Citi Diamond Preferred Card

The Citi Diamond Preferred is a single-purpose card: it gives you a long runway to pay down debt at 0% interest. It earns no rewards and charges no annual fee. What it offers instead is a 21-month window at 0% APR on balance transfers, which Citi describes as its longest-lasting intro rate on balance transfers. The headline terms: 0% intro APR for 21 months on balance transfers and 0% for 12 months on purchases. Once the intro periods end, a variable APR of 16.74% to 27.49% applies based on creditworthiness. Transfers completed within the first 4 months qualify for an intro fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5); after that the fee is 5%. On a $6,000 transfer the intro fee is $180, which is usually far cheaper than what the same balance costs at a typical 24% APR, roughly $120 in interest every month. Three pieces of fine print matter. First, the 21-month clock starts at account opening, not at the transfer date, and transfers must be completed within 4 months, so move the balance as early as possible. Second, the purchase window is 9 months shorter than the transfer window: from month 13 through month 21, new purchases accrue interest at the full APR while the transferred balance is still at 0%. Third, you cannot transfer balances between Citi cards, and the amount you can move is limited by the credit limit you are assigned, which you will not know until after approval. Beyond the intro offer, the card is bare. There is no cash back or points program, foreign transactions cost 3%, and the ongoing perks are limited to Citi Entertainment access and a free FICO score. Citi markets the card to applicants with good to excellent credit, and the larger credit limits needed for big transfers generally go to stronger profiles. Get this card if you carry high-interest balances you can realistically clear within 21 months: divide the debt by 21 and confirm that monthly number fits your budget. Skip it if you pay in full each month, since the card earns no rewards on purchases, or if your balance is small enough to clear in two or three months, where the 3% transfer fee may cost more than the interest you avoid.