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Citibank Signature Card No Annual Fee for Life

1890

This deal is back i noticed. I signed up to it last time. No sign up points/short term incentives but i recommend it as a long term card option on the following basis (the below is for the signature card):

  • No annual fee for life
  • reward points (1.5 citibank points per dollar spent, effective conversion rate of $1 spent equal to 1 velocity or singapore airlines point)
  • priority pass membership (with 2 free visits a year)
  • free bottle of wine at selected restaurants (restaurants can be found using the citibank app)
  • travel insurance and price protection insurance
  • up to 55 interest free days

Application criteria may be assessed on income, I had a friend who applied for the signature but only received the platinum (which is not quite as good).

Hopefully of interest to someone.

Related Stores

Citibank Australia
Citibank Australia

closed Comments

      • so on platinum its works out around 0.65 velocity points per $1 spent

        • yeah that sounds about right. Platinum is also missing one of the types of insurances (interstate flight or something) and the priority pass membership, so if you can get the signature, def worth it.

  • +1

    Is it 75k gross income or 75k incl super?

    • +2

      My guess would be gross income not inclusive of super

    • +1

      Gross. not super incl.

    • gross income

  • +3

    Already have the card from the previous free for life deal. But it is an awesome card and an awesome deal, thus deserves a positive vote!

    • +1

      signature is obviously better but if u cant get it and only platinum still worth it to accumulate points with no annual fee. you get 1/3 less rate on velocity converion

  • Forgot I applied for this back in May just checked the status it's saying Booked what does this mean? Does it normally
    Take this long?

    • Funny I just checked the letter box as it was there!

      I'm sure I put down my wife for a second card should they come together in the same envelope ?

      • +1

        for security reason, no…… seperate

        • Thanks

        • +1

          Amex sends multiple cardholders cards in same envelope :)

      • +2

        I put down my wife

        That's a bit mean!

  • +1

    How does this compare to the HSBC credit card?

    Edit: looks like this card has much better rewards.

    HSBC = 1 point per $ and $50 giftcard is 10,000 points
    This = 1.5 point per $ and $50 giftcard is 8600 points

  • +4

    It's a good card; you can expect to receive 0.88% of your purchases back in gift cards. For example, spend $10k and you'll get $88 worth of supermarket vouchers.

    Compare the returns you'll get against other cards here http://rewardscompared.com/cards
    (Note: this site doesn't currently have the $0 annual fee factored in for the Citibank card)

    You can get a higher return with cards that provide an AMEX card in addition to the Visa/Mastercard

  • no annual fee ever really makes this card worth it. Probably the only rewards card with platinum perks you don't have to pay for!

  • +1

    sorry, how can we get the Priority Pass code? ring Citibank? Thanks!

    • +1

      That code get delivered in your welcome pack after youve been approved. From memory its a generic code.

    • +1

      It's completely separate from Citibank, they operate out of Singapore, a card with a code will come separately and you need to sign up via PP website, and that'll come in 3 weeks.

      • +1

        Hong Kong, is where its based not SIN

        • UK as well.

    • code? I got a priority pass card with two free accesses annual

      • You surely must have registered on the PP website to get that - they don't send these out automatically…

        • Oh, you were right, I rang citibank, they gave me the code then I signed up.

      • For me I wasnt sent physical access cards, just a PP membership card, which then were swiped at the lounges in MEL and LAX- and that was my 2 free entries for the year

  • Just applied for the signature. Thank you OP.
    Being a noob here, I still dont know what facilities can I get getting a platinum/signature card though. This will be my first Visa, so far I have only used CBA Mastercard.

  • My reading of the Travel Insurance Eligibility is that you don't actually need to buy your tickets with the card, you just need to be a cardholder at the time. Is that correct? Never had Credit card travel insurance before.

    • +2

      Citibank Select and Citibank Rewards Credit Card - Signature Cardholders are eligible for International Travel Insurance, if their travel is for no more than six (6) consecutive months or less and when prior to leaving Australia their overseas travel ticket (but not taxes or airport or travel agent charges) was obtained by one or a combination of the following methods:
      charging the cost of the overseas travel ticket to the cardholder's card; or
      obtaining the overseas travel ticket under the Citibank Travel Program; or
      obtaining the overseas travel ticket via the cardholder's airline frequent flyer program, provided that a minimum of 15,000 points were transferred to that frequent flyer program from points earned on a Citibank Card or via Citi Rewards, over a 12 month period prior to obtaining the overseas travel ticket; and
      the person is a cardholder at the time they obtain their overseas travel ticket.

    • +2

      No. You have to have paid for the ticket with the card, or the card's rewards scheme. Page 20:

      Who is eligible?
      A cardholder with a Select Card, Signature Card, World Card, Platinum Card or Citibusiness Gold Card is eligible for this International Travel Insurance when they meet all of the following criteria:
      1. the cardholder’s travel is for no more than six (6) consecutive months or three (3) months for Citibusiness Gold Card cardholders; and
      2. before leaving Australia the cardholder obtains their overseas travel ticket (but not taxes or airport or travel agent charges) by one or a combination of the following methods:
      (a) charging the cost of the overseas travel ticket to the cardholder’s card; or
      (b) obtaining the overseas travel ticket under the Citibank Travel Program; or
      (c) obtaining the overseas travel ticket via the cardholder’s airline frequent flyer program, provided that a minimum of 15,000 points were transferred to that frequent flyer program from points earned on a Citibank Card or via Citi Rewards, over a 12 month period prior to obtaining the overseas travel ticket; and
      3. the person is a cardholder at the time they obtain their overseas travel ticket

      • +1

        Ahhh… I missed that sneaky little and before the last point, read it as an or. Now it makes more sense. I thought it was too good to be true. lol

  • +2

    The card is good and I have one but like all credit cards just make sure to pay it off. No fees and with the rewards I have got a pretty decent sound bar which is worth about 300-400 bucks which is nice so the points do add up and it took about 6 months of spending for that.

    The website sucks, and I have had my girlfriends card deactivate twice now for no reason and it actually required replacing once. When trying to fix the issue of my girlfriends card stopping working they seemed more interested in selling me insurance than fixing the issue. Their website is unbelievably bad. They have buttons that don't work, even contacting their support is flawed and I had to call them up to complain about how shit their website was because it didn't work. Also when using the website they text more than a schoolgirl who just got a shiny new iphone.

    • +2

      Yep terrible website, and just as terrible app.

    • agree, but they are improving it in the last few months, which makes better than hsbc now :)

  • Thanks, just called the service centre and got my platinum cards upgraded to No Annual Fee for Life. Was told it will take about 5-7 business days to process.

  • +1

    Anybody know what the minimum credit limit is on the Signature card?

    • +5

      Platinum Minimum = $6,000
      Signature Minimum = $15,000

    • -4

      20k I think

    • Mine was allocated $4,000 when I signed up for Signature.

      • Really?

        • Call Centre just called regarding my application and said that I must increase my Min Limit to $15,000 (from the nominated amount of $5,000). Told him I will increase it to $10,000 to meet him halfway. He (rudely) said I might not get the product I applied and hang up on me. Great customer service I'd say…

  • got rejected twice … very upset

    • +1

      Better stop trying, it might impact future credit checks.

      • I really want 1 with domestic travel insurance :(

        • call them up and discuss how to make it work. They might ask you to cancel some other credit card to reduce their risk.

        • Did you try for platinum?

          Isnt Domestic travel insurance overrated? Since you have medicare etc?

        • car hire excess, baggage, delayed trips, etc

        • @edgar28:

          ok, i ll call them at 9 am.

          @danyool:

          ya, want to cover delayed trips! especially if flying tigerair~

        • +1

          @edgar28:

          I just rang them up , and they said need to email them and give them a reason why they need to approve my application and reaccess my application. eg: I am an important customer and not a ozbargain looking for freebies … hmmmm

  • Just called them and was told if I upgrade my platinum I'll lose my points…they wont transfer it as some people suggested.

    • +1

      I got the signature card last time the offer was on after already having a platinum card. Once they were both up and running Citibank were more than happy to transfer the points from one card to the other. I'd suggest this route if they don't play ball during an upgrade. You can then always close the platinum card after the points are across.

    • +1

      They did it with mine earlier this year, I didn't even ask about the points (not thinking it would even be an issue).

    • +1

      interesting…might try again tomorrow. Thx

  • +1

    Great card but bad service.
    Applied for this card about two months ago and received a card with a different promotion, 0% p.a. for 24 months on balance transfers.
    Found out only because I got charged $199 for annual fee. Had to ring them a million times and provide all sorts of "evidence" to sort it out. Luckily I kept everything.
    Better double check before start using it.

  • Building a house next year…can't afford to scratch my loan amount…this seems like a good deal but got to skip it. :(

  • Just trying to sign up now via mobile. Don't need credit, will just use the card for free wine etc. It's stuck on 'just a moment please' at the moment

  • Hello, Which card would be more beneficial (this one vs Amex) for a monthly spent of $3000. Expenses are groceries, petrol, bills, day care fees and other general expenses.

    • Depends on which amex you have and how you got it.

      My Amex black is through my homeloan for free as part of the package fee and gives 1.77% on purchases. A fair few places online and instore don't accept Amex.

      For me the best is still ING paywave at 2% for under $100
      Then Amex Black at 1.77%
      Lastly Citibank Signature at 0.86%.

      Coles card in theory is ok for the first year for 1% but then the annual fee kicks in and the 0.14% is worth the flexibility of other gift cards.

      • I don't have an Amex Credit Card. So which one would offer me more rewards and I'm not interested in flights.

  • CitiBank just cut up my Signature Card because they would not approve my $15k line of credit unless I let them cancel my Signature Card. (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/151314) Their reason was that they will not approve 2 lots of credit within 12 months. And so, now that they have sidelined me for 12 months, I would like to get a Qantas Frequent Flyer card, with low annual fees, and with 2 Qantas lounge passes. Any suggestions please?

    • +2

      Try the ANZ Qantas FF Black. No annual fee for first year, 2 invitations to qantas lounge per year and 50,000 bonus points when you spend $1500 in first 3 months on eligible purchases

    • +2

      ANZ black
      http://www.anz.com/personal/credit-cards/black/anz-frequentf…
      found in:
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/151161

      Lol sorry loaded up this page a few minutes ago, refreshed after I posted and saw I had been beaten to it!

      • I'm still looking at this deal, but I guess it doesn't give 0% transfer from existing cards? Would be very handy..

        • +1

          Uh…

          0% p.a. for 6 months on balance transfers

        • @f4te:

          Cheers F4te

  • +2

    Last time Ozbargain post, I applied signature but I got only Platinum card:(

  • The impression I get from Citibank is far under professional. Their staff doesn't really even know how to serve customer. Even they have these kind of deals I never want to go with them.

  • Applied last time for platinum as I didn't meet the income criteria but they gave me >15k limit. Do u think they will give me an upgrade?

  • +1

    Iisn't CitiBank the one, who just had / agreed to pay a MASSIVE FINE, eg, in connection with their atrocious behaviour misrepresenting re-packaged low-doc mortgages, around 2008 or 2009?

    They would have lost heaps of clients for that, & now seem to be trying to drum up new business.

    The news on the big fine just came through, this week or last.

  • So as I understand this it sounds pretty good.

    I apply for this Signature card, say get 20k.

    I then cheque to self for 16k, bank it, transfer it into a high interest account, and pay 1.9% on the 16k on the cc, while earning 4% on the investment, as long as I dont spend anything else on the card.

    If I am right, it seems like a quick way to build your savings up, and the interest earned out weighs the interest owed?

    • +1

      Just remember that you get taxed on the interest you make, so do the sums and see what the difference really is

    • I then cheque to self for 16k

      -1 NO - do 0% balance transfer :)

    • Do the 0% balance transfer if you can. (I could not because my balance was within Citibank). The 1.9% is for a longer period (12 months), and also locks up the credit card (shouldn't use it for anything else until the cheque is paid up).

      Meanwhile, whether or not your profits get taxed, depends on where you put the money - if you put it in your offset you are preventing interest, not generating interest ;)

  • I got the card but am barely using it. See my rant here: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/151310

  • +1

    This is a great card if you spend alot each month on your card. If you enrol in the Citibank Qantas Rewards Program (an additional annual fee of $49), this pays alot of dividends as there is no monthly points capping on the Qantas FF points unlike some of the other credit cards out there (e.g. Westpac Earth Platinum which introduced a monthly Qantas FF points cap of around 3,500 points).

    I had this Westpac card and when I saw this Citibank credit card offer on OzBargain late last year, I jumped ship immediately and applied for this Citibank card. Plus the annual fee on the Westpac card was $150, so I'm saving $100 each year with the Citibank card.

    I've been reaping the rewards ever since! I put all my spend on this card each month and to maximise point earning potential, I even put small purchases on the card at Woolworths!

    Don't delay getting one!

  • so whats the most QFF points per $1 we can earn on these cards?

  • I applied for the Signature card the last time round and got it no problems. So far so good using it as well and no complaints.

  • Just jumped on the Citibank site to check their current credit card range and offers…

    https://www.citibank.com.au/aus/credit_cards/cards_signature…

    They are offering 60k points as below!!!

    The Signature card.

    Get to where you want to be sooner with the card that takes you places. Apply for the Citibank Rewards Credit Card - Signature before 31 July 2014 and receive 60,000 points on your first spend1 plus enjoy a $299 annual fee for life.

    Since people have been able to call up customer service to have their annual fee waived from their previously created account and go onto the annual fee free for life, could you do that on this and score the 60k points?

    • No, the waive was only for the first year if you read properly. If you want the 60K points, sign up, waive the 299, and then discard the card after a year.

      • Not sure how to quote previous posts so using the block-quote lol…

        MelbBargainChaser77 8 hours 29 min ago

        OP I would like to thank you for this post, it just scored me a $299 refund.

        Back in April Citi were offering the Signature rewards card with 80000 Bonus Qantas points for a "reduced" annual fee of $299. I applied for it got my 80k points and paid what I thought was a reasonable fee for them. So I just called Citi and had a sook that my "friend" applied for the same card today and it was fee free, and I thought that was unfair. The helpful young lady with no questions asked reversed the fee straight back onto my card. SCORE! Thats almost 3 months of my health insurance paid for! Thank you

        Edit: Re read it. You're right… Just a once off waiver.

        • I can confirm, they told me its a ONCE off waiver. The $299 was immediately refunded on my card

  • +1

    If only Citibank wasn't such a big pain in the …
    One of the worse customer service, inconvenient (for a customer) procedures about almost everything, terrible internet banking with not the most intelligent idea of SMS confirmation. I would highly recommend ANY major bank and a bunch of others when compare with citi.

  • Did anyone do a balance transfer online? I was under the impression from the previous deal that some people were able to do "cheque to self" via the balance transfer options online.

    My account is in credit, and I would like to do a "cheque to self", but they seem to have revamped their internet banking and now the balance transfer section is empty?

    Would be interested to hear if anyone managed to do this online? Should I call up now and request?

    Thanks

    • +1

      I had to call up on the initial transfer and they did it to my mortgage account no problems, this time I had to call for a cheque. It's pretty easy to do over the phone.

      • Thanks for that, yeah I might give them a call.

  • +1

    I applied for this last time it was on offer and it is a ripper deal, in the last 2 months they had double points meaning 3 points per dollar. I have earned about $500 dollars worth of gift cards and now they have just offered another 6 month 0% balance transfer (if you have a card check your special offers section once you have logged in). I highly recommend this card even if their online banking is awful.

  • tip: if u are a citigold client ask your rm for a paper app form and get him enter a source code so that u get 60k points. btw any one have luck upgrading to the card from platinum with a 10k limit?

  • edit: nvm i read it wrong

  • How does it compare to Westpac Platinum cards?

    • +6

      Maybe he should have paid his cards off. Just because your colleague couldn't evade his credit card debt is no reason to steer away from Citi.

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