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Citi Secured Mastercard: terms, score and downsides

Not credit advice. Facts and math from issuer pages and the CFPB, each with its date. Offers change; approval depends on your credit. Verify on the issuer's site.

Rubric score 38.1% across 78 cards. Issuer page ↗

Downsides first

• 3% foreign transaction fee
• Penalty APR up to 29.99%
• Late fee up to $41

Terms & fees

• IssuerCiti
• Typesecured
• Annual fee$0 (CFPB TCCP; issuer page did not render a clear fee) files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
• Regular purchase APR25.99% variable files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
• Rewards0% base citi.com, 2026-10-12
• Sign-up bonus (≈$)$0 No sign-up bonus citi.com, 2026-10-12
• Intro APRnone No intro APR shown citi.com, 2026-10-12
• Foreign transaction fee3% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
• Penalty APRup to 29.99% up to; per Citi agreement pricing table consumerfinance.gov, 2026-06-30
• Late feeup to $41 up to (first and repeat late fee) files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
• Balance transfer fee5% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
• Cash advance fee5% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
• Credit neededno credit score, ≤619, 620–719, 720+ (CFPB TCCP targeted tiers) files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
• Grace period23 days files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31
• Cash advance APR29.74% files.consumerfinance.gov, 2025-12-31

Complaint record (CFPB)

• Complaints, last 12 months23,436
• Trend▲ 28.7% (last 12 mo 23,436 vs prior 12 mo 18,210)
• Timely response (last 36 mo)100.0%
• Per $1B deposits (12 mo)15.14
• Top issueProblem with a purchase shown on your statement
• Insurance statusFDIC-insured: Citibank, National Association (cert 7213, active; deposits $1,547.6B as of 06/30/2026)

Company-level (CITIBANK, N.A.), all products, as of 2026-10-12. Citi complaints: full record → Shown for context; does not change the score.

Score breakdown

• Annual fee 10.0/10Annual fee $0 (CFPB TCCP; issuer page did not render a clear fee) (as of 2025-12-31). Rubric: $0=10, ≤$95=8, ≤$395=5, ≤$695=3, more=1 (perks/credits are not counted).
• Rewards rate 0.0/10Base 0% on everything, top category 0% (as of 2026-10-12; points/miles valued at 1¢). Score = base/2%×7 + min(top,6)/6%×3. 0% base
• Sign-up bonus 0.0/10Bonus ≈ $0: No sign-up bonus (as of 2026-10-12). Score = value/$75, max 10.
• Intro 0% APR 0.0/10No intro APR shown (as of 2026-10-12). Score = months/21×10.
• Regular APR 5.7/1025.99%–25.99% variable; CFPB TCCP range (as of 2025-12-31); midpoint 25.99%. Score = (34 − midpoint)/1.4, 0–10.
• Foreign transaction fee 3.0/103% foreign transaction fee (as of 2025-12-31).
• Regulatory record (CFPB) 8.0/10Issuer Citi: Base 10, −2 CFPB 2023-11

0.143×10.0 + 0.143×0.0 + 0.143×0.0 + 0.143×0.0 + 0.143×5.7 + 0.143×3.0 + 0.143×8.0 = 3.82 → 38.1%

Is Citi Secured Mastercard worth it? (break-even math) →Value for my spending →

Compare with

Citi Secured Mastercard vs Capital One Platinum Secured · Citi Secured Mastercard vs Discover it Secured · Citi Secured Mastercard vs Capital One Quicksilver Secured · Citi Secured Mastercard vs BofA Customized Cash Rewards Secured

No paid placement. No issuer pays VaultRubric for inclusion or rank; links go to the issuer's own page. Ranks come only from the published rubric below.

FAQ

What is the Citi Secured Mastercard annual fee?

$0 (CFPB TCCP; issuer page did not render a clear fee)

What is the Citi Secured Mastercard APR?

25.99% variable

Estimates, not financial advice. Taxes, insurance, PMI and fees vary by lender, county and city; confirm with your lender, dealer and state agency before acting.