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Citi Custom Cash vs. Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card
Dan Rafter has been writing about personal finance for more than two decades, covering everything from credit scores, mortgage loans and debt to credit cards, insurance, real estate and student loans.
His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Fox Business, The Motley Fool, The Christian Science Monitor, LendingTree, Business Insider and Mental Floss Magazine. He's also the editor of Midwest Real Estate News, a trade magazine serving real estate professionals throughout the Midwest.
Liza Carrasquillo is an editor on the Bankrate credit cards team who focuses on providing accurate educational content to those at all stages of their credit card journey.
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The Citi Custom Cash Card earns a generous 5 percent cash back on your top spending category each billing cycle (on up to $500, then 1 percent).
The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card earns 3 percent cash back in a category of your choosing while earning 2 percent cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (on up to $2,500 in combined 3 percent and 2 percent category spending each quarter).
Finding the best fit comes down to how much money you spend in a month and where you spend it.
The best fit for you, however, comes down to how you spend. If you spend a lot of money in one particular category, such as dining out or at supermarkets, the Citi Custom Cash might be the smart choice. But if you spend widely on a variety of different purchase types, the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card might make more financial sense.
Here’s a detailed look at how these two cards compare.
Main details
Citi Custom Cash vs. Bank of America Customized Cash highlights
Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $1500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
$200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
Rewards rate
Earn 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1% cash back thereafter.
Special Travel Offer: Earn an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/2026.
Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Earn 6% cash back for the first year in the category of your choice.
Earn 3% cash back after the first year from account opening in your choice category.
Earn 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs. Earn 6% and 2% cash back on the first $2,500 in combined purchases each quarter in the choice category, and at grocery stores and wholesale clubs. After the 3% first-year bonus offer ends, you will earn 3% and 2% cash back on these purchases up to the quarterly maximum.
Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Intro purchase APR
0% for 15 months on purchases
0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases
Regular APR
18.24% - 28.24% (Variable) APR
18.24% - 28.24% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers
Annual fee
$0
$0
Foreign transaction fee
3%
3%
Both of these cards let you control where you earn the most cash back, but which is best for you? Here’s how the two compare where it matters most:
Welcome bonus winner
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
Both the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards and Citi Custom Cash offer a welcome bonus worth $200 in cash back. So what’s the catch? The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card comes with a lower minimum spending requirement of $1,000 within the first 90 days of account opening.
The Citi Custom Cash sets a higher goal of $1,500, though the issuer gives you a longer period of 6 months to achieve it.
Rewards rate winner
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
If you spend a lot in one category, the Citi Custom Cash Card might make sense. You’ll automatically earn 5 percent cash back in the category you spend the most within each billing cycle. Eligible top categories include:
Restaurants
Gas stations
Grocery stores
Select travel
Select transit
Select streaming services
Drugstores
Home improvement stores
Fitness clubs
Live entertainment
In all other categories, you’ll earn 1 percent cash back.
Be careful, though — you’ll only earn 5 percent cash back on the first $500 in purchases you make in your chosen category during a billing cycle. If you spend past that limit, you’ll earn just 1 percent cash back on purchases in your select category.
The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card offers a more flexible rewards program. Rather than your bonus cash back being automatically chosen by your spending, you can earn 3 percent cash back in the category of your choosing. Choose from:
Gas and EV charging stations
Online shopping (including cable, streaming, internet and phone services)
Drugstores
Home improvement
Dining
Travel
You’ll also earn 2 percent cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and 1 percent back on all other purchases.
There are limits, though. There’s a spending cap of up to $2,500 in combined 3 percent and 2 percent category purchases each quarter, after which you’ll earn 1 percent cash back on those purchases.
The flexibility and ability to earn a higher cash back bonus in more than one spending category makes the Bank of America credit card’s rewards structure a slightly stronger choice — at least for everyday use. Plus, you have the opportunity to earn even more rewards if you’re part of the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program — but more on that later.
Intro APR winner
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
Both cards essentially offer the same intro APR promotion. The Citi Custom Cash has a 0 percent intro APR offer on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months from account opening, but balance transfers must be completed within 4 months from account opening to qualify. After the intro period ends, an 18.24% – 28.24% (Variable) APR applies.
Similary, the Customized Cash Rewards card offers a 0 percent intro APR for 15 billing cycles on balance transfers made within the first 60 days from account opening. After the intro period ends, an 18.24% – 28.24% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers applies.
The Customized Cash Rewards card edges out the Citi Custom Cash, however, due to the difference in balance transfer fees. The Citi Custom Cash charges a balance transfer fee of $5 or 5 percent of your transfer amount, whichever is greater, while the Customized Cash Rewards charges an intro balance transfer fee of 3 percent for all balance transfers made within the first 60 days from account opening. After those 60 days, the fee rises to 4 percent.
With a lower balance transfer fee, you’ll save slightly more on interest with the Customized Cash Rewards than you would with the Citi Custom Cash. However, if you’re looking to pay off a large purchase instead of a transferred debt, then you can’t go wrong with either of these 0 percent intro APR cards.
Annual fee winner
Tie
Neither the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards nor the Citi Custom Cash Card charges an annual fee. That’s an attractive feature considering the solid rewards programs each card offers.
Foreign transaction fee winner
Tie
Both the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card and Citi Custom Cash charge a 3 percent foreign transaction fee for purchases made outside of the United States or in foreign currency.
Which card earns the most?
How much can you earn with each of these cards? That depends on how you spend during the month. If you tend to spend heavily in just one category every month, you might earn more with the Citi Custom Cash Card. If your spending is spread out over several types of purchases, the Customized Cash Rewards card might be the better choice.
Citi Custom Cash vs. Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards spending example
Both cards have restaurants as a category choice, so let’s say you spend $500 a month on restaurant purchases for three months — or one quarter. You’ll also spend $335 on groceries or at wholesale clubs, plus another $200 on miscellaneous purchases. Here’s what you’d earn in three months:
Category
Category spending
Cash back earned with the Citi Custom Cash
Cash back earned with the BoA Customized Cash Rewards
Restaurant purchases
$1,500 ($500 a month)
$75
$45
Grocery and wholesale club purchases
$1,005 ($335 a month)
$10.05
$20.05 ($20 in cash back at a rate of 2% and 5 cents in cash back at a rate of 1%)
Miscellaneous purchases
$600 ($200 a month)
$6
$6
Total
$4,140 per quarter
$91.05 per quarter
$71.05 per quarter
Because you maxed out the Citi 5 percent category at $500 a month, you earned $75 in the quarter. With the Customized Cash Rewards card, you’d wind up earning less than that if you maxed out the $2,500 spending cap in combined 2 percent and 3 percent spending like in the example. However, if you spent $2,500 per quarter in your 3 percent category only, then you’d also earn $75.
So, how much you’ll earn really depends on how much you’re willing to max out your bonus categories. If you don’t see yourself spending $500 a month in a single spending category, you might get more use out of the combined boosted rewards of the Customized Cash Rewards over the Citi Custom Cash.
Why should you get the Citi Custom Cash Card?
The Citi Custom Cash’s value comes down to how often you’ll max out its 5 percent category, which can fluctuate every billing cycle and gives you automatic bonus cash back on your top spending category. Though you might need to do a little more planning to receive bonus cash back on the category of your choice, you might find that the Citi Custom Cash is worth adding to your wallet due to its long-term value.
The Citi Custom Cash doesn’t come with a lot of benefits besides its cash back program and intro APR offer. You’ll get standard benefits such as identity theft protection, fraud alerts and $0 liability on unauthorized purchases.
Like other Citi credit cards, you’ll receive your cash back in the form of Citi ThankYou points. You can redeem these points for cash back as a statement credit, direct deposit or check. You can also redeem your ThankYou points for rewards such as gift cards, travel and on Amazon purchases.
To qualify for this card, you should have good to excellent credit with a FICO score of 670 or better.
Why should you get the Bank of America Customized Cash card?
One of the most valuable benefits of the Customized Cash Rewards card is the ability to customize your cash back bonus categories each month. So, if you’re about to embark on an expensive vacation, you may wish to make travel your choice category for that month. If you need to purchase an expensive home appliance, like a washing machine or refrigerator, you might make home renovations your choice category for the month instead.
Similar to the Citi Custom Cash Card, the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card offers an intro APR promotion, but unlike the Custom Cash Card, it also offers a lot of other unique benefits.
The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card is part of Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards program. This program can greatly increase the amount of cash back you earn, with membership tiers based on your combined average three-month balance across qualifying Bank of America and Merrill investing accounts.
At the Platinum Honors tier, for example, you’ll earn a 75 percent bonus on all the cash back you earn with the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card. This can boost your rewards to 5.25 percent cash back in your choice category, 3.5 percent at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and 1.75 percent cash back on all other purchases. However, you’ll need to have at least $100,000 deposited with a Bank of America bank account or a Merrill investment account to reach this tier.
The card also offers a $0 liability guarantee, protecting you from fraudulent card transactions, and access to Bank of America’s online and mobile banking service. You’ll also get to take advantage of programs like Museums on Us, where you can get free entry into select cultural institutions during the first full weekend of every month.
You can redeem your cash back bonus as a statement credit or direct deposit into a Bank of America checking or savings account or an eligible Merrill account. You can also redeem your rewards for a check starting at $25 or as a contribution to fund a qualifying 529 plan with Merrill.
Caret Down IconAs with the Citi Custom Cash Card, good to excellent credit is required to be approved for the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card (FICO score of 670 or higher).
The bottom line
Which of these two cash back cards is better? Again, it depends on your monthly spending habits. If you’re a relatively low spender who typically buys a lot in one specific category, the Citi Custom Cash Card might make sense. But if you spend across several categories and are part of Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards program, the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card could provide you with a higher amount of cash back each month.
Information about the Citi Custom Cash® was collected independently by Bankrate. Card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.
The Bank of America content in this post was last updated on June 24, 2025.
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Rafter, D. (2025, July 16). Citi Custom Cash vs. Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card. Bankrate. Retrieved September 15, 2025, from https://venture-ascend.live/credit-cards/reviews/citi-custom-cash-vs-bank-of-america-customized-cash-rewards/
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Rafter, Dan. "Citi Custom Cash vs. Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card." Bankrate. 16 July 2025, https://venture-ascend.live/credit-cards/reviews/citi-custom-cash-vs-bank-of-america-customized-cash-rewards/.
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Rafter, Dan. "Citi Custom Cash vs. Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card." Bankrate. July 16, 2025. https://venture-ascend.live/credit-cards/reviews/citi-custom-cash-vs-bank-of-america-customized-cash-rewards/.
