Citi added the option to redeem Citi ThankYou points for 1¢ for Citi Premier cardholders. Between May 23 and July 1, 2021 you could also redeem for 1¢ per point if you were a Citi Preferred cardholder, this was then changed back to 0.5¢ per point. Citi has now sent an e-mail out to cardholders stating this was an error:
Between May 23, 2021 and July 2, 2021 you redeemed ThankYou Points for one or more
cash rewards. Our records indicate you received a larger cash reward based on what the
redemption value should have been at the time you redeemed.We have corrected this issue going forward but we will not make any changes to your
prior order(s), so please enjoy the extra cash rewards you received.We apologies for any confusion.
Hat tip to Ben
View Comments (40)
What is the redemption for custom cash card?
1c/point, at least for me.
So what is the TYP cashback value for Citi Premier? Is the SUB worth it if they points are devalued?
Premier is still 1cpp for cashback options
Please take notes AMEX. THIS is the way to handle accidental rewards programs that were too generous. Let the end-users of your products keep their rewards but kill it off for the future. While i'm obviously not happy about CITI removing this feature, it encourages me to stick with your cards for the long-term vs constantly opening and closing your cards to try to extract value from them like AMEX.
"Please take notes AMEX."
Amex Response: We have taken careful notes. We have 'clawed back' any rewards incorrectly issued under the incorrect redemption values to Citi cardholders. American Express cardholders can view the adjustment posted to their account on the most recent next billing cycle. We value you as a card-member.
Where is Jordan?
Hmm i redeem 100k pts for $1k just 4 days ago for mailed check, fortunately
for once, yay citi, boo amex cb
Nice that they didn’t claw back payouts- I could see Amex doing that
For Rewards+ I still see 1cpp.
As did I today, right after I received the email telling me that they had made a mistake with my recent redemption!
Hope they don't fix it before my Custom Cash statement closes so I can cash out my 30,000 point signup bonus for $300!
I just logged into my wife's TY account, and she does have the 0.5c valuation. I used point sharing to send her 3,000 points to me, and I was able to redeem them at 1c.
You have the custom cash which makes your redemption at 1 cent each
Well, it's allowing me to redeem Rewards+ points at the higher rate, so it works out well for me.
Also wanted to mention that if this 0.5c/typ is really true going forward, it just made the new Custom Cash card much less attractive. I don't want to earn $25 in gift cards each month, I want it back in cash.
They can apply different rates to different cards (like Amex Schwab vs other Amex). I expect Custom Cash to retain 1cpp because all of their marketing material says 5% cashback, not gift cards. This article is talking about the Preferred card specifically.
Thank you, Otto, for addressing my concern. I completely misunderstood that this article was just for the Preferred card and the Custom Cash will still be 1cpp cashback, I really appreciate your help!
This is the comment of the century, if I'm understanding MisterBill correctly (as I'm a TYP newbie and don't have a bank account/mortgage with Citi). SInce this Custom Cash card was released during this 1 TY=1 cent "temporary" redemption period, EVERY single post/blog on this card says its a 5% cashback card. Obviously, per what MisterBill is saying, then this changes the value prop of this card dramatically.
Will, is it possible to create a new post with an education primer on how TYP works, especially as it relates to this card? I have the Citi Dividend (5% cashback, not 5 TYP) and just assumed that this Custom Cash card would be 5% cashback as well via TYP. Many comments on this credit card indicate the same thought process such as from your original post:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/citi-launches-custom-cash-card-5x-points-cash-on-up-to-500-spend-per-month-200-20000-signup-bonus/
Or am I completely missing something?
Many thanks in advance!
You are misunderstanding. Premier and Custom Cash still have 1cpp cashback rate. They can apply different rates to different cards (like Amex Schwab vs other Amex).
But can they if they are connected to the same TY account? I was able to redeem points from both my Rewards+ and Custom Cash cards in a single redemption and got 1cpp on all of it. I'm wondering if that is why I am seeing that rate, because I have Custom Cash on it. Until last week, they were separate, and I would have been able to see if they had different redemption rates.
Yes you get the higher rate when you pool your TY points. The Amex Schwab works the same way too, so not surprising.
Well, but that's AMEX, not Citi. And you said that they applied different rates to different cards, and that is not the case here. Or do you mean that can apply different rates to the same card, since that is clearly what is going on here.
In any event, sounds like another good reason to get the Custom Cash card, although the $300 in-branch bonus was good enough for me.
Also got the extra 10% back when I redeemed the CC points!
Different cards have different redemption rates. If you have multiple cards then you get the highest rate/benefit. That's how it works for all of the major poolable/shareable point systems (Chase UR, Amex MR, Citi TY). For example with Chase you can earn points on a Freedom but then redeem at higher rate/benefit on CSP. You can redeem Amex MR at higher cash rate with Schwab card earned on other cards.
But with Chase, you have to transfer the points and redeem them from the CSR/CSP account. If you were to leave them in the Freedom account and redeemed them, they would not be worth more than 1c. In this case, Citi showed the points in my Rewards+ account, but still redeemed them at the Custom Cash rate. So it works differently than Chase. AMEX is probably the better example, although I am not familiar with that situation.
I am not sure what your point is. I'm just saying it's not unusual or unprecedented for points to synergize when you have multiple cards under the same point system. It's actually the norm.
Citi transfer ability works the same way. Only some cards have ability to transfer to travel partner, but it takes from your entire pool of TY points. So if you earn points on non-travel card, you can still use those points to transfer if you have a different TY card that supports it. With Citi/TY, while it tracks where points came from, it is all just a big pool of the same points for redemption purposes. To your point, this is closer to Amex setup and not Chase setup.
https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/citi-custom-cash-credit-card
Custom Cash specifies 5% *cash* back, not 5x points back.
Also, "Earn $200 *cash* back after you spend $750".
Under FAQs > How do you redeem for rewards > "For example, you can redeem 10,000 ThankYou® Points for a $100 statement credit, a $100 Check by Mail, or as a $100 direct deposit to your bank account."
By contrast, Rewards+ talks about getting *points* back, and "20,000 bonus points . . . $200 in gift cards".
https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/citi-rewards-plus-credit-card
Really? I definitely see .5cpp for my Rewards+.
Do you have any card like the custom cash that gets 1cpp? If you have a custom cash card it should give the option for 1cpp in theory
It seemed like they only gave the option to some people.
Maybe you have another Citi card that gives you 1cpp
My other Citi cards are Double Cash & Dividend.
1 cpp isn't even a good deal. Should be 1.25 or 1.5.
Seems pretty on-par, considering Chase, Amex, and US Bank are all 1 cpp for their no-fee options, with a higher paid tier. If anything, Rewards+ getting you to 1.1 cpp for free is a pretty respectable deal.
Should be? Should be 10
"We apologies".... never change Citi
"Never change Citi" and "Never change, Citi". I like it both ways.