Verdict: The Citi Dividend Platinum Select is a very good choice for people looking to earn generous rewards on a variety of purchases and enjoy a host of benefits all with no annual fee. With 0% interest on balance transfers for the next 15 months, it’s also a good card if you want to transfer balances from higher interest cards so you can pay them off more quickly. You even get a small cash back reward for balance transfers and cash advances, which basically covers the fees you’ll pay for these transactions.
Overview: The Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard is one in a large line of rewards credit cards offered by Citi for people with good-to-excellent credit.
How this card works: This is a conventional platinum MasterCard, accepted anywhere that accepts MasterCard. The card offers online account management, online bill pay, and Citi’s virtual credit card number for online transactions. You can also manage your account or ask questions through Citi’s toll-free customer service number.
Fees & APRs: There is no annual fee on this card. The variable APR is between 12.99% and 20.99% depending on your credit rating. There is no interest on balance transfers for the first 15 months. After that, the balance transfer APR is either 12.99%, 16.99% or 20.99%, variable, depending on your credit history. There is a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 4% of the transaction, whichever is greater.
Cash advance APR is 25.24% variable.
Rewards: Citi has a rewards program that is comparable to Chase, Discover and many other popular credit card rewards programs.
The Citi Dividend Platinum Select card gives you more ways to earn cash back than many cards do, though. Most notably, you’ll get $5 cash back on balance transfer transactions of $1,500 or more. If you transfer exactly $1,500, this works out to about 3% cash back, which is pretty good. However, there’s a balance transfer fee of 4% or $5, whichever is greater, which means Citi is essentially waiving the balance transfer fee through a cash back offer — almost.
If you’re transferring many smaller balances from different credit cards onto one card, this is the way to do it, because you’ll save on balance transfer fees.
You’ll also earn 1% cash back on cash advances taken at the standard cash advance interest rate. Finally, in regard to cash back on purchases, you’ll get:
- At least 2% cash back in popular rotating categories. You must enroll each quarter for this reward.
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
- An average of 5% cash back at more than 400 retailers through the Citi Bonus Cash Center
Benefits: Citi offers extensive benefits for its cardholders, and this platinum card has a long list of useful benefits, including:
- Extended warranty on purchases up to one year
- Retail purchase protection against damage or theft for up to 90 days
- 0$ liability on unauthorized charges
- Travel and emergency assistance, including medical and legal referrals, lost luggage assistance, translation services and more
- Travel accident insurance for you, spouse and eligible dependent children
- Auto rental insurance
Pros:
- Cash back on balance transfers, cash advances and purchases
- 0% APR on balance transfers for 15 months
- A long list of benefits
- No annual fee
Cons:
- No intro APR on purchases
- Purchase APR between 12.99% and 20.99%
- High cash advance APR
- Must remember to enroll quarterly to get 2% cash back on specific rotating categories
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Tags: Dividend Platinum, Dividend Platinum Select, Platinum Select, Select