Citizens Reviews

Average Rating:
Based on 38 review
s


Worst Bank

They're holding my payroll check for 2 weeks without an explanation, just that "there's nothing they can do" The paying bank cleared the check immediately after i deposited it into Citizens Access but Citizens feels like they have the right to keep my money. Do not bank with these theives

Largely Good

Quite surprised to see all the negative reviews here as my experience with the bank has been largely positive given 1 year plus I've had an online savings account with them. I've kept my account fairly busy with lots of transfers in and out throughout that time and have found that they keep the game playing to a minimum. No limits on transfers per month or teaser rates that are available to only new customers. Transfers to and from my external account happen very quickly, usually only a day or 2. The only real limit on the account is the amount you can transfer out to an external account, but it's capped at a pretty hefty $100K/day (I think that can be increased if you call them). The several times I have had to call them I found the agents to be helpful and wait times were minimal. The biggest problem I've had with the bank was actually getting the account initially set up, as one of their security questions to verify my identity was ridiculously specific. No one there appeared able to help with that and I wasn't able to establish an account with them until a few months later when I reapplied.

I do agree with the most recent post here that CItAccess's rates are have lagged behind competitors in recent months. Being at the same level as Marcus/Goldman's Sachs was unheard of for this bank a year ago, but, now, here we are.

Go Somewhere Else

Posted by: |

Below this review, you will see numerous reviews citing major issues with this online bank and experiences that parallel mine. Believe them. I had a sizable amount of money on deposit with Citizens Access, attracted by their competitive interest rate, but couldn’t get it out. I didn’t check reviews because of the reputation of Citizens Bank. It is sad that this poorly run entity is trading on its “Citizens” brand name. I would have defaulted on the purchase of a home had I waited for them to initiate an ACH transfer. They don’t do wires. An ACH transfer can take from 1-3 business days, once initiated. It can also be done on a same-day basis. Despite my urgent need for the money to close on the purchase of a home, Citizens Access personnel said they couldn’t expedite the transfer, repeatedly referring to their “process” as the reason. They said the several days’ delay in even initiating the ACH transfer was due to internal approvals needed to close the account and to approve the transfer. I don’t believe they would have begun the process, even after 4 days’ wait except I managed to find the corporate parent, “Citizens Financial, Inc.” and, through an internet locator service, the emails for the officers of Citizens Financial. I sent emails to two officers explaining the urgency of my need. Within hours, I heard back from an officer and received a same-day ACH transfer of the full amount in my account. When you try to get information from the Citizens Access agents who answer the phone, you will get inconsistent and/or erroneous information. Citizens will not honor the commitments made by their “agents.” You will hear sweet-voiced agents tell you they don’t know, they can’t expedite, there’s no information, etc. You can go no higher than the supervisor of the contact center, another sweet-voiced deliverer of the same robotic message, “I’m sorry but that’s our process.” This is the stuff of old movies, only it’s actually happening today. Citizens Access is the antithesis of the George Bailey character in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” who freely gave money back to his bank’s depositors. Once they have your money, it’s very difficult to get it back. Hang on to your money…then put it in a different bank.

2 Accounts With Citizens Access And No Issues

I am in awe of the negative reviews for Citizens Access. I have two accounts. My only complaint is that the savings account has not risen as I would have hoped compared to other on line banks. It has been at 4.5%APY since May 2023. Am I surprised they haven't bumped it up, certainly, do I then keep a lot of $$ in this account, no, but it still is a decent online savings account with an easy app to check on your funds et all.

I was happy when they offered a 12 mo CD @5.52%APY. It was a piece of cake to transfer the $$ from my savings to the CD. When the CD matures I'll see if they have any great deals, if not, I'll move it back to my home bank, USAA, and then move it to one of my other on line savings account that sit over 5%APY or open a new CD at over 5%APY. End of story...

Beneficiary Problems

Citizen Access offers competitive rates. Their customer service representatives are helpful and knowledgeable. The website is AWFUL! There are frequent errors, one of which is the inability to verify beneficiaries on each account. To establish beneficiaries, you must call and give the information verbally to a representative after which there is no way to verify (in writing) that the beneficiary data has in fact been added correctly to your accounts, other than to call Customer Service and have them read it to you. Citizens Access refuses to verify beneficiary designation in writing, refusing to confirm either through e-mail or USPS mail that beneficiaries have been established!

Worst Bank Ever (Citizens)

Posted by: |

Worst Bank ever!!!!!!!! will hold money and send check if deposit and account closed. Takes weeks plus you can't access money in savings with debit card they will clos it and have to send another but charge you 12 dollars!!!! This Bank has no regards to human rights and won't do anything to get you YOUR money in a timely fashion!!!!

DON't DO IT !!!

I have never been so disgusted with a bank !!! My money is literally being held hostage by Citizens Access!! It is in "Review"... What does that mean? No one can tell me. They can not give the review number out. A supervisor is not available. Just worthless!!! No one can tell me a thing except " We have no further information. I am a senior citizen and work hard for what I earn. I need my quarters NOW! I opened this account I am going to the news, and let a lawyer handle this . The pain, anguish and suffering is real. This is causing a great financial strain on me. I am not letting this go. Don't Do IT....! I canceled my transfers immediately. Just DON't DO IT.

Citizens Access Froze My Account With No Access To My Money And No Resolution

Posted by: |

DO NOT BE LIKE ME AND TRUST CITIZENS ACCESS WITH YOUR MONEY- They stopped my withdrawal from their HYSA to my BoA account with NO reason/explanation and when I called was repeatedly told they don’t know why and they can’t do anything about it. Then I get an email saying they FROZE AND TERMINATED MY ACCOUNT AND TRANSFERS THEREIN- they literally froze my account with my money in it and are refusing to give me access to MY OWN MONEY for NO REASON. I called 6 times and every time they say they don’t know why but can’t fix it. IF THATS NOT STEALING YOUR MONEY I DONT KNOW WHAT IS. I submitted a CFPB complaint against these LITERAL THIEVES. Citizens Access will LOCK YOU OUT OF YOUR OWN ACCOUNT FOR NO REASON WITH NO RESOLUTION. DO NOT USE THEM. IM WITHDRAWING EVERY CENT AS SOON AS CFPB AND MY LAWYER IS DONE WITH THEM.

Very Bad Bank! BEWARE!!!

Posted by: |

This is a justice issue. If you use this bank you will not be able to get your funds out in a timely manner, because they do not actually tell you how to get your money out, Says there is "3-day" wait but that is not true. If it's over a certain amount they put a hold on it for a few days and then it takes a few days to transfer, then a few more days to get to your bank, and then the ball gets dropped into a middle man's lap and they lose control at this point, We needed money for a house closing and still do not have it after almost 2 weeks and have had to push closing back twice. The customer service is terrible, They may indeed be nice people, but how they can all look at the same account info and give you 8 different answers (yes we called 8 times and talked to different agents) is beyond me. It was very stressful and also took at least 15 min and usually more to actually talk to an agent. This is a huge miss !!! If you want on online bank, look elseware!
You may make some extra $ with a higher interest rate but let me tell you, YOU WILL EARN IT!!!
FYI We still do not have our money. WHERE IS IT?

Horrible Process For Transferring Funds

Posted by: |

Was told three different things about the amount of time it would take for my funds to transfer. Finally talked with a supervisor who seemed very unconcerned, despite the fact that I was always calm and respectful throughout the call. It will take over a week for the funds to be transferred.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT BANK WITH CITIZEN ACCESS

Posted by: |

ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. DO NOT BANK WITH CITIZENS ACCESS. I’m not the usual person to write reviews, but my experience with them was so bad, I had to make sure I warned people not to join. I deposited a good amount of money with citizens access, a few days later they decide they “don’t want to do business” with me, for whatever reason (they didn’t want to pay the apy for the significant amount of money I had maybe??) ok fine, no problem I’ll bank with some other bank. Oh, would you look at that, I CANT TRANSFER MY FUNDS BACK. So they don’t want to do business with me but won’t give me my money back. I call them “ your account will automatically close and deposit back into your account” ok. A few weeks go by, nothing. Call them again. “Your account was sent to the fraud department and they’re reviewing your account.” FRAUD DEPARTMENT?!! What in the world.. I mention to the lady I’m moving soon and need that money, she says they’ll expedite it. Ok… call again next week cos nothing. “You have to send in proof that the bank you deposited that money from is YOUR bank” ok why do I feel like I’m in court for MYYY MONEY. I’m still fighting to get my money back. This bank is RIDICULOUS. At this point I feel like I should sue!!! 2 months with my money locked in prison, this has to be illegal. DO NOT JOIN THIS BANK

Citizens Access

Posted by: |

Avoid at all costs! Absolutely ZERO customer service.
Calls go directly to a queue for wait times and after waiting for 30 minutes, automatically disconnect. Fraud is suspected and complaints are filed with FDIC. Calls to Citizens Bank (Parent company) provide zero assistance. They try to forward me to same phone number (888.201.6505) that never connects with a representative. All of this avoidance leads me to think that Citizens Access is a fraud and scam operation. For your safety and protection, please avoid the organization!

6 Digits, 4+ Years And No Problems

Posted by: |

I have had a 6 digit Citizens Access account for about 5 years now and (apparently luckily) have never had a problem with deposits or withdrawals. These high yield "online" banking systems are not really set up for frequent withdrawals. I initially had both savings + a high yield CD. When the CD term expired, I was notified by E Mail and elected to transfer the funds to their high yield savings. This took a day or so but happened without a hitch. There is a day or so delay on withdrawals when you're not sure if was successful or not, but it always went thru. I transfer my high yield interest monthly to pay some other bills which always works flawlessly.

Citizens Access Bank Now Called Citizens

Posted by: |

Update:
Do not put your hard earned money into an account with these people. You may get locked out of your account for doing nothing and your money will be put on hold. It is better to go with Primis Bank, Newtek Bank and Bask Bank.
So you have been warned. It may seem good at first but you will regret it. Just read the other reviews and you can see


Recently I opened a Citizens Savings account. And so far I have been locked out of the account twice. Today I am unable to log in. I call the 1800 number listed on their site. I get to speak to someone in India and they say they are Citizens Bank and I need to call the seperate number Citizens Access Savings. I had no idea there is a seperate number for the online saving. Well, I did not open this account so I can be on hold, listening to crap music, and please continue to hold BS. This is a waste of my life. I do not want to keep calling to listen to that crap, preventing me to live my life. I do not get paid to be on hold for that amount of time. When calling the Citizens Bank , there is the option to have someone call you back. BUT if you call the Citizens Access Savings number, there is no option for someone to call you back and no choice but to listen to that horrible sounds and repeating over and over, please continue to hold. I wished I could slap someone in the face right now. Looks like the site is down. It asked me to enter my ATM card number and I was not even aware one was sent to me. So I think I will be putting more money into Newtek Bank Savings 5.00 APY and Lending Club Savings. This one may be the next Silicon Valley Bank. This kind of service can cause it to happen along with the US playing games with all of our lives with the debt ceiling. We will all regret the playing around with this and not taking it more seriously. Finally someone answered the phone and she states the website is down for maintenance and this has been going on since 2pm and now after 3pm and should be back within a couple of hours. Who does maintenance in the afternoon banking hours . This bank does. This means some ignorant people are running this business.

Held My Money Hostage

Transferred a high balance of savings to earn the 4.25% advertised rate. It was great until I needed to transfer funds to cover bills.
Undisclosed--you have to provide your personal information to a third-party company in order to initiate transfers through Citizens Access. I found a way around this by initiating them through my trusted receiving bank Santander who still just sends two small deposits to the new bank.
Initiated a transfer on a Monday which takes "3 business days". Nothing by Thursday or Friday. On Monday, the transfer was cancelled!
After spending a half a day on the phone while on a business trip, I learned that Citizens Access had a "glitch" over the weekend which cancelled all transactions. After pressing them further because my transfer should have been completed the prior Thursday or Friday I learned they had this issue all week.
I was never notified by Citizens Access that my transfer was cancelled. Luckily I am diligent or my bills would have bounced. They said they would cover any fees incurred, but I do not need to damage my credit due to their error.
I asked if they could expedite the transfer with a wire transfer and learned they do not do wire transfers. Their only solution was to initiate the transfer again.
Update--this happened twice again in May, but this time I could never access my funds. Their behavior is criminal and customer service is no help. "The Chairman's Office" leaves messages for you during working hours and when you call back, they never return your call.
I closed my account and suggest anyone else do the same before you lose access to your money.

Very Good Experience!!

Had trouble logging on and was helped by a VERY PATIENT AND HELPFUL person with CITIZENS ACCESS.
Got it all straightened out and all flowed smoothly from there. Great experience!

Great Rates And Easy Transfers But Poor Customer Service

Posted by: |

I,very been using citizens since last year. Absolutely no issues with funds, transfers etc. And I've done 100k+. Most transfers were done in asingle day.. Only major complaint is telephone hold times are beyond ridiculous, upwards of hour assuming I didn't just give up. This seems to be sad trend across all industries unfortunately. As long as you don't have any questions or need to speak to a human they are a great high rate place to put your money.

No One Will Answer Phone

The line automatically hangs up on you after 30 minutes of hold time. The customer service is absolutely abhorrent. Hold music is terrible. DO NOT BANK HERE, it's not a legitimate bank! Their agents are terrible, unknowledgeable, and you can hear dogs barking and kids yelling in the background! Stay away! Unless you want your money locked up and inaccessible. Then it's a great bank!

THE WORST ONLINE BANK AND NO SERVICE!

Posted by: |

I sent a fairly good amount of funds from my bank to Citizen 12 days ago! Money shows but isn't available in my account. I have tried multiple days now to reach someone but after 4.5 hours one time and multiple hours the other days no answer, just horrible music. Chat is never available and no e-mails work! This is a total scam banking and now I'm trying to get my funds back without any luck so far! The phone number 888-201-6505 is just a bogus number because no one has ever had hold times over a few hours! No way to reach them whatsoever!!!

Absolutely Atrocious Online Platforrm

Posted by: |

I opened an account Sunday March 19th, verified my bank account, and transferred close to 6 digits of money on the 22nd. It was finally today, the 29th when this money became available in my account. It was held hostage, and I had absolutely no idea of any date or holds times on when these funds would become available. You have no idea or schedule to keep track of what funds were transferred in or out besides the confirmation page. I transferred my money out immediately once it became available, and moving back over to an Ally Money Market account. The real kicker?
I called into support to verify my transfer was successful since I had no idea inside Online Banking itself, waited on hold for almost an hour, and the CSR rep I was talking to could not see any transfers on her end either. I guess it is a luck of the draw, and hope the transfer is ok. The APY is only .25% more than Ally, and simply not worth the hassle. The Ally online platform is leaps and bounds better. I actually know what is going on with my account. Citizens Access is the most barebones website I have ever seen.

Useless Time Frame For Transfers

Posted by: |

My accounts are with Citizens Bank but they offer no high interest savings. Wished to take advantage of 3.75% Citizens Access offered. Transferred funds January 3rd. They left my account on the 4th. Today is the 10th and Citizens Access still says pending. This time frame is useless.

False Advertisement

I opened up a citizen’s checking account because the website said two days early direct deposit. I recently came from chime who also offered two days early direct deposits. I opened my account up at citizens a month ago. I set up direct deposit. The payroll has a cut off date to where if you want to make changes to your direct deposit you have to do it by a certain date and I did.


Today was my direct deposit date and citizens said they haven’t gotten any deposits but my payroll department told me they already sent over the deposit. When I had chime they post deposits as soon as they received them. With citizens there 2 days early should be the same as chime. I haven’t gotten my direct deposit. The website saids two days early and that’s false advertisement. If I would’ve known they weren’t gonna post my direct deposit two days early like the website saids then I would have stood with chime.


Citizens should remove the two days early from their website because that’s false advertisement and I can sue the bank for that. You shouldn’t lie to people and advertise a service that you don’t even do. I’m switching my direct deposit back to chime and closing my account

CD Rates Too Low

Posted by: |

What is with the cd rates though? Not competivie for a top tier online bank? The savings rate is much higher than a cd? The CD rates should be higher makes no sense.

This Makes No Sense.

I opened my account on December 18, 2022. I’ve been trying to link my bank account to make a transfer because I wanted to use this account for long term savings. I’ve been having issues since I signed up. I wasn’t able to link my account and was told to contact a certain number. I tried logging in on my laptop and was told the information was incorrect, so I tried resetting the password and when I entered my account number, it basically said there were no records. So I called this morning and told the representative my issues. First, I was told they would never ask for my account number, but how can I reset my password if I don’t enter my account number. I told her the site, and she didn’t say anything … I digress. I don’t understand how I was able to sign up , receive my account information, if it was gone be closed. I wasn’t even able to link my bank account to even make a transfer. I literally signed up and that’s when the issues began.

Great, Smooth Experience

Posted by: |

I've had an easy experience. Ditched Marcus. Moved most of my money from Ally --- I was reluctant to completely abandon my Ally relationship, but after about 6 months I have had no problems with opening, transfers (can have multiple ACH links), nor maintenance issues. Very pleased.

Closed Account

Posted by: |

After having an account for a week, I randomly received an email that they closed my account. This was after they held my funds for the full week, way longer than any other financial institution I have worked with. My account had been funded but there was no explanation. Wouldn't recommend.

Do It The Easy Way

Take a look at your Brokerage Account core account typically invested in Govt. Money Market Accounts.

Edit 03-17-23 - The 7-day yields for SPAXX (4.23%) and FZDXX (4.46%) have remained constant during this period of bank failures.

Website Very Barebones/ Long Down Times ; Security Doesn't Inspire Confidence

Posted by: |

UPDATE: A month into my new account, the website has been down twice - once for 24 hours, and second time for (as of now) 36 hours. Always on weekends - I guess they like to do their "maintenance" outside of regular banking hours at least. But if you want to access your account for any reason on the weekend, good luck. I've never had a bank with a website that was down for more than a few minutes. In fact, I don't even recall that. With Citizens Access, it seems to be days.

New customer - website is very barebones, too basic for me. Can't do more than view account balance, history, and initiative transfer, and set basic notifications. No confirmation of ACH transfers (no email, no text) - also transfer don't show up in the history or anywhere else until the next business day, which is a bit disconcerting. You essentially initiate a transfer and then hope for the best since the processing shows nowhere. Presume you have to call in to cancel a transfer. I'm coming from Ally, which so far has the best online access since I can do pretty everything online. Hold times of funds were 7 business days for me on two occasions, even though disclosure notes 5 business days. End of hold times are not displayed anywhere, unlike Capital One which clearly states the date when the hold ends. Multi-Factor authentication seems non-existent. Overall, the online presence doesn't inspire a lot of trust and I will be pulling out when interest rates start falling behind.

Please Improve!

Posted by: |

Been with this bank for 10+ years. Good rates and clean functional website were my reasons for parking funds here. Recently they changed their inner structure and raised rates simultaneously and could not handle either. Could not access my account online and it took me 3 hours to find someone who could actually locate my account. Was on hold for 1 hour each time to get to speak to someone. Finally I got a hold of one person who seemed to know something about their inner workings and he transferred me to customer service Nicole who is the only reason I am still with this bank! I am still not entirely happy as I no longer receive verification texts on my phone just my email. I have complained but to no avail. They have once again raised their rates but I am hesitant as surely my BP is not worth the effort!

My #1 Hub Bank For 2022

I opened my Citizens Access online savings account many years ago, they were not very competitive in the past so I ultimately closed the account to seek greener pastures. Fast forward to the rate hikes of 2022 and Citizens started to be competitive again.

To my surprise, my online log in still worked with them and I promptly opened a new online Savings account in May 2022. Since then I have been pleasantly surprised at my experience with them and as another reviewer mentioned, they are the new Marcus or PurePoint, but with competitive rates.

The super high transfer limits, competitive rates, quick transfers, and 10 allowed linked ACH accounts (why doesn't every bank do this??) have made this my go to hub account. This bank is tied for #1 with my other new favorite online hub, CIBC Agility. If Citizens had just a tad bit of a higher rate, it would be my #1 since it beats CIBC in both daily & monthly transfer limits. I am so happy I re-kindled my relationship with Citizens.

Customer Service

Calling customer service at 888-201-6505 is useless. You may wait forever without even been told what estimated wait time is. This is enough to realise that the bank is junk.

Incompetent & Unacceptable

The basic level CSR doesn't know anything and when you ask for a supervisor, they're never available and have to wait for a call back. When I deposit a significant amount of money in an institution and a significant amount of money is missing from my screen and you are unable to see any pending transfers, this is unacceptable. $100K is missing from my balance, yet they claim it is showing on theirs. It was there last week on my screen so why not now. Also, I initiated an ACH transfer out of the bank on a Friday, with an actual transfer date of Monday so I would not lose interest over the weekend. They took the money out of my account on Friday. I call the bank, even they cannot see the transfer specifics and they said on their screen the 100K is there but on hold. This is UNACCEPTABLE for a bank in 2022. I am taking all of my money out of this bank and I suggest people to STAY AWAY from this bank. ***THEY DO NOT DO WIRE TRANSFERS. Really another unacceptable practice. If you have a significant amount of money in a bank, there are times when you need money to those funds asap. A hack bank for sure. Can't wait till all my money is out of there.

Just Raised To Competitive Rates, Again!

Posted by: |

Really appreciates Citizens Access for raising to 3.00% which is competitive. I am considering moving a significant chunk from Discover to here.

Simple, Easy, Transparent, Mutually Beneficial

I've had their savings account for several years. Their rates were competitive when I signed up, and they've remained competitive since. There are no 'promotional' or bait and switch style intro rates. Long time customers are treated to the same competitive rates. Rates have decreased--as they have at all banks due to these economic times--and they've transparently alerted me to each rate decrease. Despite decreasing, though, they've stayed competitive. They've consistently been in the top 5 banks, with rates between these banks typically insignificant and the top bank typically offering a 'promotional' rate to entice new customers, and no longer remaining in the top banks after some time. I have no doubt they'll raise them again once times improve.

We both gained from my savings when economic times were good--which we hopefully both appreciate. During the pandemic, when I needed to withdraw my savings, it was easy. When times improved, and I wanted to transfer money into my savings account, it too was easy. The one time I called customer service--to set up my account and just to speak with a real person prior--it was easy.

Their online tools and summary are also easy, simple, and clear. They do what they do exceptionally well. They don't do everything (ie checking account), but they're transparent about that, too.

Failure To Communicate

All I wanted to do is add an email address to my log in procedure. However, the website setup procedure lets you update your user name, password, and house address but no way to add or change your email address. It's like someone fell asleep during the coding of the website. So, the only option available is to call by telephone. You might as well be trying to call the Man In The Moon as all you get is a recording that repeats endlessly. "Your call is very important to us".

The financial institution, product, and APY (Annual Percentage Yield) data displayed on this website is gathered from various sources and may not reflect all of the offers available in your region. Although we strive to provide the most accurate data possible, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. The content displayed is for general information purposes only; always verify account details and availability with the financial institution before opening an account. Contact [email protected] to report inaccurate info or to request offers be included in this website. We are not affiliated with the financial institutions included in this website.