Citi has recently made a few changes to its Citi Diamond Preferred Card in terms of its appearance and features.
The Citi Diamond Preferred Card is a well-received balance transfer credit card among consumers as it doesn’t incur an annual fee and has 0% Intro APR for 21 months on balance transfers from the date of the first transfer and 0% Intro APR for 12 months on purchases from the date of account opening.
The 0% Intro APR for 21 months is the longest APR promotional period offered on balance transfer cards, akin to card offerings from Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, and U.S. Bank.
The Diamond Preferred sits across from other Citi cards like the Citi Double Cash, which is more focused on credit card rewards. The latter offers the same Intro APR on balance transfers, as well as the same transfer fee, coupled with a 2% cash back on all purchases. But it comes with a catch – the 0% Intro APR on balance transfers with Double Cash is for 18 months – relatively shorter than the Diamond Preferred. On the same grounds, many consumers go with the Diamond Preferred card since its promotional period is significantly longer than that of the other cards on the market.
New look and features
The Citi card now comes with a new look and upgraded features for existing and new Citi Diamond Preferred card members.
New card design
Old card design
The new Citi Diamond Preferred Card has a new design with the name of the card positioned in the center. This move comes on the grounds of creating a uniform design for Citi credit cards across the board.
With regard to the card’s features, Citi has mainly enhanced its offers platform called My Deals, previously Citi Easy Deals. Citi Diamond Preferred cardmembers can now access My Deals on the Citi mobile app and Citi Online for national and local coupons and discounts across different experiences, offered according to the cardmember’s locations.
Citi Online is the bank’s online portal for customer accounts, where cardmembers can go to make their monthly payments, redeem rewards, and monitor all their Citi accounts in one place.
Savings Spotlight, a tracker that enables Citi Diamond Preferred cardmembers to see their total savings from interest rate promotions and My Deals offers, is also available on the Citi mobile app and Citi Online in the new upgrade.
“The new changes are creating a smoother cardmember experience and make it easier for our customers to take advantage of the card’s benefits,” said Sofia Graniello, head of value and small business credit cards at Citi.
What does it entail?
Although no annual fee and a longer 0% Intro APR promotional period may sound appealing, balance transfer cards may not be suited for everyone, and not everyone can qualify for them.
The longer time period of 0% Intro APR on balance transfers and purchases provides a window of opportunity for consumers to steer clear of paying annual fees while working toward settling up their outstanding credit card debts and building a better credit score in the process – or even support a large purchase like renovating a home. The Diamond Preferred Card also provides free access to consumers’ FICO scores, which can help them monitor their credit.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Citi Diamond Preferred Card does not offer any sign-up bonus or any other form of rewards, like cash back or credit card points. Consumers must complete their balance transfers within 4 months of account opening to avail the offer of 0% APR. There’s also a fee of $5 or 5% when a customer transfers a balance over to the card.
If a consumer transfers a balance after their 0% Intro purchase APR expires, both new purchases and unpaid purchase balances will automatically accrue interest until all balances, including the transferred balance, are paid in full. This interest amount is the variable APR of 17.99% - 28.74% based on a consumer’s creditworthiness. Nonetheless, a balance transfer may save consumers money on interest if they are capable of paying the balance off before the end of the promotional period.