Citi Ultima cashback rate, cap and annual fee
Citi Ultima pays 3.02% at non-dirham spending, and 6 other rates. The card costs AED 3,150 a year.
Citibank · United Arab Emirates · catalogue v101
Read from Citibank's own published terms on 19 Sep 2026.
AED 3,150Annual fee
3.02%Best rate
What it pays, by category
| Spending | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|
| non-dirham spendingtravel | 3.02% | —Anything bought in a currency other than the dirham, not only travel. European Economic Area currencies earn half this, and Citibank takes 2.99% of th |
| everything else | 1.51% | —Everything else in dirhams. |
| government | 0.60% | —Government services and utilities, at 40% of the card's dirham rate. Utility bills paid through Citibank's own app, website or phone line earn nothing |
| phone and internet | 0.60% | —Telecoms, on the same reduced band. |
| education | 0.60% | —Education, on the same reduced band, with insurance. |
| rent and property | 0.60% | —Real estate, on the same reduced band. |
| transit and transport in dirhamstravel | 0.60% | —Transit and transport paid in dirhams, on the same reduced band. |
Citi's top card, and the one where the foreign-exchange fee eats the headline. 5 Citi Miles per US dollar abroad sounds like 3% at the rate anyone can take — 45 miles to the dirham as a cash rebate — but Citibank charges 2.99% on every foreign-currency transaction, so the net on non-dirham spending is close to nothing. Dirham spending earns 2.5 miles per dollar, about 1.5%. Two reductions the marketing does not mention: spending in European currencies earns half the foreign rate, and government services, utilities, telecoms, education, insurance, real estate, transit and transport in dirhams earn 40% of the dirham rate. Utility bills paid through Citibank's own app, website or phone line earn nothing at all — the same bill paid at the provider earns the reduced rate. Miles are worth most flown: 20 to the dirham against airline, hotel and travel-agent spending, 25 on the Prestige and 30 on the points cards, against 45 for a plain cash rebate — which is the rate every figure here is measured at. Requires AED 36,750 a month. Citi's Key Facts Statement lists the penalty fees for the whole range and not the annual membership fee; the figure here came from public comparison sources and should be confirmed. Source: citibank.ae Key Facts Statement - Cards (July 2026) and the Rewards and Redemptions page, read 19 Sep 2026.
Questions people ask
What cashback does the Citi Ultima pay?
3.02% at non-dirham spending, and 6 other rates.
Is there a cap on the Citi Ultima?
No monthly cap is published on the rates shown here.
What is the annual fee on the Citi Ultima?
AED 3,150 a year.
Knowing the rate is not the same as remembering it
PayperWIZ holds the cards you actually own and names the right one at the till — after the cap you have already used this month, and after the foreign-currency fee. It works offline and never connects to a bank.
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