Citi® Diamond Preferred® Credit Card Review
Diamond Preferred® from Citi — all information about the credit card.
Good Choose for 0 APR, No Annual Fee
- Rewards Rate:
- This card doesn't offer cash back, miles or points.
- Intro Offer:
- No current offer .
- Annual Fee:$0
- Purchase Intro APR:0% Introductory APR for 12 months from date of account opening
- Regular APR:18.24% - 28.99% Variable
- Balance Transfer APR:18.24% - 28.99% Variable
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Rate and fee information
- Purchase Intro APR
- 0% Introductory APR for 12 months from date of account opening
- Purchase APR
- 18.24% - 28.99% Variable
- Intro Balance Transfer APR
- 0% Introductory APR for 21 months from date of first transfer when transfers are completed within 4 months from date of account opening
- Balance Transfers APR
- 18.24% - 28.99% Variable
- APR for Cash Advances
- 29.99% Variable
- How to Avoid Paying Interest
- If you do not pay your monthly Citi Flex Plan Payment plus your entire balance, excluding any Citi Flex Plan balances, by the due date each month, you will pay interest on your purchases from the date they're posted to your account.
Fees
- Annual Fee
- $0
- Fees for Balance Transfer
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
- Fees for Cash Advances
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater
- Penalty Fees
- 29.99%
- Return Payment
- Up to $41
- Late Payment
- Up to $41
Pros & Cons
- 0% Intro APR for 12 months on purchases and 21 months on balance transfers
- Flexible payment due date
- No annual fee
- Free access to FICO® score
- No rewards
- Foreign transaction fee applied
- Late payment fees
Features
- 0% Intro APR
- Low interest
- No Annual Fee
- No foreign transaction fees
- Payment Flexibility
- Fraud Protection
- Purchase Protection
- Excellent Credit
About the issuer
Compare with other cards
- NoneAnnual Fee
- 14.99% - 29.99%Regular APR
- 3%Cash Back on Home, Auto and Health categories.
- N/A%Purchase Intro APR
- $95Annual Fee
- 19.99% - 29.99%Regular APR
- 5xMiles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
- NonePurchase Intro APR
- NoneAnnual Fee
- 19.99% - 29.99%Regular APR
- 1.5%Cash Back on all purchases.
- NonePurchase Intro APR
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Citi® Diamond Preferred® Credit Card Review
The main highlight of the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Credit Card is its quite extensive 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers. The balance transfer fee is set at 3% (minimum $5) and there is no annual fee. After the 12 months for purchases and 21 months for balance transfer interest-free period a standard variable APR is applied. It varies between 18.24% - 28.99%, depending on your creditworthiness. This is a great card to get you out of debt, but if you wish to apply have in mind that you need an excellent credit score for the approval odds to be in your favor.
Citi® Diamond Preferred® Credit Card: pros and cons
Pros: | Cons: |
---|---|
0% Intro APR. For purchases, you enjoy the 0% APR rate for the 12 months from the date of opening the account. While for balance transfers it is 21 months since the first balance transfer which has to be completed within 4 months after opening the account (18.24% - 28.99% Variable after that). | No rewards. This card doesn’t have perks like reward points or even travel insurance. |
No annual fee. You don’t have to pay an annual fee for this card. Since probably the main reason for getting it is to pay off debt, this is a worthy feature. | Foreign transaction fee applied. If you make a purchase outside of the USA, you’ll have to pay a fee of 3% of the U.S. dollar amount. |
Flexible payment due date. With the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Credit Card, you get to choose your monthly payment due date. This can be any day of the month, so you can even set it up so that it matches your paychecks. | Late payment fees. A variable penalty fee of up to 29.99% will be applied if you miss a payment or if it is returned. The bank does offer another credit card with no late fees, the Citi Simplicity® Card - No Late Fees Ever. |
Free access to FICO® score. With the free access to your credit score, you can check it up anytime you want, so you have the opportunity to “keep an eye” on it. |
Rewards system in a nutshell
Unfortunately, the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Credit Card doesn’t have a rewards system. This is typical for cards that offer a lengthy 0% APR period. Besides, the incentive for getting this card usually is to pay off debt, so this is not a serious issue. Still, after paying off your balance, there is little reason to keep on to it.
Who can benefit from getting the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Credit Card?
They will appreciate the 0% APR period for a balance transfer fee of 3% ($5 minimum), it’s an important feature that makes debt management easier. It might be a setback that it doesn’t offer rewards, but the interest-free period it offers is enough to compensate for that fact.
Even though it is one of the cards with the longest 0% intro APR period, you should still consider the excellent credit score needed (at least 700) in order to be eligible. The minimum credit limit is $500, and it will depend on your creditworthiness.
Are there any other benefits?
Yes. Some of the card benefits include:
- $0 fraud liability – you won’t be charged for any unauthorized payments if your card gets stolen.
- 24/7 customer service – you can reach the customer service reps for support any day at any time.
- Contactless payment – it takes seconds to pay with this MasterCard credit card. Just a tap and you’re done!
Conclusion
It offers you a 0% introductory APR period on purchases for the first 12 months after opening the account and if you make a balance transfer within the first 4 months you get 21 months 0% APR period from the day you made the first balance transfer (18.24% - 28.99% Variable after that). It rarely gets better than that for balance transfer fees.
This is a great card if your purpose is to pay off your debt, but other than that it doesn’t offer you many other perks. So, after it serves your purpose you’ll probably want to opt for a cash back credit card that offers you rewards.