Citi Unveils New 5% Cash Back Categories on the Dividend Card — Here's How to Activate Citi Unveils New 5% Cash Back Categories on the Dividend Card — Here's How to Activate

Citi Unveils New 5% Cash Back Categories on the Dividend Card — Here's How to Activate

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The Citi® Dividend Card is one of Citi‘s cash-back credit cards. It's similar to cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠ with its rotating quarterly bonus categories. Each quarter, Citi announces up to three Citi Dividend categories where you can earn 5% cash back when you use your card.

Enrollment for the Citi Dividend 2025 third-quarter categories opened today, June 15, 2025. Here's what you need to know about the current categories and how to enroll.

Citi Dividend Card 5% Cash Back Key Terms

Like other cards with rotating quarterly bonus categories, the terms are simple: Activate the offer, use your card on eligible purchases within the quarter, and enjoy the rewards. The Citi Dividend Card is no different.

  • Q3 registration opened on June 15, 2025, for eligible purchases made from July 1 to September 30, 2025.
  • Q2 registration opened on March 20, 2025, for purchases from April 1 to June 30, 2025. Registration for Q2 closes on June 30, 2025. But you'll want to enroll ASAP if you haven't already.
  • Activate your bonus within your online account via this link.
  • Earn 5% cash back on eligible purchases at qualifying merchants, up to a maximum of $300 per year.

That's right. Unlike the Freedom Flex — where earnings are capped at $75 per quarter — the Citi Dividend Card limits cash-back earnings to $300 per year.

That means you can use it all in one quarter if you find a bonus category especially useful. However, once you have accumulated $300 in cash back, no matter how you earn it, you're done earning bonus cash back for the year.

Can I get the Citi Dividend card?

The Citi Dividend Card isn't currently open to new applicants, and it's not possible to product change your Citi card to this card. For those who have this card already, be sure to take advantage of these bonus categories — and make sure not to close or lose your account if you value carrying this card.

a customer pays by credit card at a small cafe
Credit: RDNE Stock project / Pexels

Citi Dividend Categories 2025 Third Quarter

From July 1 to September 30, enrolled Citi Dividend cardholders will earn 5% cash back at home improvement stores and gas stations.

Citi Dividend Card Q3 2025 Categories.
Credit: Citi

Here are the terms of each category:

  • Gas Stations: Excludes gasoline purchases at warehouse clubs, discount stores, convenience stores or other merchants that do not use the gas station merchant category code.
  • Home Improvement Stores: Includes purchases at home supply warehouse stores, lumber and building materials stores, paint and wallpaper stores, hardware stores, nurseries – lawn and garden supply stores and paints, varnishes and supplies stores. Excludes florists and florists’ supply stores; nursery stock; wholesale construction stores; and glass stores.

Citi Dividend Categories 2025 Second Quarter

Until the end of the second quarter, which ends June 30, enrolled cardholders can earn 5% back on two bonus categories: eligible Citi Travel purchases and grocery stores.

Citi Dividend 5% cashback categories for Q2 2025
Credit: Citi

Here are the terms of each category:

  • Citi Travel: Eligible purchases include hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through the Citi Travel site. Excludes air travel purchases.
  • Grocery Stores: Includes purchases at supermarkets, meat/seafood stores, dairy stores, bakeries, and miscellaneous food/convenience stores. Excludes purchases at general merchandise/discount superstores; wholesale/warehouse clubs; candy, nut and confectionery stores. Purchases made at online supermarkets or with grocery delivery services also do not qualify if the merchant does not use supermarket merchant category code.

Citi Dividend Card 5% Cash Back History

One of the most observable trends throughout the Citi Dividend Card‘s cash back history is that many categories repeat. With rare exceptions, Citi has offered identical categories each quarter for the past several years. In other words, you should be able to plan ahead for your card purchases and ensure you max out the $300 cash back annually.

In the table below, you'll find each quarter's offerings dating back to 2021:

Year
First QuarterSecond QuarterThird QuarterFourth Quarter
2025January – March
• Amazon
• Select streaming services
April – June
• Citi Travel
• Grocery stores
July – September
• Gas stations
• Home improvement stores
TBD
2024January – March
• Amazon
• Select streaming services
April – June
• Drug stores
• Grocery stores
July – September
• Gas stations
October – December
• Restaurants
• Citi Travel
2023January – March
• Amazon
• Select streaming services
April – June
• Drug stores
• Grocery stores
July – September
• Gas stations
• Home improvement stores
October – December
• Grocery stores
2022January – March
• Amazon
• Select streaming services
April – June
• Drug stores
• Grocery stores
July – September
• Gas stations
• Home improvement stores
October – December
• Restaurants
• Select travel
2021January – March
• Amazon
• Select streaming services
April – June
• Drug stores
• Grocery stores
July – September
• Gas stations
• Home improvement stores
October – December
• Restaurants
• Best Buy

Alternatives to the Citi Dividend Card

If the Citi Dividend Card has piqued your interest, you might be disappointed to find it isn't open to new applicants, nor can you product change to it. Thankfully, there's a handful of other credit cards that earn a handsome amount of cash back on every or nearly every purchase.

Here's a look at three of our favorite cards for earning cash back with no annual fee:

  • Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card (Rates & Fees): The Active Cash Card is a fantastic card that can put a lot of cash back into your wallet. It earns an unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, so there's no need to worry about annual or quarterly caps on the rewards you can earn. Learn more in our full review of the Active Cash Card.
  • Chase Freedom Flex℠: The Freedom Flex is a formidable cash-back card, offering 5% on rotating bonus categories (up to $1,500 per quarter), 5% on travel purchased through Chase, 3% on dining at restaurants and drugstore purchases and 1% on other eligible purchases. If you max out your annual cash back in the quarterly categories, you'll put $300 back in your wallet every year. To learn more about this nifty product, dive into our Freedom Flex review.
  • Citi Double Cash® Card: The Citi Double Cash doesn't have quarterly rotating categories and earns rewards as ThankYou® Points. But it's still a potent cash-back card. As a cardholder, you will earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% when you buy plus 1% as you pay. Learn more in our Citi Double Cash review.
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Welcome Bonus Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months.
Annual Fee$0On Wells Fargo's website
Rates & Fees
Credit ScoreExcellent, Good
  • Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases
Chase Freedom Flex℠
Chase Freedom Flex℠
Welcome Bonus Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee$0
Credit ScoreExcellent, Good
  • Earn 5% on up to $1,500 on combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate
  • Earn 5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • Earn 3% on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
  • Earn 3% on drugstore purchases
  • Earn 1% on all other purchases
Citi Double Cash® Card
Citi Double Cash® Card
Welcome Offer Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back. Plus, get a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. (After that, the (Variable) APR will be 18.24% - 28.24% based on your creditworthiness.)
Annual Fee$0
Credit ScoreExcellent, Good, Fair
  • Earn 2% cash back on every purchase—1% when you buy and 1% when you pay. Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 12/31/25. Citi cash rewards now also convert to ThankYou points at 1:1 ($10 = 100 ThankYou points).

Related: The Best Cash-Back Credit Card Offers for Every Budget

Our Take

If you're among the lucky people still holding a Citi Dividend Card, activating the latest bonus and others when they come around is in your best interests. But given how useful the card's rotating categories are every quarter, it's entirely possible to max out your cash-back earnings in one three-month period.

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