Citi Simplicity® Card review: A no-fuss balance transfer card

The BankAmericard credit card offers a shorter intro APR period on balance transfers but a longer intro APR offer on new purchases and a lower ongoing interest rate than the Citi Simplicity card. Depending on your needs, this card might be ideal for purchases both during and after your introductory period. However, the Citi Simplicity gives you about double the amount of time to make balance transfers and doesn’t charge late payment fees.

While the Wells Fargo Reflect card and the Citi Simplicity carry a similar intro APR offer on balance transfers, the Wells Fargo Reflect offers a longer intro APR on new purchases and provides better features like cellphone protection, roadside dispatch and entertainment deals.

However, the Citi Simplicity offers a lower intro balance transfer fee and doesn’t charge late payment fees. You’ll want to decide which of these features will benefit you more when choosing between these cards.

The Citi Simplicity is a good choice for anyone learning to manage their credit cards and tackle their debt. If you’re worried you might pay late, the Simplicity card’s lack of late fees and penalty APR makes it one of the most forgiving balance transfer cards.

The intro APR offer on balance transfers with the Citi Simplicity is one of the longest on the market. Someone who mainly wants to transfer a balance with Citi will get what they need from the Citi Simplicity card. 

The primary factor in a balance transfer or low-interest card’s rating is the quality of its introductory APR offer and ongoing APR. This includes both the introductory rate itself and the length of the intro APR on both balance transfers and new purchases. 

For cards designed primarily for balance transfers, the intro APR offer on balance transfers has the largest impact on overall score. The quality of these cards’ intro APR on new purchases is also considered, but holds less weight than the intro APR on balance transfers. 

For general low-interest cards, the intro APR offer on new purchases has the largest impact on overall score, followed by the ongoing APR and intro APR offer on balance transfers. This weighting assumes cardholders considering a card in this category will prioritize payment flexibility on new purchases or may need to carry a balance long term, whereas cardholders trying to pay off debt will opt for a dedicated balance transfer card.

The cards that score the highest in these categories tend to offer long 0-percent intro APRs on both balance transfers and new purchases as well as a lower-than-average low-end APR. 

Along with evaluating each card’s intro APR offers, we score balance transfer and low-interest cards based on their fees. 

Of primary importance is a card’s balance transfer fee, since this can play a large role in the total cost of a balance transfer. We rate each card’s balance transfer fee based on how it stacks up against the fee you’ll find on competing cards. 

While this fee carries less weight when we assess general low-interest cards than dedicated balance transfer cards, it still factors into our evaluation since cardholders may decide to transfer debt to a low-interest card even if it offers no intro APR or an intro APR higher than 0 percent.

And while a lower balance transfer fee could save you more overall than a few extra months of 0-percent intro APR, this fee carries less weight in our scoring system than a card’s introductory APR and intro APR period. This is because many users prioritize getting as much time as possible to pay off debt while avoiding interest. 

Our ratings also factor in the presence of annual, foreign transaction, cash advance and late payment fees, along with penalty APRs. Annual fees are weighted most heavily since these are the only “unavoidable” fees in the list and tend to be less common on dedicated balance transfer and low-interest credit cards.

While getting a generous intro APR offer and low ongoing APR are likely to be the biggest priorities for someone looking for a low-interest or balance transfer card, we also consider how much value a card can offer after its intro APR comes to an end. 

Balance transfer and low-interest cards receive a higher rating if they also include an ongoing rewards program or unique and valuable perks. Such features make a card more useful long term and make it less likely you’ll need to apply for a new card (and temporarily hurt your credit score) after you pay off debt.

The Citi Simplicity requires a good to excellent credit score for approval (a FICO score of 670 or higher). If your credit score is lower than the recommended range, looking at credit cards that only require fair to good scores or a starter card to help you build a positive credit history may be a better option.

The process can take up to three weeks after account approval. We recommend checking your previous account as usual, as you will still need to make payments until the transfer is complete. If the transfer is still incomplete after four weeks, you can call Citibank’s customer service to check where you are in the process.