Citi Overview

City Bank of New York was created over two centuries ago in 1812 as one of the first rival banks outside of Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Throughout the years, the financial institution has seen the creation of the Panama Canal, World War I and World War II. It has truly stood the test of time.

                By                    Caitlyn Moorhead

  • Overview

  • Checking Accounts

  • Savings Accounts

  • CD Accounts

  • Banking Experience

  • Competitor Comparison

  • Checking Account

  • 4.8

  • Savings Account

  • 4.5

  • CD Account 4.7

  • 4.7

  • Banking Experience

  • 4.7

Pros

  • Variety of checking accounts
  • No required minimums to open checking or savings accounts
  • Opportunities for bonuses

Cons

  • Low savings rates
  • Fewer U.S. branches than other national banks
  • Can’t open top-tier savings account separately from package

Citi Checking Accounts

Basic Banking Package

  • No minimum deposit required
  • $12 monthly account fee
  • Fee can be waived if you maintain a combined average monthly balance of at least $1,500 in linked Citi accounts or make at least one qualifying direct deposit and one qualifying bill payment each statement period
  • Unlimited check writing

Access Account Package

  • $10 monthly service fee
  • Fee can be waived if you have a combined average monthly balance of at least $1,500 in eligible linked Citi accounts. A fee waiver is also available if you make at least one qualifying direct deposit or one qualifying bill payment per statement period
  • No overdraft fees because transactions that exceed your balance will not be approved
  • No paper checks

The Citibank® Account Package

  • Option to write checks
  • If you maintain a monthly balance of at least $10,000 across linked retirement, investment and deposit accounts, Citi will waive the $2.50 non-Citi ATM fee. This fee generally applies each time you use an ATM outside its network. Note that the financial institution operating the ATM may still charge a fee.
  • $25 monthly service fee, which can be waived if you maintain the $10,000 minimum monthly balance requirement.

Citi Priority Account Package

  • Combines banking services with world-class wealth management
  • $30 monthly service fee but it can be waived if you maintain an average monthly balance of at least $30,000 in eligible linked retirement, deposit and investment accounts
  • No Citi fees for using an out-of-network ATM
  • Preferred pricing and rates on some of the bank’s products and services
  • Access to travel and global benefits, on-demand financial advice from Citi Priority advisors and guidance from Citi Personal Wealth Management
  • This account qualifies account holders for relationship mortgage pricing

Citigold® Account Package

  • Includes all of the features of the Citi Priority Account Package
  • Unlimited reimbursement of non-Citi ATM fees
  • Complimentary financial planning services
  • Access to both Citigold® Concierge and the Citi Personal Wealth Management investment platform
  • $200 in rebates for membership streaming services you purchase online such as Netflix or Hulu
  • $0 monthly service fee
  • Must maintain a combined monthly average of $200,000 across linked eligible accounts to meet account requirements

Citigold® Private Client

  • Includes all the features of Citi Priority and Citigold® Account Packages
  • $0 monthly fee
  • This account is for higher-wealth individuals because you must maintain an average monthly account balance of at least $1 million across all eligible linked accounts
  • Access to Premier banking services and Premier investing services
  • Access to dedicated wealth team and wealth specialists, advanced wealth planning and premium benefits via Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services

Citi Savings Accounts

Each of the six Citi banking packages includes a Citi savings account. Depending on the package you select, your savings account may be eligible to earn higher interest rates as you save.

The accounts also allow you to link to Citi or non-Citi accounts and make transfers with AutoSave, which makes saving something you don’t have to worry about. Additionally, all packages but the Access Account allow for check writing, which may or may not matter to you.

As far as fees, the Citigold® and Citigold® Private Client packages don’t have savings account monthly service fees, and while the other accounts do, there are options for waiving them. If your Citi checking and savings accounts are linked, the same requirements that apply for waiving checking monthly service fees apply to savings monthly service fees.

For other account packages, the same requirements that apply to waiving checking monthly service fees also apply to your unlinked savings balance.

Citi CD Accounts

Citi offers the following three types of certificates of deposit: Fixed Rate CD, Step-Up CD and No Penalty CD, which is a nice change from banks that only offer standard CDs.

  • The Fixed Rate CD: Offers three-month to five-year terms with rates ranging from APY to APY. You can also opt to use a CD laddering strategy with this CD type, which involves splitting deposits between CDs with various terms and rates for greater financial benefits.
  • The Step-Up CD: Requires a $500 minimum opening balance. It offers a 30-month term, and the interest rate increases every 10 months.
  • The No Penalty CD: 12-month CD, also requires a minimum opening balance of $500. The advantage of this type of CD is that you can withdraw your full balance and interest with no penalty any time after the first six days after you deposit the funds.

Even though Citi offers a variety of CD types, you may be able to find a higher APY at another bank, so consider shopping around.

Citi Banking Experience

  • Minimum Opening Deposits: Citi doesn’t require any for its savings or checking accounts, you can open an account and fund it another day if it’s more convenient for you.
  • Range of Checking Products: There are six checking accounts to choose from, all with different banking features for account holders, ranging from basic needs to top-tier services geared to those with high levels of wealth. The variety of checking options also gives account holders who are growing their wealth the opportunity to stay loyal to the bank and not have to look elsewhere for accounts and services that meet their needs.
  • Bonus Opportunities: Cash bonuses for opening certain accounts and meeting requirements. While bonus offers may change throughout the year, Citi often offers different levels of cash bonuses. Be prepared to part with a substantial amount of cash for a few months if you want to earn one of these bonuses. Qualifying deposits often are from $10,000 to $300,000.

Mobile and Digital Banking Network

Citi offers an award-winning website and mobile app, which make it easy to manage your accounts from anywhere. Citi’s website allows you to complete a variety of banking tasks at your convenience, such as view statements, transfer funds, make credit card and bill payments and find routing and account numbers.

Plus, the app was certified by J.D. Power for providing customers with a mobile banking experience that’s outstanding due to features like voice technology, text messaging, location assistance, digital pay and secure identification methods.

Citi’s mobile app has a ranking of 4.9 stars on the App Store and 4.8 stars on Google Play which indicates that it is not only highly rated but also user-friendly.

Citi vs. Competitors

Before opening an account at Citi, it can help to compare the bank to competing banks. Here are some factors to consider.

Citi vs. Chase

Chase trumps Citi with over 5,300 branch locations — thousands more than Citi’s 700 or so. But Citi’s monthly maintenance fees are more reasonable, with its highest fee reaching $30 versus Chase’s highest fee of $35.

Citi vs. Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo has more branch locations than Citi: 4,900 versus Citi’s 700 or so. But Citi has a network of over 70,000 ATMs, while Wells Fargo has only about 12,000 in its network.

Citi vs. Bank of America

Bank of America, Member FDIC, has more reasonable monthly maintenance fees than Citi, with its highest fees at $25, while Citi’s go as high as $30. However, Citi’s overdraft fees are slightly lower at $34, compared to Bank of America’s $35 fee, which could save you a few dollars a month, depending on if — and how often — you have overdrafts.

Final Take

Cynthia Measom contributed to the reporting for this article.

  • Though Chase trumps Citi with over 5,300 branch locations – thousands more than Citi’s 700 branches or so in the U.S., Citi’s monthly maintenance fees are more reasonable, with its highest fee reaching $30 versus Chase’s highest fee of $35.These are all factors to consider when choosing a bank that best suits your needs.

  • Citi does have some disadvantages such as there are fewer U.S. branches than other national banks and has lower than average savings rates.

  • Citi has a wide variety of checking account options and no minimum requirements to open a checking or savings account. This presents many options for individuals’ varying banking needs.

Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 5, 2022.

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