Citi Cash Back Visa Card: All you need to know

The global mega-bank Citi has the Citi Cash Back Visa credit card that you can use around the world and helps you earn cashback on purchases. And while cashback offers are always enticing, it can often mean you need to spend more to get the benefits.

That’s why Wise has created a multi-currency account that doesn’t require minimum spending and is 7x cheaper on fees than the banks in Singapore.

How does the Citi Cash Back Visa Card work?

The Citi Cash Back Visa Card can be used for any purchases where Visa is accepted, even the world over. How it works is that you get a credit line against which you can make purchases using the card online and offline. Then every month you’ll receive a statement with how much you owe.

Make sure you don’t spend over your limit or miss a payment because the fees can add up quite quickly. There is also an annual fee to be a cardholder. If you want a truly global card with only one fee on currency conversions, take a look at the Wise multi-currency card.

Who is eligible for the Citi Cash Back Visa Card?

Singapore citizens, PRs and foreigners who are 21 years old or above are all eligible to apply for the card. But there are income requirements²

• Singapore citizens and PRs have an income requirement of S$ 30,000
• Foreigners are required to have an income of S$ 42,000

You will need to show proof of income and citizenship to get started. You can apply by phone or online at the Citi Cash Back Card website.

What can I do with the Citi Cash Back Visa Card?

You can use the Citi Cash Back Visa Card for your normal spending in Singapore, and as you travel. It also has a Citi mobile app that lets you secure your transactions, lock your card and keep track of your payments.

This particular credit card incentivizes purchases at restaurants, petrol stations, groceries and retail with attractive cashback offers. Basically, in order to get more cashback, you are required to make more purchases. There are additional privileges like ways to pay for larger purchases in installments, travel insurance and discounts.

Citi Cash Back Visa Card cashback and rewards

This card is all about the cashback rewards. You get a cashback of 0.25% on all retail purchases without a cap. But if you spend a minimum of S$ 888 per month on the card, you can get a total of 8% cashback on restaurants and groceries (7.75% bonus for the category), while for Esso and Shell petrol stations you get 20.88%, This bonus additional cashback on purchases is capped at S$ 25 per category and per statement month.³

Citi Cash Back Visa Card travel insurance

When you book your full airfare tickets with this credit card, you get complimentary travel insurance up to a million dollars. You are also covered, at a lesser amount, for baggage delays, flight delays or lost baggage.⁴

Citi Cash Back Visa Card discounts

Through Citi World Privileges you can get discounts on hotels and restaurants in Singapore and 90+ countries.⁵

Overseas spend with Citi Cash Back Visa Card

You may be wondering how the CIti Cash Back Visa card works with non S$ transactions. As mentioned before, you can use this card anywhere Visa is accepted. But that means that any transactions not done in Singapore will need to be converted.

Per Visa standards, the foreign currency amount is first converted into US dollars, and then from the US dollars into Singapore dollars. And this is where the exchange rate really matters. Since Visa sets their own exchange rate to be weaker than the mid-market exchange rate, they are able to take a hidden fee in each of the conversions. That means less money in your wallet and more for their profits.

Then there is the steep foreign transaction fee of 6.55% on each transaction. Add in the cash advance fee, the annual fees, and the interest rate and all of your spending- in Singapore and outside- got quite expensive. Why pay all the fees when you don’t have to?

Get your Wise borderless card - a multi-currency account that is on average 7 times cheaper than banks

With the Wise multi-currency account, you can hold and convert into 40+ global currencies in a single account with zero annual fees or foreign transaction fees. You can convert money all at the mid-market exchange rate, the transparent exchange rate that banks use themselves and you see on Google. There is just one small fee between .35%-1% of the amount to convert. That’s it. And with the Wise borderless card, you get free cash withdrawals at ATMs globally up to S$ 350 every 30 days.

The Wise borderless account also can be used for shopping on global sites like Amazon, Alibaba, and Qoo10 with the same low fee and mid-market exchange rate. And if you’re worried about spending too much, the award-winning Wise app will always keep you notified with magic notifications on your phone. So with cheaper ways to jet-set, rather than spending more to get cashback, keep more cash in your wallet with the Wise borderless account.