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Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card review

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Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card
4.6
★★★★★
Finder score
Terms and conditions apply. Rates and fees
Annual fee
$0
Intro purchase APR for the first 12 months (then 18.24% to 28.99% variable)
0%
Intro balance transfer for the first 21 months (then 18.24% to 28.99% variable)
0%
Balance transfer APR (variable)
18.24% to 28.99%

Our verdict

Save interest with a long intro APR on balance transfers.

The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card is a $0-annual-fee balance transfer card, and one of the premier cards on the market for saving on interest. It offers a 0% intro APR for 21 months on balance transfers from the date of your first transfer, then 18.24% to 28.99% variable. It also comes with a 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases, then 18.24% to 28.99% variable.

As you might expect from a card designed exclusively around introductory APRs, its purchase and balance transfer intro APRs are excellent. This gives you a strong level of financial flexibility: if you pay off your balance transfer debts within eight months, for example, you still have 4 months of your purchase APR left over which can help you save further. It's also more difficult to find a balance transfer card on the market that possesses a purchase AND balance transfer offer than it was prior to the start of the pandemic.

The card is otherwise without bells and whistles. It doesn't require an annual fee and doesn't earn rewards on purchases. That means once you've squeezed the savings out of the card's intro APR, you're left with a simple credit card for making purchases – nothing more and nothing less.

Don't let that stop you if you need to save on interest though. While there's a card on the market with slightly larger APR intro period (the U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card,) it's from a bank with a smaller footprint than Citi. Once you're done saving on interest, you have plenty of other strong Citi credit cards to move on to afterward.

Pros

  • Intro APR for purchases and balance transfers. Get a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for an impressive 21 months after account opening, then 18.24% to 28.99% variable after that. You'll also get a 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months following your account opening. After the intro period passes, your rate reverts to an APR between 18.24% to 28.99% variable.
  • No annual fee. You won't pay an annual fee to use this card.
  • Longer than average period to transfer balance. You have 4 months from account opening to transfer your balance and receive the intro offer.

Cons

  • No rewards. The card is excellent for saving money on interest, but you won't earn any rewards on your purchases.
  • No signup bonus. There's no bonus to earn upon signup.
  • Balance transfer fees. This card doesn't offer an intro period for balance transfer fees.

In this guide

  • Our verdict
  • Details
    • Features
    • Fees
  • Your reviews
  • Ask a question

finder.com's rating: 4.6 / 5

★★★★★

  • Get this card if you're focused on saving interest on existing debts or new purchases.
  • Pick something else if you want to keep generating value on your credit card with rewards after the intro period.
  • Apply with a good to excellent credit score of 670 or higher.

Details

Features

Annual fee $0
Welcome offer N/A
Rewards N/A
Purchase APR 0% intro for the first 12 months (then 18.24% to 28.99% variable)
Balance transfer APR 0% intro for the first 21 months (then 18.24% to 28.99% variable) Balance transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Minimum credit score 670
Issuer Mastercard

Fees

Balance transfer fee Balance transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Cash advance rate 29.99% variable
Cash advance fee $10 or 5% of the cash advance amount, whichever is greater
Penalty APR Up to 29.99% variable
Foreign transaction fee 3% of the transaction value
Interest free period Up to 23 days
Late payment fee Up to $41
Returned payment fee Up to $41
Additional cardholder fee $0
Security deposit N/A
Best of 2023
Finder experts pick Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card as a 2023 best product for credit cards.

How to apply for the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card

  1. Go to the provider's site to Learn more about how to apply for Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card.
  2. Complete the application with details like your name, address, annual income and Social Security number.
  3. Review and submit your application.

What credit score do I need?

You typically have better odds of getting a balance transfer credit card with a good to excellent credit score of 670 or higher. This is a good rule of thumb if you’re thinking about applying for the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card. However, remember that approval is never guaranteed no matter what your credit score is.

Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card benefits

The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card doesn’t offer many benefits, but it’s an excellent card for intro APRs. Here are the main perks to look into.

  • No annual fee. Having a $0 annual fee makes it easy to keep your Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card open even after your intro APR expires. Even if you won’t earn rewards, keeping your card open keeps your average age of credit accounts high and protect your FICO score.
  • Excellent balance transfer APR. Get a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 21 months from the date of your first transfer, then 18.24% to 28.99% variable. You’ll get this rate on all transfers within the first 4 months of card membership.
    Its intro APR is what makes the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card stand out among competitors. You’ll often find intro APRs that last around 15 months — 21 months is considered very high.
  • Four-month limit to transfer your balance. After you open your account, you’ll have four months to make transfers to qualify for the promotional interest rate. This is a higher length of time than the average balance transfer credit card. Most give you just 30 to 60 days to make your balance transfer, so the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card effectively gives you double that length.

Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card drawbacks

Before applying for this card, determine if the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Here are a few factors to keep your eyes peeled for.

  • You’ll still pay balance transfer fees. Even though you get a top-notch balance transfer intro APR, you’ll still pay fees on your transfers: the greater of $5 or 5% for each transaction.
  • No rewards. This card is strictly designed for saving interest on balance transfers and purchases during the intro offer period. Aside from any interest saved during this time, you won’t have any additional method of generating value such as points or cash back with this card.
  • There’s a steep penalty APR. If you make a late or returned payment, Citi may increase the APRs on all of your balances to up to 29.99% variable. Consumers despise this, and rightfully so. It creates a lot of pressure to be perfect every single billing cycle. Citi also says you can lose your intro APR if you make one late payment, which makes it extra important to stay vigilant about paying your card bill.

Compare similar intro APR cards

Compare the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card to two similar cards with intro APR periods. While the three cards are similar, they have varying features such as purchase APRs and rewards rates. Find the card that’s right for you.

Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card

Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express

★★★★★

Finder rating 4.6 / 5

★★★★★

Finder rating 4.6 / 5

Go to site
Terms apply, see rates & fees

Minimum credit score

670

Minimum credit score

670

Annual fee

$0

Annual fee

$0

Purchase APR

0% intro

Purchase APR

0% intro

Balance transfer APR

0% intro for the first 21 months (then 18.24% to 28.99% variable) Balance transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater

Balance transfer APR

0% intro for the first 15 months (then 19.24% to 29.99% variable) Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

Rewards

None

Rewards

Up to 3% cash back

Welcome offer

N/A

Welcome offer

Earn a $200 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 6 months.

Case study: Jon’s experience

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Jon Brodsky
Former CEO, Finder US

I got my Citi Diamond Preferred card solely as a balance transfer card to help me consolidate and pay down debt I’d accumulated renovating my home. As with other cards, it took me about 15 minutes to fill out the form, approval was close to instant, and my balances were transferred within a few days.

The thing that has kept this card as a go-to in my wallet is that Citi regularly sends me low or 0% APR offers generally reserved for new cardholders. Though I’m trying really hard to stop spending money I don’t have, it’s nice to know these offers are available should I need them. It saves me the trouble of applying for a new card.

Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card customer reviews and complaints

Citibank is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau and sports a rating of F as of June 2022. Customer reviews on the BBB site give the bank a 1.05 out of 5, citing poor communication and billing issues as a frequent complaint.

Citibank doesn’t fare much better on Trustpilot, earning a 1.4 out of 5 based on customer reviews as of June 2022, with poor customer service a frequent complaint.

Bottom line

The Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card is a premier choice if you want to save interest on existing debt and a solid choice if you want to save interest on new purchases. If saving is your main concern, you won’t mind that the card lacks other benefits, such as rewards.

Of course, the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card isn’t the only card in town. There are plenty of other balance transfer cards that are worth a look, too, including Citi’s own Citi Double Cash, which offers a smaller balance transfer offer and no purchase intro APR, but unlimited 2% cash back on purchases.

Images: Citi.com

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