Citi Dividend World MasterCard Benefits
A number of years ago the Citi Dividend card was launched. Since then, the rewards and benefits have changed a few times. Here’s how the MasterCard Version works…
2012 Update: New applicants of this card are no longer being given a MasterCard. Instead you will receive the Visa “Platinum Select” tier and you can learn more about the new version here.
Below is a review of the World MasterCard benefits, which I will keep up for reference purposes.
I’ve had this credit card since the early days, so I’ve ridden the ups and downs that have come with it. Several years ago it gave 5% on gas, groceries and drugstores… but that was when gas only cost $1.50 per gallon! After gas prices went up the rewards program became a money loser for Citibank, so they had no choice but to scale it down to 2%.
Fortunately, Citi stopped offering the 2% and instead brought back 5% recently, albeit in a new version. Today you get 5% cash back on categories which rotate each quarter. Last year (2011) the rewards calendar was:
First Quarter (Jan 1st thru March 31st): 5% for health care, drugstores, and fitness
Second Quarter (April 1st thru June 30th): 5% for home improvement, garden, and home furnishings
Third Quarter (July 1st thru Sept 30st): 5% for vehicle rentals, airlines, and hotels
Fourth Quarter (Oct 1st thru Dec 31st): 5% for department stores, clothing stores, toy stores, electronics stores
For 2012, here is the rewards calender so far:
First Quarter: 5% on utilities, health clubs, and fitness clubs
Second Quarter: 5% at The Home Depot and on home furnishing and home & garden purchases
The Dividend’s 5% cash back calendar for the rest of the year hasn’t been announced yet.
Citi Dividend vs. the other guys?
There are a couple similar cards on the market that do rotating categories, the Discover More and Chase Freedom. However, the Citi Dividend World MasterCard offers a number of unique benefits and advantages:
- No quarterly 5% cap. The other two aforementioned credit cards cap the amount of spending that qualifies for 5%. With the Citi Dividend, the cap only applies to the total amount of Dividend Dollars you can earn per year and that’s $300 max (both 5% spending and regular 1% spending counts towards that threshold). This means the Citi Dividend is the best choice for big purchases in the 5% categories.
- World MasterCard benefits. This tier comes with some nice benefits such as Extended Warranty (extension of up to 1 additional year on eligible purchases that have an original manufacturer’s U.S. warranty of one year or less), Retail Purchase Protection (eligible purchases are protected for up to 90 days from date of purchase against accidental breakage, theft and fire for up to $1,000), Automatic Travel Accident Insurance (on eligible travel), and other perks.
- Unlimited Citi Extra Cash. You also have the ability to earn 5% cash back on average through the Citi Bonus Cash Center, which is an online shopping portal featuring over 400 popular stores.
Verdict?
The new Citi Dividend World MasterCard benefits are definitely worth checking out. Even if you already have one or both of the other 5% cards mentioned above, with this one there are some distinct advantages that you don’t want to miss out on.
The best current offer?
As mentioned you can no longer apply for the World Mastercard. For 2012 the Dividend is being issued as a Visa Platinum Select. Fortunately the benefits are nearly identical but administered through Visa instead of MasterCard. You still get the extended warranty, retail purchase protection, trip cancellation/interruption coverage, travel accident insurance on eligible Common Carrier, and much more.
So in a nutshell, the card will say “Visa” instead of “MasterCard” but at the end of the day, what’s being offered to cardholders is for the most part the same. Right now CreditCardForum has this limited time sponsored promotion:
I just bought a washer and dryer at Home Depot using my Citi Dividend Mastercard. I’m holding my breath to see if I get the 5% rebate for it. I don’t see a definition of ‘Home Furnishing’ mentioned anywhere. My definition would be anything that is not attached to the house.
Hey CreditCardGuru, I noticed for this quarter, one of the categories is “electronics stores.” What stores would fall under this…would Best Buy? Fry’s?
As long as the electronics store (like Best Buy or Fry’s) has a merchant code properly identifying itself as such, then yes it would qualify.
Hi Rob, sorry to hear about your problem. Indeed when it comes to credit card reward categories (not just with Citi, but all issuers) generally speaking in order to get the higher cash back, you have to buy from a merchant in that category. For example, Home Depot or Lowes is strictly “home improvement” and categorized as such. However if you buy from a merchant who sells a wide array of items (such as a Walmart) it will be categorized as a general purchase, because their merchant code identifies the store as such. I’m not personally familiar with the online GE Store, do they sell items in other categories to?
I have 2 Citi Dividend cards (1 MC and 1 AMEX) and have been with them since 2004. I purchased just under $5000 in new kitchen appliances when we moved into our new home in May 2011. I purchased the appliances online via the GE store and Citi refused to give me the extra 4% cashback on the purchases because the way the transaction was sent to them from the GE site; in a way that it did not fall under any of the home improvement categories. I called and emailed several times, even explaining that I would submit my receipts. Even though they ‘escalated’ the request, they did nothing stating they “are limited in our ability to assist with your request.” I bought appliances and that is clearly in the home improvement categories description of the promotional incentive. What a joke. I am not using my Citi cards ever again…