Citibank Review 2025: Checking, Savings and CDs

Citi® Accelerate Savings (Member FDIC; select markets only) earns a higher-than-average rate on deposits, and there's no minimum deposit required to open the account. It comes with a feature that lets you round up checking transactions and automatically deposit the difference into your savings account. These types of programs can make it easier for you to build your savings balance.

The account has a $4.50 monthly fee, but it can be waived in a few different ways: having an average monthly balance of at least $500, having a Citi checking account or by being part of a premium relationship package. There’s a minimum $30,000 combined average monthly balance requirement for premium packages.

Citi’s Regular Checking account comes with a debit card and the ability to write checks. You’ll have access to free withdrawals from your account at more than 60,000 ATMs. About 2,300 of those are bank ATMs, while the others are part of the MoneyPass network, with locations at participating retail stores. The combined network of fee-free ATMs is much larger than other national banks’ ATM networks.

The monthly fee for this checking account is steep at $15 a month, but is waived with monthly direct deposits totaling at least $250 or if it’s part of a premium relationship package. Relationship tiers have a minimum $30,000 combined average monthly balance requirement.

Citibank offers CDs with terms that range from a few months to five years. There’s a $500 minimum opening deposit requirement, which is reasonable, but you can find better rates at other online banks and credit unions. Note that CD balances count toward the combined average monthly balance requirements for the bank’s premier relationship tiers.

Users can contact the bank by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Other customer service channels include live chat and social media. Branches are plentiful in New York and California, but less so in other states. For those who prefer mobile banking, Citi’s Android and iOS apps earn high user ratings.

Citi offers access to the expansive MoneyPass ATM network, which has locations at retailers across the country, as well as 2,300 bank ATMs. In all, customers can access around 65,000 fee-free ATMs. That's more than what the other three biggest national banks offer — combined.

Editor’s note: In July 2024, Citibank was fined a total of more than $135 million for deficiencies in its data governance, risk management and internal controls, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve. This fine is related to enforcement actions that the OCC and the Federal Reserve took against Citibank in 2020. While the OCC said that the bank took steps to comply, it “failed to make sufficient and sustainable progress towards achieving compliance” since 2020.

This enforcement action and fine, which did not factor into our ratings, helps make customers aware of Citibank’s data and risk management behavior. Even if customer funds are protected by federal insurance, poor data management can erode consumer trust in a bank. Citibank said in a statement that it’s working to address the 2020 enforcement action so that its data quality management meets requirements, but it’s been a multi-year effort so far.

Citibank does not charge overdraft fees. If you don’t have enough money in your account, your ATM and other debit card transactions can be declined. Optional overdraft protection transfers are available from other linked Citi accounts. These transfers are free.

» Want to see more options? Check out other banks that don’t charge overdraft fees