UPDATE: Approved-To anyone who has the Citi Custom Cash card

[JNesbit89]

I'm really interested in this card and my Citi Double Cash card just turned a year old (haven't applied for a credit card or line of credit since last December).

I really like the 5% back and see that it applies on whatever category you spend the most on. Since it doesn't seem to count online retail sites like Amazon or superstores, my highest category would be groceries. I have two questions:

1: If I buy a gift card(a) in addition to a food purchase at a grocery store (e.g. $500 Best Buy gift card + $60 in food) will the entire purchase count as the grocery category? Sorta like a loophole? Or will it not happen?

2: I am able to get a $300 signup bonus if I apply through Credit Karma. The terms say you get $300 if you spend $1000 within the first 3 months. My question is can the $1000 spent include anything, even online shops and supercenters? Or does it again only count specific categories to be eligible for the bonus?

Thanks

[simplynoir]

1) Yes, it's not a loophole since you're purchasing the gift card at a grocery store and will code as such just be careful not to abuse it

2) Yes, it can be ANY spend it does not have to be category spend

[JNesbit89]

Thanks for the response. Yeah I figured you'd wanna do it occasionally. And not just go to the grocery store to buy tons of gift cards and nothing else. This card will be awesome since the alternative for groceries was the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card with its 6% back, but then there was that pesky annual fee.

Okay good to know. Otherwise I'd have to spend extra on the groceries. I just called the three credit bureaus to unfreeze my credit so that I can apply, then I'll freeze them again.  

[JNesbit89]

I got approved for the card! So that's something.

Funny thing is they report on the approval sheet that my Experian FICO score is 769, but on my free Experian account it says my FICO 8 score is 750. So they must've looked at another FICO model, that was somehow higher?

[Ilinferno]

Congrats on the approval! I'm not sure what Fico model they pull but sounds like it.

[Crowhelm]

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@JNesbit89 wrote:

I got approved for the card! So that's something.

Funny thing is they report on the approval sheet that my Experian FICO score is 769, but on my free Experian account it says my FICO 8 score is 750. So they must've looked at another FICO model, that was somehow higher?

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Probably Fico8 Bankcard? That is always higher for me. FNBO shows me my Fico9 Bankcard score. I am 800 on that one, love it, lol

[simplynoir]

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@Crowhelm wrote:

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@JNesbit89 wrote:

I got approved for the card! So that's something.

Funny thing is they report on the approval sheet that my Experian FICO score is 769, but on my free Experian account it says my FICO 8 score is 750. So they must've looked at another FICO model, that was somehow higher?

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Probably Fico8 Bankcard? That is always higher for me. FNBO shows me my Fico9 Bankcard score. I am 800 on that one, love it, lol

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Yes, it is the EX FICO Bancard 8 model being used; Citi provides it for free for being a cardmember. It's close enough to FICO 08 scores that it can be reasonable close

[CreditMagic7]

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@JNesbit89 wrote:

I got approved for the card! So that's something.

Funny thing is they report on the approval sheet that my Experian FICO score is 769, but on my free Experian account it says my FICO 8 score is 750. So they must've looked at another FICO model, that was somehow higher?

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Congratulations on that new card approval!

[M_Smart007]

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@JNesbit89 wrote:

I got approved for the card! So that's something.

Funny thing is they report on the approval sheet that my Experian FICO score is 769, but on my free Experian account it says my FICO 8 score is 750. So they must've looked at another FICO model, that was somehow higher?

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Congratulations on your Citi Custom Cash Approval 🥳

[NoMoreE46]

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@JNesbit89 wrote:

Thanks for the response. Yeah I figured you'd wanna do it occasionally. And not just go to the grocery store to buy tons of gift cards and nothing else. This card will be awesome since the alternative for groceries was the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card with its 6% back, but then there was that pesky annual fee.

Okay good to know. Otherwise I'd have to spend extra on the groceries. I just called the three credit bureaus to unfreeze my credit so that I can apply, then I'll freeze them again.  

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I am glad you mentioned this  ^^^ @JNesbit89 .  I WAS looking to get the BCP for groceries.  However,  to overcome the $95 AF (in Year 2), one has to spend $1,575 more  to break even on the AF.    For me, it was not going to really make $ense.  I am very happy with the lesser 5% back with the no AF.