We don’t talk about CitiBusiness ThankYou (CBTY) card. Rarely will a blogger mention it. Most bloggers don’t have a single article on it. The last time it was mentioned with any relevance was almost a year ago when frequentmiler seemingly stumbled upon a 40k signup bonus. Then on 8/28 Citi enforced a “one signup bonus every 24 months per brand” rule and Doctorofcredit (Doc) posted a recycled article to spread awareness on the card. I was still puzzled by the lack of enthusiasm about the card and even more by the lack of information on the card.
Soon after Doc noticed that the new 8/28 rule was possibly grouping CBTY card with Prestige, Premier, and Preferred. But there was no data point to support the case. I wondered if I could get signup bonus for CBTY if I had received Prestige, Premier, or Preferred in last 24 months? Is the 40k bonus still around? Does this card even exist or is it in a process of getting phased out? Well, I finally decided to go to branch and see for myself.
The key points are as follows:
This card is alive and well
I went to the branch to apply for the card. I even took a picture of the offer from frequentmiler post but nope, didn’t need it. They were very well aware of the card. I seriously doubt this card is getting phased out.
20k TY bonus after 3k spend seems to be standard
20k offer for this card has been around for years and it is the offer I received as well.
This offer is valid through 10/01/2016
I am fairly certain they’ll renew it with 20k bonus again.
[UPDATE] You can get matched to 40k offer (added 2/15/2017)
You can read about it in my new blog post.
CBTY card does not prevent you from earning TY signup bonus via personal card AND vice versa also holds true
The flyer I received states the following:
Bonus ThankYou Points not available if you have had a CitiBusiness ThankYou card opened or closed in the past 24 months.
In other words, every 24 months you can churn this card independently of Citi personal cards. I doubt churning Citi business card for 20k TYP will be on top of your priority but nevertheless it is possible.
Additionally, application page of any TYP signup bonus card, say Prestige, does not exclude CBTY card anymore:
Bonus ThankYou points are not available if you have had ThankYou Preferred, ThankYou Premier or Citi Prestige cards opened or closed in the past 24 months.
Downgrade to CBTY
You can convert any Citi business card to CBTY card after a year.
[UPDATE] Combine Points with Personal Card
You can combine points earned from CBTY card with those earned from personal card. Note that combined points can’t be uncombined. In order to combine points you’ll need to call The Thank You Service Center at 1-800-THANKYOU (1-800-842-6596). It is open from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. ET and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET.
About the card
Uncapped quarterly rotating categories
CTYB card earns uncapped 3x on certain quarterly rotating categories. These categories have never changed since the inception of the card. On everything else the card earns 1x. Additionally, you earn an anniversary TYP bonus each membership year.
- Jan-March: Advertisement Services, Office Supply merchants, Professional Services
- April-June: Computer Equipment and software merchants, Telecommunications merchants
- July-Sep: Airlines, Hotels and Car Rental merchants
- Oct-Dec: Restaurants and Entertainment
- Remark: these categories have never changed so they’re bound to stay the same. There is no cap on category earning either.
Anniversary bonus and membership year
Citi flyer describes it as follows:
At the end of your CBTY card membership year (which begins the date you become a CBTY cardmember and resets each year on that date), you will earn an Anniversary Bonus calculated as a percentage of TYP earned from purchases under the “Base Earn Rate” during that membership year as follows:
Membership Year Anniversary Bonus %
0-1 1%
1-2 2%
2- and after 3%
In other words, instead of 1x earning you earn 1.01x, 1.02x, and 1.03x earning on year 1, 2, and 3 respectively. As stated above, the anniversary bonus only applies to base earning. For example, if you spend $100 in one of 3x category then you would get (a) 300 points because of 3x category and (b) 1-3 points because of 1-3% anniversary bonus.
Closing Thoughts
I think this is a decent deal among business cards that do not get reported to personal credit report. If you don’t think very highly of 20k TYP then you can get 50k AA signup bonus via AA business card and downgrade later to CBTY card.
The quarterly categories on CBTY card aren’t all that impressive but some of these might work for you. If they work for you, this might be a great card for you considering the fact that (a) there is no AF and (b) categories are uncapped. However, do note that often these categories have been outdone by other cards.
8 comments
Excellent info. Thanks!
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Do you know if there is a foreign transaction fee on this card? Also are these points transferable?
Ben, yes CBTY has FTF and these points can be combined with your personal cards like Prestige, Premier, etc. You can transfer them to partner after afterward.
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