The Citi Cash Back+ card is Citi's no-fuss answer to people tired of chasing categories. It pays a flat 1.6% cashback on almost everything you charge, with no cap on what you earn and no minimum spend before the rate kicks in. The cashback never expires and lands back in your account through the Citi Mobile app. That is the whole pitch, and for a lazy spender it is a good one. The catch is a S$196.20 annual fee, a handful of bill categories that quietly earn nothing, and a flat rate that any decent tiered card beats inside its own niche. This guide works through the exact rate, the real exclusions, the fee break-even in dollars and who the Citi Cash Back+ actually suits as of October 2026.
Update, 14 October 2026: the 0.4% Citi Plus bonus now needs a Citi Interest Booster Account, not a Time Deposit, and only the Mastercard version of the card earns it. Most Singapore cashback cards run on conditions. Hit a minimum spend, stay inside a named category, keep below a monthly cap, and only then does the bonus rate apply. The Citi Cash Back+ throws that rulebook out. It pays one flat rate on nearly all eligible retail spend, credits the cashback to your account, and never asks you to clear a quarterly target. Simplicity is the entire product.
The headline number is 1.6%. That applies to local retail, dining, groceries, online shopping and overseas spend alike, though bus and MRT fares earn nothing (more on that below). There is no cap on how much 1.6% cashback you can earn and no minimum monthly spend before it applies, so the percentage is identical whether you charge S$80 or S$8,000 in a month. The cashback you build up does not expire, and you redeem it instantly through the Citi Mobile app or by SMS rather than waiting for a statement credit.
There is a second, smaller rate worth knowing about. Citi Plus customers who are the primary holder of a Citi Interest Booster Account and carry the Mastercard version of the card earn an extra 0.4% on top, lifting the rate to 2.0%. That bonus needs a minimum S$500 in monthly card spend and is capped at S$2,000 of spend a month, so the extra tops out at about S$8 monthly. For most applicants who do not hold a Citi deposit relationship, treat the card as a clean flat 1.6%.
| Spend type | Cashback rate | Cap | Minimum spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible local retail spend | 1.6% | None | None |
| Overseas spend (before 3.25% FX fee) | 1.6% | None | None |
| Citi Plus bonus (Interest Booster Account primary holder, Mastercard only) | +0.4% (total 2.0%) | S$2,000 spend/month | S$500/month |
| Insurance, education, government, bill payments, fund top-ups, transit, utilities, parking, rent | 0% | Not eligible | Not eligible |
"Cashback on everything" is the marketing line, and it holds for ordinary shopping. But the Citi Cash Back+ Cardmember terms carve out a list of transaction types that are not treated as eligible retail spend, so they earn the same as cash: nothing. Knowing them upfront stops you from expecting a rebate that never shows up.
These do not earn the 1.6%, because Citi excludes them from eligible spend: insurance premium payments, education and tuition fees, government and statutory payments (Merchant Category Code 9399, Government Services Not Elsewhere Classified), hospital and some medical bills, AXS and bill-payment transactions, and digital wallet or stored-value top-ups. Bus and MRT fares, utility bills, parking and rental payments are excluded too. Charity, cash advances, balance transfers, instalment plan conversions and any Citi fees are also outside the rate.
The practical takeaway is that this is a shopping card, not a bills card. If a big slice of your monthly outgoings is insurance, school fees or town-council and government payments, a flat card that still pays a small rate on those, such as the UOB Absolute at 0.3% on excluded categories, can net more across a year. Run your own mix through the personal budget calculator before assuming flat means universal.
The principal card carries a S$196.20 annual fee including 9% GST, and Citi's card page and fee sheet promise no first-year waiver. The supplementary card fee is S$98.10 each. You can ask Citi to waive the principal fee, and many cardholders get it removed by request, but a waiver is not guaranteed in writing, so plan as if you will pay it.
If you do pay the S$196.20 fee, you need to earn it back before the card breaks even. At 1.6%, recovering S$196.20 of fee takes about S$12,263 of eligible annual spend, or roughly S$1,022 a month, purely to neutralise the fee. Spend below that and the fee quietly eats into your rewards. Because the GST is already baked into the S$196.20 figure, that is the real number to clear, not a pre-GST one. A quick way to sanity-check whether your card spend clears the line is the budget calculator.
Eligibility is standard for a Citi credit card. You must be at least 21. Singapore citizens and permanent residents need S$30,000 a year; foreigners need S$42,000 a year and a valid Employment Pass. Cashback never expires once earned, which removes the use-it-or-lose-it pressure some rewards cards build in. The flip side is the 3.25% foreign currency fee, so overseas spend earns 1.6% but pays more than that in conversion cost, leaving you net negative abroad.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (principal) | S$196.20 incl GST; no first-year waiver published |
| Supplementary card | S$98.10 each |
| Foreign currency transaction fee | 3.25% of the converted amount |
| Minimum age | 21 years |
| Income (citizen/PR) | S$30,000 a year |
| Income (foreigner) | S$42,000 a year |
| Cashback expiry | Does not expire |
| Fee break-even at 1.6% | About S$12,263 a year (S$1,022/month) |
A flat-rate card is a hedge, not a champion in any one category. Its value is that it has no zero-earn blind spots on ordinary shopping, so the comparison is always against what a specialised card would pay on the same swipe.
On everyday spend that does not fit a single category, the Citi Cash Back+ is genuinely useful. If your month is a scatter of dining, online orders, pharmacies and random merchants, a tiered card keeps tripping you on its minimums and caps, and you end up earning the base rate anyway. The flat 1.6%, earned with zero effort and no cap, often beats a category card you keep failing to optimise.
On focused spend it loses. The sibling Citi Cash Back card pays up to 8% on dining, groceries and petrol if you hit its S$800 minimum spend, and other Singapore cashback cards reach 5% to 6% inside narrow categories. If your spending is concentrated and predictable, a category card returns far more than 1.6%. The Citi Cash Back+ trades that ceiling for the absence of any floor.
Against rival flat cards, the 1.6% sits mid-pack. The American Express True Cashback runs around 1.5% flat, while the UOB Absolute pays 1.7% and still gives 0.3% on the bills Citi excludes entirely. The Citi card's edge is the never-expiring cashback and instant in-app redemption rather than a market-leading rate. Compare your real monthly mix in the best credit cards roundup before committing.
Update, 14 October 2026: the S$320 welcome offer now runs to 31 March 2027, not 30 June 2026. As of October 2026 Citi is running a sign-up offer on the Cash Back+ card for new Citi cardmembers who apply online: up to S$320 cashback, which works out to an effective 8% on the first S$4,000 of qualifying spend, on a minimum spend of S$800 within two calendar months of the month your account opens, and valid until 31 March 2027. Third-party comparison sites sometimes run their own parallel gifts such as cash via PayNow or appliance bundles on different spend thresholds, so the exact reward depends on which channel you apply through.
Welcome gifts are a one-off. They should sweeten a card you would keep anyway, not be the reason you take one. The 8% effective rate on the promo spend is far above the ongoing 1.6%, so it pays to front-load planned purchases into the first two months to hit the S$800 bar cleanly. Confirm the current gift, spend requirement and end date on the official Citibank page before applying, since promotions change every few weeks.
Apply directly through Citi with your NRIC or passport, proof of income and your address. Singpass Myinfo auto-fills income and employment details for most salaried applicants, so approval is usually quick; first-time applicants without a Citi relationship may need to upload a recent payslip or tax notice of assessment. Spend within your means and clear the statement in full each month, or the interest will dwarf any 1.6% you earn.
Only if your eligible spend clears the break-even. The S$196.20 fee takes about S$12,263 of annual spend at 1.6% to recover, or roughly S$1,022 a month. Below that the fee eats your rewards, though Citi often waives the fee on request if you ask.
Yes. The base 1.6% cashback applies with no monthly cap and no minimum spend before it kicks in, and the cashback never expires once earned. Only the optional 0.4% Citi Plus bonus carries a S$500 minimum and a S$2,000 monthly spend cap.
Insurance premiums, education and tuition fees, government payments under MCC 9399, hospital bills, AXS and bill payments, wallet or stored-value top-ups, bus and MRT fares, utility bills, parking and rent all earn nothing. Cash advances, balance transfers, instalment conversions and Citi fees are also excluded from the rate.
Singapore citizens and permanent residents need at least S$30,000 a year, and you must be 21 or older. Foreigners need S$42,000 a year and a valid Employment Pass. Singpass Myinfo auto-fills income for most salaried applicants, which speeds up approval.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).