Citi Dividends: The Best Credit Card?

When shopping for a credit card, many people just go down to the local bank or credit union and sign up for whatever they happen to have to offer, but picking out a credit card is just like every other purchase. You need to compare your varying product options, and make an informed decision about your choice of credit card based on its fee structure, interest rates, features and extra perks. You should look at several different cards before making a choice, and one of the cards that many people have been consistently choosing is the Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard from Citibank.

The card in question features 0% APR on balance transfers and card purchases for the first 12 months, and after that you will receive a 13.74% variable rate. The rate is 23.24% for cash advances and a whopping 32.24% if you are in default, but that should never happen since you should never charge more on a credit card than you can pay off at the end of the month.

Citibank has included a number of security features with this card that has made it a very attractive option to many of its customers. The card features $0 liability on any unauthorized purchases. Additionally, you can get a card with your photograph on it so anyone accepting the card can ensure you are the one making the charges. Citibank also has a very strong privacy policy which protects your personal information from being given away.

The Citi Dividends card has a number of free online services for the card as well. You can see the current balance and recent activity. You can also view previous statements and pay your credit card bill or all of your bills directly through their website.

Perhaps the best feature of the card is its reward program. The rewards program is a "cash back" program meaning that you don't have to trade in points you earn for rewards, rather you can just get money and buy the goods and services you want. Most reward programs range about 1%, however for Citi, you get 5% for purchases at any member in the Citi Dividend Merchant Network, 2% for purchases at supermarkets, gas stations, and utilities, and for all other purchases, you can earn 1%. When all is said and done you end up earning about 3% cash back, which is a pretty good rewards program.

The card has a couple of other benefits. The card has no annual fee and you can actually earn cash back on cash advances and balance transfers.