Citywide Banks (CO) Debuts Platinum Checking, 2.00% APY

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Deal Summary: Platinum Checking (standard checking), 2.00% APY on balances up to $50k, $500 minimum opening deposit.

Availability: Market area includes 12 Colorado counties.

Citywide Banks has a new checking account – Platinum Checking, which earns 2.00% APY on balances between 1¢ and $50k. Balances above $50k earn 0.01% APY. The minimum opening deposit is $500.

APYMINMAXINSTITUTIONPRODUCTDETAILS
1.00*%$50k-Citywide BanksPlatinum Checking
OTHER TIERS: 0.10% Up to $50k
Rates as of December 1, 2023.

The Platinum Checking is not a rewards checking account. The landing page describes it as,

An interest-bearing checking account that will earn you
a premium interest just by keeping a minimum balance.

While there are no qualifying requirements to earn the stated APY, maintaining an average daily balance of $7.5k waives the $12 monthly maintenance fee. ATM fees will be reimbursed up to $20 per month if at least one monthly direct deposit occurs.

Free checks are available and an ATM card is provided. Online banking is including, with Bill Pay, eStatements, and Mobile Banking.

$200 Checking Bonus

Now through April 30, 2019, Citywide Banks is offering a bonus of up to $200 when opening a new consumer checking account. The bonus is not available to existing Citywide Banks checking customers, or “those who had accounts open on or before February 28, 2019,” and there is a limit of one bonus per customer.

The are actually two parts to the bonus:

A $30 bonus will be given for enrolling in eStatements within 60 calendar days of account opening and a $170 bonus will be given if one (1) direct deposit of $500 or more post to the account within the first 60 calendar days of account opening. Direct Deposit examples include payroll, pension, Social Security or other government benefits.

If the new checking account is closed within 90 business days after opening, any bonus paid out will be deducted at closing and a $25 early account closing fee may apply.

Availability

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Citywide Banks has a market area that includes the Colorado counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Eagle, Grand, Jefferson, Routt, Stephens, and Weld.

US citizens and resident aliens who live in the Bank’s market area can open a Platinum Checking online or at any of 24 Colorado branches located in Arvada, Aurora (2), Boulder, Breckenridge, Broomfield, Centennial, Conifer, Denver (6), Edwards, Erie, Evergreen, Fraser, Golden, Idaho Springs, Lakewood, Nederland, Steamboat Springs, and Thornton.

Bank Overview

Citywide Banks has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.03% (excellent) based on December 31, 2018 data. Citywide Banks has an excellent annual capitalization level (15.97%). Please refer to our financial overview of Citywide Banks (FDIC Certificate # 58458) for more details.

Founded in late 2006 as the Summit Bank & Trust, the Bank acquired Denver-based Centennial Bank in 2016 and re-branded as Centennial Bank and Trust. A year later, Citywide Banks was acquired and its brand adopted. Although Citywide Banks is only in its thirteenth year of operation, it’s currently Colorado’s ninth largest bank, with assets in excess of $2.3 billion and more than 43,600 customer accounts.

How the Platinum Checking Compares

When compared to 208 standard checking accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com, which are available within the market area, CitywideBanks’ Platinum Checking APY currently ranks second

The above rates are accurate as of 4/1/2019.

Looking for an interest-bearing standard checking account? Please refer to DA’s Standard Checking Account Rates Table page for both nationwide and state-specific accounts.

Related Pages: Denver checking accounts, Santa Barbara checking accounts, Sacramento checking accounts, Fresno-Visalia checking accounts, checking accounts

Comments
gregk
  |     |   Comment #1
Is this a joke? Does anyone care about a 2% checking account given the alternatives?
Ken Tumin
  |     |   Comment #2
I wish there were more standard checking accounts that offered higher rates. I know some people would like higher yields for their standard checking accounts since they do keep quite a bit in those accounts, and they don't want the hassles of reward checking.
deplorable 1
  |     |   Comment #4
That's why I use Ally Demand Notes for my checking account(2.12% $15,000 tier). No debit card hoops while still getting a decent rate on liquid cash. I'm looking into using the Ford interest advantage account instead as their rates are higher(2.69% $50,000 tier) but I'm not 100% sure about their 3rd part ACH pull restrictions just yet.
Newbie1
  |     |   Comment #6
Another suggestion is to use the Ally savings account (2.2% APY) in conjunction with the Ally checking account. Transfers from the savings to checking are available immediately. The 6 withdrawals per statement cycle from the savings can be managed by transferring blocks of funds for pre-scheduled bill payments.
Bjorn H
  |     |   Comment #7
Interesting, if complicated.

Is this legal?
newbie1
  |     |   Comment #8
Why would it be illegal?
Not complicated at all. Schedule bills to be paid from checking on the same day. Ally bill pay gives you a total for your scheduled transactions. Transfer the funds for those bills (transactions) from savings into checking the day before the first payment is made. You only use one of the 6 allowed withdrawals from your savings account.
deplorable 1
  |     |   Comment #9
That is a very interesting idea. I have considered setting up Ally bank accounts for the high ACH transfer limits anyway.
Newbie1
  |     |   Comment #12
I have been quite satisfied with Ally as a hub and bill pay service provider. I haven’t used the peer to peer payment service — Willy12 had issues with it. I haven’t experienced any issues with customer service but have noticed the wait times seem to be longer. (Online banking displays a real time wait times indicator.) Not the greatest rates, but not the worst either.
OrderlyChaos
  |     |   Comment #10
Another great option I am using - Fidelity SPRXX, currently yielding 2.25%. Free bill pay and automatic sale of SPRXX as needed - no worries or shuffling money around or ACH limitations.
RRR
  |     |   Comment #11
Vanguard has been allowing bill pays, direct deposits and even had debit cards for their money market mutual funds for many years. But they are discontinuing those services on July 31, 2019. May end up being an industry trend as I think those bank type services have not proven to be as profitable as these institutions hoped they would be. Stock brokers and mutual fund companies are different animals than banks, subject to different rules and regulations and market forces. For them it's kind of like building a layer on top of their core business: complicated and expensive. Some of this stuff just doesn't pay off for them.

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