What Credit Score Does the Citi Simplicity Card Require?

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The Citi Simplicity® Card is an excellent option for anyone who wants to pay less credit card interest because it offers a best-in-class balance transfer intro APR. Before you can take advantage of what this card offers, you’ll need to get approved. Your credit score goes a long way in determining your approval odds.

Below, CNBC Select details the credit score requirement to get approved for the Citi Simplicity® Card.

Once approved for the Citi Simplicity® Card, you’ll receive a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers. You’ll get 12 months of the intro APR on purchases from the date the account is open and a whopping 21 months of the intro APR on balance transfers that you complete within four months of account opening.

Once the intro APR expires, a variable 19.24% to 29.99% APR applies. There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of the amount you transfer ($5 minimum) within the first four months from account opening. The standard transfer fee is 5% of the amount you transfer ($5 minimum).

While this card doesn’t earn rewards or offer a welcome bonus, the savings potential from the 0% intro APR can be extremely valuable. Let’s say you have a 20% APR on an $8,000 credit card balance, if you planned on paying it off over 21 months you would pay roughly $1,547 in interest. By taking advantage of the Simplicity Card’s balance transfer offer, you’d pay a $240 transfer fee and could still save over $1,300.

Citi doesn’t publish official credit score requirements, but you’ll typically need a good to excellent credit score to have the best approval odds for the Citi Simplicity® Card.

There are a few different credit scoring models, but one of the most popular is the FICO® Score. This credit score falls into the following categories:

• Very poor: 300 to 579
• Fair: 580 to 669
• Good: 670 to 739
• Very good: 740 to 799
• Excellent: 800 to 850

Your credit score is determined using the information from your credit report, and there are three major credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). While each credit score is calculated differently, your FICO Score is based on your payment history (35%), amounts owed (30%), length of credit history (15%), new credit (10%) and credit mix (10%).

If your Citi Simplicity Card application is denied, you could apply for a different credit card with an intro-APR offer. However, these cards tend to have similar credit score requirements so the best course of action is to focus on improving your credit or consider applying for a credit card that’s easier to get.

Improve your credit

The most sustainable way to improve your credit is to consistently pay your bills on time because your payment history is one of the biggest factors in your credit score. You’ll also want to keep your debt and credit card balances as low as possible, and ideally pay off your cards in full every month.

Over time, these habits will help boost your credit score, but there are ways to work on your credit in the short term. Tools such as *Experian Boost™ and eCredable Lift® could improve your credit score by allowing you to add additional information to your credit report, such as subscription services or payments to utility providers.

Experian Boost is free and only impacts your Experian credit report. It also only reports positive activity, so it won’t ever negatively affect your credit score. On the other hand, eCredable Lift is a paid service that allows you to fill out your TransUnion credit report. It adds positive and negative history to your credit report, so you’ll want to avoid using the service to add accounts that have late payments.

Alternative credit card to consider

One useful cash-back credit card that typically only requires fair credit or higher, is the Citi Double Cash® Card. It earns at least 2% cash back on all purchases (1% when you buy and 1% when you pay) and has a generous intro-APR offer on balance transfers.

With a new account, you’ll get a 0% intro APR for 18 months on balance transfers you complete within four months of opening the account (after that, a variable 19.24% to 29.24% APR applies). There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer ($5 minimum) you make in the first four months of account opening and the standard transfer fee is 5% of each transfer ($5 minimum).

The Citi Simplicity® Card is an excellent option for anyone who wants to transfer a credit card balance and save on interest. However, it normally requires a good to excellent credit score (670+), so only those with healthy credit profiles are likely to be approved.

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*Results will vary. Not all payments are boost-eligible. Some users may not receive an improved score or approval odds. Not all lenders use Experian credit files, and not all lenders use scores impacted by Experian Boost™. Learn more.