Written by Ali Cybulski, Published on July 19, 2024
CIT Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, is an online bank serving customers nationwide. This institution offers certificates of deposit (CDs) and savings accounts as well as an eChecking account that relies on online and mobile banking rather than paper checks.
If your balance is at least $5,000, the Platinum Savings account offers an annual percentage yield (APY) of 5.00%. The minimum initial deposit is $100, with no account opening or maintenance fees. Deposit checks remotely and make transfers with the CIT Bank mobile app.
Savings Connect has an APY of 4.65% and no minimum balance requirement. The Savings Builder account, on the other hand, aims to reward you with a higher interest rate as you develop a consistent savings habit. Earn up to 1.00% APY by maintaining a balance of at least $25,000 or making at least one monthly deposit of $100 or more.
CIT Bank’s money market account gets an APY of 1.55% and provides quick and easy access to funds as needed. You can use Zelle to send and receive money, plus you can deposit checks remotely and make transfers with the bank’s mobile app.
Open an eChecking account with a deposit of at least $100 and earn up to 0.25% APY, depending on your balance. CIT Bank does not charge ATM fees and reimburses up to $30 for other banks’ ATM fees monthly.
The bank also offers term and jumbo CDs as well as a no-penalty 11-month CD. Terms range from six months to five years, and the minimum opening deposit for all term CDs is $1,000. Both the no-penalty and 13-month CDs earn 3.50% APY.
Unless you choose the no-penalty CD, a fee may apply if you cash out your term CD early. The no-penalty CD allows you to withdraw your money without penalty starting seven days after the bank has received your funds.
Jumbo CDs call for a minimum deposit of $100,000, and terms vary from two to five years. Two- and three-year CDs earn 0.40% APY. Four- and five-year CDs earn 0.50% APY. You may face penalties for early withdrawal of principal.
If you require CIT Bank customer service for a deposit product, you can reach live help Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. Service is unavailable on Sunday. Alternatively, you can sign in to your account online and send a secure email or access mobile banking 24/7.
CIT Bank pros and cons
Pros:
• Minimal account fees
• Checking account earns interest
• ATM fee rebates
Cons:
• Low rates on some CDs
• Customer support unavailable seven days a week
• No ATM network or branches
Savings Rate
We asked them for a better rate. A bank nearby has a 4.5% APY savings rate. CIT offered 4.75% APY for one year.
Your Wait Time Will Be 190 Minutes
Currently have very good savings rates but phone customer support is abysmal. Wait time message has ranged from 2 hours to a record setting 3 hours wait. So if you need to get something accomplished quickly or can't sit by a phone pending a call back 3 hours later, forget it.
In case it needs to be stated -- when any company's CS recording states "due to unexpected high call volumes you may experience longer than usual call wait times", it really means: this company has chosen not to pay CS reps enough to attract a reasonable number of employees. So customers will have to put up with unreasonable hold times.
Slow Transfers
Brand new customer. I just opened a platinum savings account and did the micro transactions to get the initial deposit made. I followed the instructions and verified the transactions and everything went well. Now 4 days later still waiting for them to fund the account. Never had this issue at Marcus. Do they want my business or what. Was planning to invest over 250k, but now hesitant and starting to lose confidence in them.
STAY AWAY. Unsafe Customer Information
I signed up for a Cit HYSA, created an account and just after putting my funding bank account info in. The system errored out saying to try again later. I tried logging in later because the account was created and to my surprise the login worked but when it went to the two factor authentication it was linked to 2 different phone numbers I have never seen before that are NOT mine.
I called their support immediately and they said it was an error on their system where during creation a new account id was not generated. (I come from a software background so I know this means my username might have been an existing one and I think my account creation overwrote the existing account —hence where the two random phone numbers for 2FA came from). That or somehow other customer data was connected to my account. Both are equally incredibly concerning because
1. ?Some poor guy might have has his CIT savings account login info completely changed without his consent
Or
2. Someone’s personal information was incorrectly connected to my new account and I lose access to my account. Thankfully I only decided to fund the initial 100$ but this is insane for customer experience
Just warning to all. I’m staying away from this bank
Data as of Q4 2024
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 11063 |
| Year Established | 1898 |
| Employees | 17334 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.28% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 12.8% |
| Annual Interest Income | $12.36B |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $223.5B$213.6B |
| Loans | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $138.7B$131.7B |
| Deposits | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $155.6B$146.1B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $21.93B$21.32B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $1.68B$1.75B |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $1.27B$1.07B |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2024vs Q4 2023 | $56MM$58.4MM |