Citi has rolled out an interesting new Visa-branded card called the Citi Forward card. If you’re in the market for a new credit card, this one appears to offers a nice combination features, including a generous signup bonus, and up to five reward points per dollar spent, and there’s no annual fee.

Signup bonus

New Citi Forward cardholders get a 6k ThankYou point signup bonus as long as they make $250 in purchases within the first three months. Opting for a paperless statement within the first three months gets you another 5k bonus ThankYou points. Taken together, these bonus points can be traded in for a $100 store gift card right off the bat, and you’ll still have 1k points to spare.

Promotional rates

Another nice feature of the Citi Forward card is that it offers a six month introductory period with 0% on purchases and balance transfers. The only real downside here is that there’s a 3% balance transfer fee.

Credit card rewards

In addition to the signup bonus, the Citi Forward card offers five reward points for every dollar spent on books, movies, music, and at restaurants. For all other purchases you get the standard one point per dollar.

An interesting twist on this reward structure is that purchases from Amazon.com using the Citi Forward card apparently qualify for the higher reward tier*. This is huge for us, because we buy tons of stuff from Amazon. Note that this isn’t limited to book purchases — Amazon is technically a bookstore, and all purchases qualify.

All in all, this card looks to be a nice complement to reward credit cards that offer 5% rewards on gas and groceries. This is especially true if you shop at Amazon and/or dine out frequently.

*Note: The Citi mtvU card offers a similar reward benefit.

Bonuses for good behavior

In addition to the above, Citi will give you 100 bonus points every month that you: (1) stay under your credit limit, and (2) pay on time. They’ll also reduce your APR by 0.25% whenever you make a purchase and pay your bill on time for three consecutive months. You can do this up to eight times, for a total reduction of 2%.

The APR reduction is a non-issue for us, as we never carry a balance. The extra 100 points every month is, on the other hand, a nice touch. Not a huge deal, but I certainly wouldn’t turn them down.

Closing thoughts

I have yet to apply for this card, but will almost certainly be doing so. After all, it’s hard to turn down a 5% discount on restaurants and purchases from Amazon. Given our spending patterns, this card would be a great fit alongside our primary reward credit card (AmEx Blue Cash), which pays 5% cash back on gas and groceries.