Notice

This post is 6 months old and may contain out of date information. We suggest one of the following posts:

Update on ING Direct's $50 Electric Orange Promotion - 3/17/2010
2.01% 12-Month CD at Jax Metro Credit Union in North Florida - Local Only - 3/17/2010
Update on Bank of the West Checking Account Bonus, Free ATMs and Online Savings Account - 3/10/2010

Back to Bank Deals BlogBlog Post

Comments (8)

Update on Citibank's CDs - Branch Specials & Secured MasterCard CD

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 8:48 AM CT by Ken - Bank Deals Guy

View current rates for Citibank

Update 9/19/09: The special in-branch CD rates have fallen again. According to the CSR, California APYs include:

1.55% 12 months
2.00% 18 months
2.25% 24 months
2.35% 30 months
2.50% 36 months
3.00% 48 months
3.50% 60 months

For the in-branch rates, you have to call Citibank (1-800-627-3999) to get the rates for your area. These can be opened by phone. They can lock the rate at the time of the call. If you fund using an ACH, they won't debit your checking account until they receive your signature card which they require within 20 calendars day from when the account is opened. However, the CD will start at the day of the phone call and start earning interest.

Update 9/12/09: The special in-branch CD rates have fallen. According to the CSR, California APYs include: 1.65% 12mo, 2.10% 18mo, 2.25% 24mo, 2.50% 30mo, 2.75% 36mo, 3.25% 48mo and 3.75% 60mo. Reader has also reported the 60mo APY in FL is 3.75%.

Below is the original post that was published on 9/02/09

Citibank has once again extended its in-branch CD specials including a 4.00% APY 60-month CD for at least another week. I just called and confirmed that these rates were extended. According to the CSR, Citibank typically updates rates on Tuesdays. Below are the special in-branch rates quoted by the CSR for California as of 9/02/09. These same rates may also be available for Nevada and Florida, but I only received quotes for California. I've also included the online CD rates. Note, the online 18-month CD rate recently fell from 2.25% to 2.00% APY. The online rates are available nationwide.


Online and In-Branch CD Rates as of 9/02/09:

Term     Online   California
         APY      APY       
12mo     1.50%    1.75%
18mo     2.00%    2.30%     
24mo     1.75%    2.50%     
30mo     1.25%    2.75%
36mo     2.25%    3.00%
48mo     2.75%    3.50%
60mo     3.00%    4.00%

For the in-branch rates, you have to call Citibank (1-800-627-3999) to get the rates for your area. Most states appear only to have a 3% 60-month CD which matches the online 5-year CD rate. If you call Citibank for rates in your area, please leave a comment about what rates they quote. Citibank has branches in CA, CT, DE, DC, FL, IL, MD, MA, NV, NJ, NY, PA, TX and VA. They also have branches in Guam and Puerto Rico.

A reader commented in my previous Citibank post that he was able to open the CD over the phone and fund it using his credit card. The transaction was reported as a regular purchase instead of a cash advance. Please note if the transaction is considered a cash advance, the fees would likely wipe out the gain from any cash back rewards.

Refer to my previous Citibank CD specials post for more info on these CDs.

Citi Secured MasterCard 4.07% 18-Month CD

Citi is still listing a 4.07% APY 18-month CD for up to $25,000 in its Secured MasterCard program (see post). More readers have commented that their CD applications have been accepted. If you've had success opening this CD and you've confirmed that you're receiving 4.07% APY, please leave a comment in the original post.

Citibank Checking Account Bonus

Citibank has another $100 checking account promotion that's scheduled to last until 9/30/09. However, according to the Citibank CSR, this promotion is targeted to those who received a letter. Thus, I'm not giving it a dedicated post. This FW post has the promo link and some more details. It's very similar to the one they offered last year. The deal has some major downsides. All the checking accounts which qualify for the promotion have hefty minimum balance requirements to avoid a monthly fee.

Citibank is a member FDIC (FDIC Certificate # 7213).

Other Bank Bonuses and Competitive CD Rates:

Tags: Nevada, nationally available, California, Citibank, certificates of deposit, large deposits, Florida

View All Comments | Post a CommentFeatured Comments

In order by popularity, then date posted.

Anonymous - #1, Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 1:58 PM CT

.

>> A reader commented in my
>> previous Citibank post that he
>> was able to open the CD over
>> the phone and fund it using his
>> credit card. The transaction
>> was reported as a regular
>> purchase instead of a cash
>> advance.

Indeed ... And since then I have opened 2 more CDs and each is reported as a purchase.

My credit card is issued by Schwab/FIA that has 2% unlimited money back rebate on all the purchases. Therefore in effect the deal results in a reward of 6%, at no risk to principal as my deposits with Citi at under FDIC limit. The 4% return will come from Citi over next 5 years, and 2% will come from Schwab/FIA within next 60 days!

Few points:

1) If you are funding the CD with credit card, then it is better to check with card issuing company, if there is any limit on the dollar amount of purchase you may make in 1 transaction, in 1 day etc. ... and to stay within the limit.

2) If you have some credit card ( not necessarily Schwab/FIA card ) that rewards you for purchases, then you might want to look into the benefits of using such a credit card for funding the CD.

3) Call your regular Citi contact number and ask for a "Personal Banker". These are the phone reps who can do the funding transaction as "purchase". So far as I know, the reps who are within the brick-n-mortar branches are not able to do funding as purchase, they do it as "cash advance".

.

Was this comment helpful? 1

Banking Guy - #2, Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 2:05 PM CT

Thanks for the info. It's interesting to read that the phone reps are able to label the transactions as a purchase but the brick-and-mortar reps can't.

Was this comment helpful? 1

Anonymous - #3, Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 3:17 PM CT

Bricks and mortar stores also require you to open a checking account, like it or not.

Was this comment helpful? 1

Anonymous - #4, Thursday, September 3, 2009 - 9:05 PM CT

I believe I reported this in the other Citibank thread, but it bears repeating here....

I just opened the 4%, 5-year CD with Citibank over the phone, thanks to Banking Guy... The process was very smooth...

But two things to report... 1) they will not do a monthly payment of your interest to an external account. They'll send you a check, credit it to your CD, or credit it to another CB account.

2) So, they did NOT require me to open any kind of checking account in order to receive the 4% rate and open the CD. (And I have/had no other existing CB accounts... But I decided to open a Citibank checking account on my own.

Reason is, that way, they can credit the monthly interest to my Citibank checking account, and then I can do an ACH push or pull of the funds into my external account.

They have an EZ checking account that's basically free. But I choose the Citibank checking account, which has the added feature of not charging a CB fee for domestic non-CB ATM use. The balance of my CD more than covered the required minimum "relationship" balance to waive the otherwise monthly service fee for the checking account.

According to my phone rep, they locked my rate at the time of my original call and phone application. And they won't pull the funds from my external funding account until after I return the signed signature card by fax or mail. That was the only postal thing required as part of the process.

Was this comment helpful? 1

Anonymous - #5, Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - 4:49 PM CT

I posted the immediately prior comment. I thought CitiBank would be easy based on my original phone contact with them...but they've turned out to be just the opposite....

After getting a complete explanation of what I needed to do to open the account via telephone, their follow-up turned out to be very different.

Apparently because they didn't find my VOIP phone in searching online phone directories, they sent a followup email to me wanting a copy of my home phone bill or a credit card statement with my home address, in addition to returning the signature card. Then, after I send in those documents, they still want to call my home phone afterward for some kind of a security confirmation.

They also, originally, told me they'd honor their $50 Member Get Member referral bonus. But today, in a followup call, a different rep told me that bonus is only available for accounts physically opened in branches, but not for accounts opened by telephone.

I'm trying to decide whether the hassle and unreliability of what Citibank tells its customers is worth proceeding with them, or simply go to another place with comparable rates....

All in all, it's been a very bad first experience for me with Citibank.

Was this comment helpful? 1

View All Comments

Update on Citibank's CDs - Branch Specials & Secured MasterCard CD

Add Your Comment