The short answer
Citi Custom Cash has been closed to new applicants since May 28, 2026, so if you are choosing a card to open, the real comparison is Bank of America Customized Cash against the cards you can still get, not against Citi Custom Cash. Citi's official card page, re-read on October 10, 2026, says Citi is no longer accepting applications for the card as of May 28, 2026. This comparison is still useful if you already hold a Custom Cash and are deciding whether to add a Customized Cash.
On one bonus category, Custom Cash pays more (5% against 3%, hand-calculated below). Customized Cash's advantage is breadth: it adds an automatic 2% on groceries and wholesale clubs, and you choose the 3% category yourself.
One idea, two mechanics
Both cards build their pitch around a single bonus category paying an elevated rate, with everything else at a flat 1%. They differ in how that category gets picked.
Bank of America Customized Cash lets you choose your own 3% category from gas and EV charging, online shopping (which includes cable, internet, phone, and streaming), dining, travel, drugstores, or home improvement and furnishings, and you can change it. On top of that, it automatically earns 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs. The 3% and 2% rates share a combined $2,500 quarterly cap; spending past it in a quarter earns 1%. The card has no annual fee and a 3% foreign transaction fee. When the catalog was reviewed, Bank of America's page also advertised a temporary first-year 6% offer, which this site does not count as an ongoing rate.
Citi Custom Cash skips the manual step. Each billing cycle it applies 5% to the one eligible category where you spent the most, up to $500 in that cycle (a maximum of $25 a month), then 1%. Eligible categories are restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, and live entertainment. There is no secondary bonus: if dining is your top category, groceries earn 1% that cycle. It has no annual fee and a 3% foreign transaction fee, and it pays in Citi ThankYou points.
What each pays on one category (hand-calculated)
These figures assume the amount shown is your only spending in your top category, nothing else on the card, and ignore each issuer's promotions and Bank of America's BofA Rewards relationship bonus. They are arithmetic from the rates above, not solver output.
| Top-category spend | Citi Custom Cash (5% to $500/month, then 1%) | Bank of America Customized Cash (3%, $2,500/quarter cap) |
|---|---|---|
| $200 a month | $120 a year | $72 a year |
| $500 a month | $300 a year | $180 a year |
| $800 a month | $336 a year | $288 a year |
Custom Cash leads on a single category at every level shown. Customized Cash's cap would not bind until about $833 a month of 3% spending, and its extra 2% on groceries and wholesale clubs is the part this table leaves out.
| BoA Customized Cash | Citi Custom Cash | |
|---|---|---|
| Top bonus rate | 3% (your choice) | 5% (auto-detected) |
| Secondary bonus | 2% groceries and wholesale clubs, automatic | None |
| Cap | $2,500 a quarter, shared | $500 a billing cycle, one category |
| Who picks the category | You | The card, each cycle |
| New applicants | Open | Closed since May 28, 2026 |
If you are applying today: what to compare instead
With Custom Cash closed, these are the $0-fee cards that most often compete for the same job in our catalog. Rates and fees are from the card catalog dated September 22, 2026.
| Card | Annual fee | What it pays | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Customized Cash | $0 | 3% on one category you choose, 2% on groceries and wholesale clubs | $2,500 a quarter shared cap; 3% foreign transaction fee |
| US Bank Cash+ | $0 | 5% on two categories you choose each quarter (from a list of 12, such as utilities, cell phone, streaming and internet, or fast food), plus 2% on one everyday category | The two 5% categories share a $2,000 quarterly cap; you have to pick them each quarter |
| Citi Double Cash | $0 | Flat 2% on everything, plus 5% on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel | No everyday category bonus; 3% foreign transaction fee |
| Wells Fargo Active Cash | $0 | Flat 2% on everything | No category bonus; 3% foreign transaction fee |
For a head-to-head between the first two, see US Bank Cash+ vs. Bank of America Customized Cash. For the closest thing to a 5% category card that you can still open, Cash+ is the one to price first. In our Q4 solver report of 252 synthetic households, US Bank Cash+ was in 36.5% of the optimal 2-card cash wallets (92 of 252), and Bank of America Customized Cash was in 1 of 252. Those are modeled, synthetic-profile results, not a ranking.
So which one wins?
- You already hold Custom Cash and want a second card: Customized Cash adds a 3% category you pick and the 2% on groceries and wholesale clubs, which Custom Cash does not have. It earns less than Custom Cash on any one category, so it helps most when your spending splits across several categories.
- Your top category varies month to month: Custom Cash's auto-detection captured whatever was highest at 5%, but you cannot open one now. Cash+ asks you to choose, but its two 5% categories can cover more of your spending.
- You are shopping today: Customized Cash is the only one of the two you can apply for. Compare it with Cash+ and a flat 2% card using your own numbers.
Run the optimizer with your real category totals to see which of these cards, if any, earns its way into a fuller setup.
Updated October 10, 2026: moved the closed-to-new-applicants status to the top, added the one-category arithmetic and the table of cards a new applicant can compare, and listed Custom Cash's eligible categories as in the card catalog (the earlier version left out home improvement stores and fitness clubs). The earlier "$63 in bonus value" figure for Customized Cash was removed because it blended the 3% and 2% rates without saying so.
Data verified as of October 10, 2026 against the card catalog dated September 22, 2026. First published July 19, 2026.
Want the live numbers side by side? See the BoA Customized Cash vs. Citi Custom Cash comparison page — it renders current rates and fees straight from our verified card data.