Citi Forward® Card for College Students

Instant approval online for  a $4000 CL with a CK score of 685 and a FICO of 625.  No problems so far, enjoying getting a little bit of rewards for my spending.  Pay my balance in full each month.

Not sure if I applied for this or for the normal non-college card.  Have a CK score of 689, FICO score of 699 (acc. to another credit card application).  

I have a federal student loan of 5.25k, and I also have one mastercard (about a year old) with a $300 credit card limit that I have paid in full every month.

I had to call and verify identity (they ask you name, address, phone number, basic stuff), and then I was approved for a card with a 4k limit.

If you make more than a dozen purchases every month and save receipts to reconcile your statements, FIND ANOTHER CARD. 

When I asked Citi Forward why the transactions on my statement were NOT sorted, it was explained that they were arranged by the 12  "Purchase Categories" found at the bottom of the statement.  While this arrangement is undoubtable useful to CItiBank in calculating the purchase activity totals every month, it makes reconciliation very difficult.  In my experience, this failure to sort by date is unique.

I have had this card for more than two years now, and use it for over 50% of my daily purchases. At the time I applied, they were offering a 10,000 point bonus. This was my first line of credit and had no issue getting approval with a $1800 credit limit. The 5 points per dollar on food and entertainment is very good (especially as that is a large part of a college students budget), and it is amazing how quickly points add up. I started off with an already below average APR and now it is even lower since I have recieved the 2% reduction for being in good standing (although I never keep a month-to-month balance on this card). Another plus is that there is no annual fee. Also, the card design occasionally gets a compliment from a merchant.

The thankyou reward system is only ok, in my opinion. The best deals (in terms of dollar value per point) are the $100 (and up) gift cards. However, I can only see the $100 if I am logged out of the system, as once I sign in, the highest is almost always $50, even though I have enough points for a $100 card.

The only experience I have had with customer service was when they recently called me due to "suspicious charges". I didn't see why they thought that, but they called me right when they placed a hold and we got everything squared away quickly and without the embarrasment of the card getting declined.

Received a $4000 CL with a credit score of 664. I'm a student wanting to build credit so I recommend this for similar canidates.