Citi Simplicity Credit Card Introduction

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Full review

Citi Simplicity Credit Card

0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for up to 18 months!

  • Welcome bonus: 18 months of no interest on purchases and balance transfers
  • Rewards: None
  • Redemption: None
  • Annual fee: $0
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Benefits

  • Free monthly FICO score
  • The ultimate Balance Transfer card: Within 4 months of account opening, you can transfer balances from other credit cards onto this card and enjoy the first 18 months of interest-free APR. That means you only need to make minimum payments on your debt for 18 months. The higher your credit limit on this card, the more balance you can transfer and the more debt you can move. Note that balances transferred via BT are subject to a 3% fee. It’s basically a short-term loan of nearly two years.
  • 0 APR on purchases: For the first 18 months after account opening, balances from purchases do not accrue interest. In other words, you can just keep spending each month and only make the minimum payment, with no extra interest.
  • Citi Easy Deal: This card can also participate in Citi Easy Deal, which lets you buy gift cards at a discount. For example, there have been 10% off offers for Walmart, Staples, and more.
  • No Late Fees, No Penalty Rate: You won’t be charged a late fee if you miss a payment, and your APR won’t increase because of it.

Drawbacks

  • After 18 months, the card’s main advantage, Balance Transfer, disappears, and it becomes a drawer card.

My Experience with This Card

I haven’t applied for this card because I’m not under that much financial pressure right now. But if you’re temporarily short on cash, you can use this card’s 18 months of 0 APR on purchases to create some cash flow. If you can’t cash out through spending and can accept a 3% fee, you may also consider applying for this credit card to bridge funding through Balance Transfer. After all, 18 months of 0 APR is pretty significant. For a detailed analysis of 0 APR and Balance Transfer, see:

The amount you can BT with this card depends on your credit limit. If your limit is $10,000, you can transfer at most $10,000. If you’re approved for a low limit, one trick is that Chase allows you to move credit limits between your Chase cards. You can choose a Chase card with a higher limit, move some of the limit from another Chase card, and then transfer the balance over.

Application

  • Citi application status link or call: 877-343-4118
  • 8/65/95 rule: You can apply for only one personal card every 8 days, only two personal cards every 65 days, and only one business card every 95 days. This refers to application submission limits, regardless of whether you were approved or not.
  • 24/48-month welcome bonus rule: If you have received a welcome bonus on a ThankYou Points card within the past 24 months, you will not be eligible to receive the bonus again. For AA products, the restriction is 48 months, but both rules apply only to the same card; there is no restriction across different card families.
  • You can call the reconsideration line (800-763-9795) to speed up the credit card approval process or ask a representative to review a denied credit card application again.
  • Having a Citi Checking/Gold relationship may help with your application.
  • More about applying for Citi credit cards

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