Clark’s Favorite Cash Back Credit Card Just Gave You a New Reason To Apply

If you’ve been listening to money expert Clark Howard for any period of time, you’ve likely heard him recommend the Citi^® Double Cash Card.

He loves the cash back credit card because it offers an unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase you make (1% when you buy, 1% when you pay for those purchases). It has no special purchase categories, no spending limits — and no fluff. And after years of recommending the card, Clark even got one for his own wallet a couple years ago.

For a limited time, you have even more incentive to take Clark’s advice and follow his lead on this one!

Citi just unveiled a welcome bonus offer for this card that will give new users a chance to earn some additional money while spending with the rewards card. Let’s take a look.

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Citi Offers a Limited-Time Welcome Bonus with the Double Cash Card

Effective August 11, 2022, Citi is offering a limited-time welcome bonus that could earn you money in addition to the 2% cash back rewards it offers.

Earn $200 cash back by spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months your account is open.

This welcome bonus is not necessarily the best on the market, but the fact that Citi is giving anything at all for getting this rewards card is a worthwhile bonus. Up until now, Citi hasn’t offered a welcome bonus for the Double Cash.

Clark has long said that he does not believe in chasing a welcome bonus as the sole reason for signing up for a credit card. His stance on that is out of concern that some consumers could end up with a crummy long-term rewards program in exchange for short-term gain.

In this scenario, you’re getting what he believes is a good long-term rewards program with a new short-term gain!

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Citi Double Cash: Knowing the Basics

The Citi Double Cash Card is a rewards credit card that pays customers both when they spend and when they pay their bills. Cardholders can earn as much as 2% cash back on their purchases by earning 1% when they make a purchase and an additional 1% when the bill is paid.

There is no spending cap for cash back earnings, and you don’t have to spend in a certain category to earn your 1% reward. You can earn your additional 1% reward even if you pay over time. You just need to make the minimum payment each month for the purchase to remain eligible for the back-end 1% reward.

Citi offers 18 months of 0% APR on balance transfers made to this card, followed by the variable APR of 16.24% – 26.24%, based on your creditworthiness. To qualify for this perk, the balance must be transferred to the Double Cash card within the first four months of card membership. And it will be subject to either a $5 or 3% balance transfer fee (whichever is greater).

You can get more details on this card in Team Clark’s review of the Double Cash.

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Why Clark Recommends This Card and Has It In His Wallet

Clark’s reason for recommending this card to so many people over the years can be summed up in one word: simplicity.

There’s no annual fee, you get an unlimited 2% back on everything you purchase and Citi has a strong reputation for paying out your rewards in a timely manner.

“The best cash back cards pay 2%, and this is one that I’ve recommended for years,” Clark said.

After years of recommending that you apply for the card, Clark followed his own advice and applied for the card in 2020.

Clark held out for some time because he’s an avid traveler and a high-volume spender who typically earns better rewards from other types of credit cards.

In 2020 Clark made a change to his wallet by adding a couple of cash back credit cards to adapt to the shift in his spending patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Citi card was one of them.

It remains in his wallet in 2022, though he has shifted back to using some of his travel cards more frequently. Clark says his wife is now the primary user of their Double Cash card.

Clark made a video shortly after applying for the card that explained the reasoning for his decision at that time.

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Clark Does Have A Gripe About This Card

While it’s true that Clark has endorsed this card for years, it’s also true that he has a gripe with Citi over a recent change to the rewards program.

In March 2022, Citi announced that it would start rewarding customers with ThankYou points rather than cash rewards. Clark didn’t care much for that decision.

“It takes away what I love about the card: the simplicity,” Clark said. “You have one additional step now to get your money. Instead of just getting the money, you have to go their website or app and say, “Give me my money.’ But it is still there.”

The good news is that the change is more of an annoyance than an overhaul. You’ll still see the exact same rewards you’ve been getting from the card; it will just require an extra few steps to get your money. You’ll have to convert the ThankYou points to cash back.

You can turn your ThankYou points into “cash value” by one of the following methods:

• Request a check as payment for your rewards.
• Redeem your rewards as a statement credit.
• Redeem as a credit on a Citi savings or checking account.

Or, if you’d rather, you can redeem ThankYou points for perks like flights or hotel rooms.