CIT Bank is a well-capitalized Internet bank offering personal banking products to consumers. The bank’s acronym is an abbreviation for Commercial Investment Trust, which was a name the company used early on. CIT Bank’s holding company, CIT Group, is a leader in middle market lending across a variety of industries. Since 2008, the company has shifted to a more bank-centric business focus and offers very competitive interest rates on its deposits.
CIT Bank offers three main depository product types: savings accounts, Certificates of Deposit (CDs), and IRA CDs. Each of its products typically comes with one of the top interest rates available nationwide, helped by the fact that the bank does not have the overhead costs associated with operating branch locations because of its wholly online system.
The high yield savings account has a $100 minimum opening and maintenance balance requirement and comes with free money transfers to another account at CIT or to an account with another bank. An outgoing wire transfer fee is the only fee associated with the account and can be avoided by maintaining a balance over $25,000. CIT introduced free ACH transfers for this Internet savings account in the summer of 2012.
The bank offers three Certificate of Deposit options: Achiever CDs, Jumbo CDs, and Term CDs. DepositAccounts.com recognized CIT’s Achiever CD as an excellent option for savers just after it was introduced in March of 2012. The Achiever CD allows for one additional deposit during the life of the 1- or 2-year CD, and one ‘bump-up’ allowance that would achieve a higher rate if the bank increases the rate on that product in the future after the CD has been purchased. IRA CDs are also available and in term lengths ranging from 1 to 5 years.
CIT Bank online banking offers a sophisticated and secure system through which customers can access their savings or CD accounts to view account balances and transfer funds. To apply for an account, consumers must access the bank’s website and fill out a registration form.
CIT Bank was originally established in 2000 as CIT Online Bank before transitioning to its current name two years later. The bank is one of hundreds of subsidiary institutions operating under the umbrella of CIT Group, a Fortune 500 holding company. CIT Group is involved in a variety of financing and leasing activities through hundreds of entities located all over the world. CIT Bank is the group’s retail banking entity headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and serves its customers solely through its online banking system.
Related Posts
10/28 - Review of Today’s Bump-Up CDs - Is the Bump-Up Feature Useful?
9/11 - How Add-On CDs Can Benefit Savers
8/30 - Higher Long-Term CD and IRA CD Rates at CIT Bank
4/18 - CIT Bank Now Offers IRAs with CDs and the Savings Account
7/9 - New Competitive 5-Year CDs at CIT Bank
6/11 - Online Transfer Service Now Available to CIT Bank Savings Account Customers
5/29 - Best Bank Accounts for a Future of Uncertain Interest Rates
5/15 - CIT Bank Raises Savings Account and CD Rates
4/3 - CIT Bank Launches an Internet Savings Account
3/13 - Flexible CDs and Savings Accounts with Rate Guarantees
2/26 - Improvements In CIT Group's Financial Health
1/9 - CIT Bank Launches New 2-Year Achiever CD with Add-On & Rate Bump Features
Atrocious Service
As a new accountholder, I'm finding the service extremely poor, unprofessional even. Here's the comment I posted in 2-Yr. CD thread on 2/24/12:
"I started process to open a 2-year CD on Monday, 2/20, in the amount of $85K. On 2/23, CIT Bank withdrew the $85K from designated institution by ACH. Ditto on 2/24. CIT attributed mistake to a system error on their part, affecting 50 or so customers. Also, the email that I should have received with directions for logging into my new account has yet to arrived. I subsequently got the information when I returned their call to discuss the duplicate withdrawal. I asked that they call Monday with status update on correction. To date, I'm not filled with confidence about CIT's service."
CIT never called on Monday, as promised. The following day, upon my formal report of the unauthorized debit, the other institution got my money back that same day. At week's end, on Saturday, 3/3, CIT called to say they would ACH back a few days interest at start of the following week, Monday, 3/5. It's Friday and there's no sign of that interest. In my call to follow up, CIT said they would initiate ACH today.
The pattern seems clear: There's no accountability or evidence of customer care. When confronted, they say they're sorry; their actions woefully indicate otherwise.
Sylvia
Opening A CD Account
Trying to open a CD account with CIT Bank has been an unnecessarily difficult and time-consuming process that still isn't finished! If something in your background is even the slighest bit unusual, the bank's consumer research company isn't sophisticated enough to go beyond a yes-or-no answer, and the bank refuses to accept your application at this point. The increasingly angry customer must then try to satisfy the bank with more and more information sent in the exact way the bank prefers. Despite pleas to listen to an explanation that was extremely simple and comprehensible, CIT Bank has made no effort to expedite the matter. We can't keep driving back to town to pay to have more information faxed to their satisfaction. AVOID CIT BANK LIKE THE PLAGUE!
Worst Technology In The Industry
For the record, I'd have given this bank zero stars but that is not an option.
A few days ago, I opened a cd and a saving accounts for the rates they are offering, but I'm extremely disappointed with this bank.
It turns out you can set up an external bank account for the intial transfer, but then you can't schedule or make any transfers online because their system doesn't handle that at this point. You need to call customer service and make the tansfers over the phone every time. Really??? This is 2012 people!!!! Give me a break! I'm used to managing all my bank accounts remotedly and doing all transactions online. So, this is not going to work for me.
Now, I want to close the savings accounts and transfer the money back to my old account. Well, there is a 10 business days hold on all new accounts, so I can't get my money back right now.
I'm stucked with the cd account for a year, but once it matures, I'm redeeming it and never ever again dealing with this bank.
Do yourself a favor and take you money somewhere else.
New Saving Account
I opened a savings account by ACH transfer. After CIT made the two small deposits and a corresponding withdrawal from my funding account, I didn’t receive the welcoming email with the next step of the confirmation process, so I had to call and confirm over the phone.
Next, I learned the password and email sign-in I used to open the account are only good for opening the account and then need to be changed after the confirmation process.
Next, I tried to transfer more money into the CIT account by ACH, but I didn’t have that option on my home page so I needed to call again so they could do some account resetting.
After that, I learned that I couldn’t make an immediate ACH deposit because all the information I provided for the ACH initial account set-up does not transfer over in CIT’s computer system so you need to do the two small deposit and corresponding withdrawal process A SECOND TIME!. How ridiculous is that? THE ACCOUNT HAD ALREADY BEEN FUNDED INITIALLY WITH MY ACH INFORMATION. After learning that, I had enough so I called again and asked that my account be closed. They couldn’t close it that day because they said a hold was still on the initial ACH deposit and the hold lasts five business days. It had already been six business days! They finally agreed to process the closing of the account the next day.
I have opened at least 10 online savings accounts over the years with various institutions and I have never experienced all the hoops, ridiculousness and incompetence that I have at CIT.
Better luck to you.
Data for Q3 2013
Institution Health
Texas Ratio
The Texas Ratio is an indicator of how much funds a bank has available compared to the total value of loans considered at risk. As of September 30, 2013 CIT Bank had $42.97 million in non-current loans and owned real-estate with $2.74 billion in equity and loan loss allowances on hand to cover it. This gives CIT Bank a Texas Ratio of 1.57% which is excellent. Any bank with a Texas Ratio near or greater than 100% is considered at risk.
Texas Ratio Trend
The Texas Ratio for CIT Bank held steady from 0.74% as of September 30, 2012 to 1.57% as of September 30, 2013, resulting in a negative change of 110.50%. This indicates that the balance sheet and financial strength for CIT Bank has held steady in recent periods.
Deposit Growth
In the past year, CIT Bank has increased its total deposits by $3.14 billion, resulting in 36.39% growth for the year. A strong track record of growth is an indicator of consumer confidence and the bank's ability to strengthen its balance sheet. The growth CIT Bank has shown is excellent.
Capitalization
Both FDIC and NCUA consider capitalization levels of banks and credit unions to be of high importance. Higher capitalization allows for a greater buffer when cover loans that may fail in the future. CIT Bank has $14.67 billion in assets with $2.74 billion in equity, resulting in a capitalization level of 18.70%, which is excellent.
Institution Statistics
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 35575 |
| Year Established | 2000 |
| Employees | 923 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Assets and Liabilities | |
|---|---|
| Assets | $14.67 billion |
| Loans | $10.74 billion |
| Deposits | $11.78 billion |
| Equity Capital | $2.55 billion |
| Loan Loss Allowance | $189.71 million |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | $42.97 million |
| Real Estate Owned | $0 |
| Historic Data - September 2012 | |
|---|---|
| Assets | $11.60 billion |
| Equity Capital | $2.37 billion |
| Loan Loss Allowance | $86.90 million |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | $42.97 million |
| Real Estate Owned | $0 |
| Profit Margin - Quarterly | |
|---|---|
| Net Interest Margin | 2.94% |
| Return on Assets | 0.73% |
| Return on Equity | 3.95% |
| Interest Income | $398.37 million |
Always verify rates and promotions with the bank or credit union. We are not CIT Bank, we are a rate comparison website and can not provide official rates or promotions.
CIT Bank Savings Account Rates
| Details | APY | MIN | MAX | PRODUCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.90% | $25k | - | CIT Savings | |
| 0.90% | $25k | - | IRA Savings Account | |
| 0.90% | $25k | - | Roth Savings Account |
CIT Bank CD Rates
| Details | APY | MIN | MAX | PRODUCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.05% | $100k | - | 5 Year Jumbo CD | |
| 1.85% | $1k | - | 5 Year CD | |
| 1.75% | $100k | - | 4 Year Jumbo CD | |
| 1.65% | $1k | - | 4 Year CD | |
| 1.40% | $100k | - | 3 Year Jumbo CD | |
| 1.27% | $1k | - | 3 Year CD | |
| 1.25% | $100k | - | 2 Year Jumbo CD | |
| 1.20% | $25k | - | 2 Year Achiever CD | |
| 1.17% | $1k | - | 2 Year CD | |
| 1.05% | $25k | - | 1 Year Achiever CD | |
| 1.02% | $1k | - | 1 Year CD | |
| 0.45% | $1k | - | 6 Month CD |
CIT Bank IRA Rates
| Details | APY | MIN | MAX | PRODUCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.05% | $100k | - | 5 Year Jumbo IRA | |
| 2.05% | $100k | - | 5 Year Jumbo Roth IRA | |
| 1.85% | $1k | - | 5 Year IRA | |
| 1.85% | $1k | - | 5 Year Roth IRA | |
| 1.75% | $100k | - | 4 Year Jumbo IRA | |
| 1.75% | $100k | - | 4 Year Jumbo Roth IRA | |
| 1.65% | $1k | - | 4 Year IRA | |
| 1.65% | $1k | - | 4 Year Roth IRA | |
| 1.40% | $100k | - | 3 Year Jumbo IRA | |
| 1.40% | $100k | - | 3 Year Jumbo Roth IRA | |
| 1.27% | $1k | - | 3 Year IRA | |
| 1.27% | $1k | - | 3 Year Roth IRA | |
| 1.25% | $100k | - | 2 Year Jumbo IRA | |
| 1.25% | $100k | - | 2 Year Jumbo Roth IRA | |
| 1.20% | $25k | - | 2 Year Achiever IRA | |
| 1.20% | $25k | - | 2 Year Achiever Roth IR\A | |
| 1.17% | $1k | - | 2 Year IRA | |
| 1.17% | $1k | - | 2 Year Roth IRA | |
| 1.05% | $25k | - | 1 Year Achiever IRA | |
| 1.05% | $25k | - | 1 Year Achiever Roth IRA | |
| 1.02% | $1k | - | 1 Year IRA | |
| 1.02% | $1k | - | 1 Year Roth IRA |
CIT Bank is an Internet only bank and does not have branch locations. Its headquarters is located at 2180 South 1300 East, Suite 250 - Salt Lake City, UT 84106