms:
General Offer Terms: Offer is valid for a one time statement credit up to $650 for one eligible phone, is not transferrable and does not expire.
So it seems like the rep was probably a little confused about the phone offer and the $2k spending time window.
Thank you. I was looking for this info. Hopefully offer does not expire.
some one mentioned postpaid account will add another enquiry by ATT, is it true, any feedback experts ?
Two enquires are not worth ~500 bonus…
I’ve contacted AT&T, so will find out soon enough.
Got amy feedback from att?
Nope, but will have a post tomorrow I think (Chuck is writing it so not 100% sure)
If you are an existing ATT customer then you won’t get second hard enquiry as per CSR ( not sure ).
Yup, we’ve heard that. Some note that it’s only if you were already a customer for 6 months.
See also this post
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/more-on-att-access-card-existing-att-customers-and-hard-pulls/
where we clarified that existing ATT customers don’t even need to resign any agreement to get the bonus.
got approved for this card for $5700.equifax 722. Asked the representative, they don’t know when the link will be sent out.
Sir…so according to the deal, one MUST activate a line of service to use with the phone for at least 15 days? and then one can cancel…wait 60 days to unlock it from AT&T?
You just need a postpaid account for a minimum of 15 days and then wait 60 days to unlock it (I assume you need to be a customer for these 60 days, but not 100% sure).
Im sorry..my English not so good….what is a “postpaid” account?
My Fico is 688 and Transunion is 701. What are my odds of approval of this card? History of credit ~1 year.
No idea yet, we don’t have a lot of data points currently.
Can we get Apple watch with the bonus or only smartphone ?
Pretty sure it’s only a smartphone, but we should know soon enough.
Ugh… decisions decisions. To finish off my AOR, I was just about sign up for Citi Prestige as card app number 2 but that would then put me in a cool down period and I could use a new phone now. The LG G4 is coming out this week. I can’t imagine the link here is anything more than a better way of tracking the phone purchase through so Citi knows to credit you and for how much(similar to a cash back portal). I’m seriously tempted on going in early on this one.
I think its a bit silly to say that you don’t recommend the card to people who already have a phone or have a phone they are happy with…
Lets not forget that you can sell the phones (especially if its a top end phone) for 80-100% of the retail price depending on how hard you try!
That seems like great value to me! $650 Cash in hand after a tiny $2000 spend >>> 65k Points (especially with all these devaluations that have recently happened)
I think you’re going to struggle to get anywhere near 100% of the retail price of the phone. Also it’s not $650 cash in hand, you need to pay the annual fee of $95 and then pay for a few months of AT&T service as well.
My concern is with regards to what phones will be offered through the “mystery link”. Will the link offer any phone that AT&T sells, or will it be their selection of phones that are either not selling well, not priced at $650, or their phones heavily subsidized by the manufacturer. $650 is the price point for the iPhone, so that could be a clue, but without knowing this is a bit scary. Bummer too, because I have been delaying the purchase of a new cell phone for a couple months now. I am very tempted to go after this offer. Maybe I need to guinea pig this one.
I’ve contacted Citi, they’ll have a list of the phones and prices for me shortly.
have u got that list ?
Nope, they came back with a bit of a nothing answer, hoping for something better soon.
I have got that link. There are lots of phone there including iphone 6 and iphone 6+
Only postpaid plan is eligible. That means another hard pull from att will be conducted plus $40 activation fee. The lowest postpaid plan is $45 per month. It seems the sign up bonus is not even $400. I might skip it. By the way, correct me if I’m wrong
Sounds like a good point about the second hard pull.
Would they really do a hard pull for a postpaid service? That doesn’t seem right…
Prepaid plan= no hard pull. Postpaid plan=hard pull. Thats what att CSR told me
Interesting, contacting AT&T now to confirm this.