Citi Forward Card Review
by Mr Credit Card
Summary – Citicards have just introduced a new card called the Citi Forward(SM) Card. It is specifically targeted at a younger audience and in fact, they have heavily targeted this card at the MySpace crowd as well. So what is the fuss with this card? Let’s find out.
Rewards Formula – First and foremost, this is a rewards card that is based on Citi’s ThankYou Redemption Network reward program. With this card, you can earn 5 points for every $1 spent on dining, books, movies and music; and 1 point for other purchases. You can earn up to 75,000 ThankYou Points during any calendar year (eligible purchases appearing on your January – December billing statements). All ThankYou Points expire 5 years from the end of the month in which they are earned.
Sign Up Bonus – To give consumers an incentive to sign up for the card, Citi is offering 6,000 ThankYou� Points after you make $250 in purchases within the first 3 months and 2,500 ThankYou� Points when you sign up for Paperless Statements within 3 months of account opening (sending mail statement costs money for the bank!).
Pay on time bonus – One of the big fuss Citi is making about this card is that you will get up to a 2% purchase APR reduction when you make a purchase, stay under your credit line and pay on time 3 billing periods in a row.
Fees and Rates – There is no annual fee for the Citi Forward Card.
Verdict – So is this card any good? Well, first off, let’s just say that Citi has a pretty decent reward program in the ThankYou Network. So, if you are deciding if this is a good card, it essentially boils down to what do you use your card for? This card is clearly targeted at the younger crowd. If you are using your card just for things like dining, books, movies and music, and if you do not shop too much at supermarkets and you live in the city and take a subway, then the Citi Forward(SM) Card would make a very good card.
If on the other hand, you are a family person with kids, spending a few hundred dollars a month at supermarkets and a couple of hundred dollars on gasoline (driving 2 cars in the suburbs), then perhaps this card will not suit you. If you are a frequent traveler, the Citi Premierpass Elite would be a better option.
But wait! How about the features where you get extra points for paying on time? -Well, this is a great feature for those who carry a balance. But for those who pay in full, it shouldn’t matter.
To sum up, I think this card will appeal to a younger audience (as Citi intended) who spend a lot eating out, buying CDs, music, books etc. The reward structure of this card is designed to reward such spending patterns. I guess the extra 100 points is a nice incentive to teach new cardholders the importance of paying your bills on time. Citi has also listed this card under their “college student section”. So I would say that this card would suit a college student very well and they could certainly apply for the Citi Forward(SM) Card for College Students.
If eating out, buying books, CDs etc does not constitute the bulk of your spending (or spending on your credit card), then you should look at other reward cards that you reward you better based on “your” spending patterns. Our cash back credit card calculator would be a good place to start. Having said that, this card will make a good “supplement card” to your main reward card since most reward cards do not pay you extra points for things like buying CDs or books!
March 22nd, 2009 at 02:36
I’m a college student but I still think my Citi mtvU card is better. At least you get bonus points for your GPA in addition to paying on time. Now if only the Thank You point network didn’t suck because of the recent changes….
March 23rd, 2009 at 22:57
I have been a customer of Citi Bank for many years, but after applying for the City Forward Card I felt compelled to let other customers know that they refused to give me their card without giving them a 4506T form. I was told by them that there has been many complaints about this and I just want to let others know that they may be wasting their time applying for Citi Bank cards, because this is now their procedure.
March 24th, 2009 at 07:03
^I don’t think it’s a general thing though since I applied recently for a Citi Card without a hitch. Straightforward for me.
March 28th, 2009 at 14:11
Well, I do spend a lot of money eating out a lot and buying a decent load of books. I did take a quick peek at their rewards… and its typical, but I guess its better than nothing. This card and Citi mtvU cards are exactly the same. As long as your GPA is above 3.5, Citi mtvU is not much different than this card. I would say Citi mtvU is only better if your actually getting a 4.0 GPA. This card is more “friendly” haha… since it doesn’t criticize you for having a low gpa.
Well thanks for the info Mister.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:40
I also think people should know that apparently this card is not for the audience that it is advertised to. I applied for this card as my first ‘real’ credit card and they denied me because I don’t have 2 other major credit cards that have been in use for more than a year. Nevermind that my credit score is pretty damn good if I do say so. Nevermind that I’ve been paying my students loans on time for 2 years and never missed a payment on my Kohl’s card. Somehow, I have to find someone to give me two other credit cards before i can get a credit card that is advertised to college students.
And when I double checked with customer service she assured me that the card is one of their lower end college student cards…
April 14th, 2009 at 19:52
Dear card carries,
Please allow me to voice a concern with the Citi premier card. I had over paid this account on line by approximately 1500 dollars as I owed it to another Citi card. After realizing my mistake I asked for my money to be refunded. I was told that it takes 30 days to get a refund. At the completion of the second billing cycle I still had not received my cash. I got defensive attitudes from Reps once I began my inquiry.
After discussing with my wife we decided to spend it off the card and when I did I spent more then I had by 196 dollars. I sent the payment in to not be late and have my card at zero balance. Citi was at that time (90 days later) approved my credit for the original 1500 but noticed that I used some so then put a credit on my account, but never gave me back the money. Today 90 days plus I still have no funds back and I owe the amount that they credited back. When I called again the Citi rep told me that she didn’t appreciate that I didn’t think her service was a quality one where I immediately explained that I thought she was grand and I wasn’t killing the messenger but I was disappointed with the process of taking more then 90 days to refund my money back. Be careful as each representative givers you what I believe they think is good data but it never turns out and then Citi reps start to get uncomfortable and just try to get you off the phone.
I now take on this mission to let people know what type of practices are being used at Citi, the company that took funds from the US gov to stay afloat. Is this right? Is anyone else had this type of experience and maybe found a resolution? Please help me get my money back!
August 13th, 2009 at 10:05
I am a college student, and I applied for this card about a month ago. I was approved within a week with a $3500 limit…no phone calls, no extra paperwork.
Prior to this card, I had a credit card from my bank for a little over a year. My credit score was ~650 and I disclosed $5,000/yr as my income from summer jobs.
It doesn’t seem like it’s terribly difficult to get approved for this card at least in my experience, and the 11,000 points you can earn right away is a nice perk. I have already earned an additional 3000 points from eating out and buying textbooks.
My only complaint was that when trying to activate my card, they made me be on the phone for 20 minutes, insisting that I accept stupid extra services from 3rd party companies. Citi is undoubtedly desperate for its commissions, and the call reps do not take no for an answer. Very annoying.
September 25th, 2009 at 18:07
Barney Bolt should learn to construct proper english sentences before you defamates others.
October 25th, 2009 at 14:40
hi, i have recieve a citibank forward credit card. i want to know that is there bank like those other banks that ripped people off and harass you with phone calls? do they have annual member fee? also, i don’t get what they mean by the APR 14.49%? how is that cover? and also how much is the monthly payment? and how do you guys pay your monthly payments i.e. by phone, checks, money order, online, etc.
can someone please help?
December 1st, 2009 at 22:12
‘Barney is stupid’ needs to revise his or her own sentence before flaming others.
Anyway, thanks for this information. It was very helpful.
February 12th, 2010 at 00:42
I love this card so far. I’ve had it since Aug 09 and I’ve already been able to get $175 worth of gift cards from the thank you network. They also raised my credit limit $3000 within that short span.
My first card was with CapitalOne. I’d been with them for 5 years and just recently got a credit limit and they never lowered my apr, just raised it. They are unwilling to work with you on anything and they don’t just randomly raise your credit limit either. You have to threaten to close the card to get anywhere. I was a little shocked at how free Citi was when giving me a credit limit increase because of this.
Citi’s customer service could be a little better but overall, I love this card. I don’t carry balances but the apr is pretty decent for if I ever did. I highly recommend it!