Citibank Review 2024 (2024)

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The information for the following product(s) has been collected independently by Business Insider: Citi Premier® Card, Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi, CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®. The details for these products have not been reviewed or provided by the issuer.

About Citibank

Citi is a national bank with over 650 branches sprinkled around the US, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington, DC. You'll also have access to over 65,000 fee-free ATMs nationwide, plus free ATMs all over the world.

Some of Citi's accounts depend on where you live. For example, the high-yield Citi® Accelerate Savings is only available for residents of certain states.

Citi also has a new system called Relationship Tiers. If you maintain a certain account balance, you'll be eligible for Citi Priority, Citigold® Checking Account, or Citigold® Private Client Checking Account, which have more benefits and services. For example, these accounts do not have ATM fees, money order fees, or official check fees.

Citi's customer service is available 24/7 over the phone, and you can chat online from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. The bank also has an easy-to-use mobile app, which has 4.9 out of 5 stars in the Apple store and 4.8 stars in the Google Play store.

Your Citi accounts are FDIC insuredfor up to $250,000, or $500,000 for joint accounts.

Is Citi Trustworthy?

The Better Business Bureau gives Citi an F rating because it's received a high volume of customer complaints on the BBB website and it has failed to respond to many customer complaints.

In November 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claimed Citibank intentionally discriminated against Armenian-American credit card applicants. The CFPB ordered the bank to pay $25.9 million in fees and to applicants who were impacted.

Citi Overall Rating

Citi Pros and Cons

Citi Personal Bank Accounts

Citi Access Checking

Citi Regular Checking

Citi Priority

Citigold® Checking Account

Citigold® Private Client Checking Account

Citi offers two standard checking accounts: Citi Access Checking and Citi Regular Checking.

If you'd like to get a premium checking account, the bank also offers relationship tiers: Citi Priority, Citigold® Checking Account, and the Citigold® Private Client Checking Account.

To qualify for relationship tiers, you'll need to maintain a high combined average monthly balance across linked bank accounts, retirement accounts, and investment accounts: $30,000 to $199,999.99 for City Priority, $200,00 to $999,999.99 for Citigold, or $1 million or more Citigold Private Client.

Citi® Accelerate Savings

See Personal Finance Insider's Citi Accelerate Savings Account Review.

Citi® Savings Access

Citi has two types of accounts: Citi Savings and Citi® Accelerate Savings.

Citi® Accelerate Savings is a high-yield savings account that pays a competitive rate, and it's clearly superior to Citi Savings — but you can only open an account if you're a resident of certain markets.

Read Personal Finance Insider's Citi Savings Rates Review.

Citi Fixed Rate CD

Citi No Penalty CD

Citi Step Up CD

Citi offers three types of CDs: Citi Fixed Rate CDs, Citi Step Up CDs, and Citi No Penalty CDs.

While the bank's abundance of checking and savings account options can be staggering, its CD options are easier to follow. Step Up CDs allow you to earn a higher interest rate at a specified date, while no-penalty CDs do not charge you early withdrawal penalties if you take out money from your account before the term ends.

If you're searching for a competitive interest rate, a 1-year or 18-month Citi Fixed Rate CD might be worth considering.

See Personal Finance Insider's Citi CD review.

Citi Personal Credit Cards

Citi has a variety of credit cards, including travel credit cards, balance transfer credit cards, cash-back credit cards, and credit cards with 0% APR.

Our best Citi credit cards guide highlights the best options depending on what you're looking for. The Citi Premier® Card is our top Citi credit card for 2023.

• Citi Custom Cash Card Review
• Citi Diamond Preferred Card Review
• Citi Premier Card Review
• Citi Double Cash Card Review
• Citi Simplicity Card Review
• Citi Rewards+ Card Review
• Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi Review
• Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card Review
• Citi AAdvantage MileUp Card Review
• Citi Advantage Executive Card Review

Citi Business Credit Cards

If you have a small business, Citi has two types of credit cards. The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi is exclusively for Costco customers, while the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® may be worth exploring if you frequently fly with American Airlines.

• Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi Review
• CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard Review

Citi Personal Loans

Citi Personal Loans may be worthwhile if you already bank with the company. To be eligible for a personal loan at Citi, you must earn a yearly income of $10,500 or more, meet Citi's creditworthiness criteria, and have an eligible Citi bank account that has been open for at least 12 months.

See Personal Finance Insider's Citi Personal Loans Review.

Citi Mortgages

Citi offers several types of home loans, including conforming, jumbo, FHA, VA and HomeRun mortgages. The HomeRun mortgage could be a good choice if you're looking for an affordable mortgage option. Through the HomeRun mortgage program, customers may make a down payment as low as 3% with no mortgage insurance requirement.

See Personal Finance Insider's Citi Mortgage Review.

Citi FAQs

How Citi Compares

We've compared Citi to three other national banks: Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo.

Citi vs. Bank of America

Bank of America is a good choice if you want a larger branch network, because it has locations in 37 U.S. states and Washington, DC. You also might prefer Bank of America for a simpler banking experience, since Citi's package system can be confusing.

But Citi has a much larger free ATM network, including ATMs in other countries.

You'll probably prefer Citi if you're eligible to open the Citi® Accelerate Savings account, because you'll earn a much higher savings rate than you could with Bank of America savings accounts. As for CDs, the best CD rate between the two banks will depend on which term you choose.

Bank of America Review

Citi vs. Chase

Chase is another great option if you want a large branch network within the U.S. It has branches in every state except Alaska and Hawaii.

Chase and Citi are both known for offering several checking accounts. The best fit could come down to what you want out of a checking account and whether you can waive the monthly fee on your preferred account.

For example, if you just want a simple checking account, you might prefer Citi Access Checking over Chase Total Checking®. Both offer strong sign-up bonuses to eligible cusotmers, but Citi's account has a lower monthly fee that is automatically waived for the first three months.

Chase Bank Review

Citi vs. Wells Fargo

Again, you may prefer Wells Fargo if you want a larger branch network throughout the United States. It operates in 36 states and Washington, DC. But keep in mind that Citi has more free ATMs, both in the U.S. and abroad.

The best CD rate could come down to which term length you're looking for. Wells Fargo CD rates are decent, but the bank only offers terms up to one year. Meanwhile, Citi has CD terms up to 10 years.

Wells Fargo Bank Review

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Citi

For our Citi review, we rate bank products and services using our editorial standards.

At Personal Finance Insider, we rate products on a scale from zero to five stars. For bank accounts, we review different features for distinct types of bank accounts. For example, we'll look at early withdrawal penalties and CD variety specifically for CDs. Meanwhile, for checking accounts, we'll factor in the ATM network size and fees, as well as its overdraft protection options.

We'll consider factors like annual fees and sign-up bonuses for credit cards, and term lengths for loans. In general, we also look at customer service and ethics.