Citibank’s New Attempt at a High Yield Online Savings Account

Citibank has started to execute on a new digital strategy which seeks to grow customers and deposits without branches. In March, Citibank announced the major expansion of its mobile banking app with in-app account opening and account aggregation services. The digital move comes after several years of closing branches. According to this March WSJ article, Citigroup to Again Be a Nationwide Bank, but in Digital Form, “Citigroup has reduced its U.S. branch network by more than 300 locations since 2009.” This branch network reduction may be one reason for reduced deposits. The article also stated that “Citigroup’s North American consumer deposits fell from $185 billion at the end of 2016 to $182.5 billion at the end of last year.”

The latest piece of Citibank’s digital strategy is a high-yield online savings account. This reminds me of Citibank’s e-Savings account that was introduced during the last rising rate environment. My first post on the e-Savings account was in March 2006. This time, Citibank is not quite jumping into the online savings account rate race. Citibank is introducing the high-yield online savings account as a promotional rate for its Citi Savings Account. There are several requirements and limitations which I describe below.

The promotional rate as of 6/6/2018 is 1.60% APY. Here’s a summary of what’s required:

• Open a new Citi Savings Account in the Access Account Package by 7/16/18
• Must deposit at least $10,000 or more in new-to-bank funds into the new savings account
• Maintain minimum balance of $10,000 in the new savings account under the terms of the offer

The Access Account Package is one of five banking account packages. These packages appear to be the focus of Citibank’s consumer deposit offering. Each package includes both a checking account and a savings account. The Access Account Package requires the Checkless Regular Checking. As the name suggests, there’s no paper checks. Instead of writing checks, customers have access to debit or ATM card and online bill payment. Another highlight of this account is that there are no overdraft fees. Citibank will never approve transactions that exceed the amount of funds in your account.

The Access Account Package has a $10 monthly service fee. This can be waived by any one of the following:

• Make one qualifying direct deposit, OR
• Make one qualifying bill payment per statement period, OR
• Maintain a $1,500+ combined average monthly balance in eligible linked accounts

The promotional rate of 1.60% APY is guaranteed to last for 12 months after the savings account is opened. However, the promotional rate may expire early if the $10k deposit of new-to-Citibank funds does not clear by 10 business days from account opening. The promotional rate may also expire if the balance drops below $10k. Once the promotional rate expires, it cannot be reinstated.

Combining This With the Checking Bonus

For many readers, this might be the main reason for considering this savings account promotion. As I described in this previous blog post, you can earn up to $600 in a Citibank checking account promotion. The main requirement of this checking promotion is depositing and maintaining a large balance. If you can keep that balance earning the promotional interest rate, that helps make the checking promotion more valuable. In the “Terms and Conditions” section of Citibank’s promotion page, a section reads as follows:

Can I enroll and fulfill multiple savings and checking offers during the Offer Period?

Yes, with the following limitations. When multiple savings offers are available within an Offer Period, customers may participate in more than one savings offer during the Offer Period. However, customers can only participate in each savings account offer once per Offer Period. Further, if you enroll in multiple savings account offers during the Offer Period, you must fulfill the requirements of each offer in which you are enrolled to qualify for each offer’s bonus. Customers may be enrolled in a Citibank retail banking checking promotion and savings promotions during the same Offer Period unless expressly prohibited; however, the requirements of each promotion must be met separately.

Availability

For this savings account promotion, Citibank is targeting states where it does not have branches. If you live in one of these states, Citibank will let you open the Citi Savings Account in the Access Account Package with the promotional rate of 1.60% APY. If you don’t live in one of these states, you’ll be presented with another savings account promotion with lower rates and a shorter guarantee period of 90 days. The promotional rate is either 1.25% or 1.35% depending on which Account Package is chosen.

Here is the list of states and territories that qualify for the 1.60% APY promotional rate:

AL, AK, AZ, AR, CO, DE, GA, HI, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, OK, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NH, NM, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, WA, WV, WI and WY and the following territories, possessions and military addresses of AA, AE, AP, AS, GU, MP, PR and VI

To open a Citibank account and to qualify for these bonuses, you must be at least 18 years of age, and have a valid W-9 or W-8BEN on file with Citibank and are not be subject to backup withholding.

To review the full promotion details and to apply, please refer to the Citibank link at our Citibank information page.

Bank Overview

Citibank has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas ratio of 3.40% (excellent) based on March 31, 2018 data. In the past year, Citibank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $40.24 billion, an excellent annual growth rate of 4.45%. Please refer to our financial overview of Citibank (FDIC Certificate # 7213) for more details.

Established in 1812 as The National City Bank of New York, Citibank is one of the world’s largest financial institutions with more than $1.4 trillion in assets. Citibank is a subsidiary of Citigroup Inc., which was formed when banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group merged in 1998. The Bank was rebranded as Citibank in 1976 and relocated its headquarters to South Dakota in 2001.

How the Promotional Rate of the Citi Savings Account Compares

When compared to the 217 Savings Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally, there are 20 savings accounts with higher rates than this Citi Savings Account promotional rate.

The above rates are accurate as of 6/6/2018.

To review the best Savings Accounts rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Savings Account Rates page.