Full Review
Citibank offers four business checking accounts: CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking
, CitiBusiness® Flexible Checking, CitiBusiness® Analyzed Checking and CitiBusiness® Interest Checking. On top of that are the CitiBusiness® Preferred Banking programs, which allow you to customize a banking package for your unique business needs. This review and the corresponding star rating focus on CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking
, which carries the lowest monthly fee ($15
). Citibank waives that monthly fee for business owners with an average collected balance of more than $5,000. You can only open a Citibank business account at branches in certain cities in California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Washington, D.C. and greater New York City (though Citibank also serves business owners in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia).
Citibank business checking is best for small-business owners who:
Are able to visit a branch location in California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Washington D.C. or the New York City metro area.
Need to deposit more than $5,000 in cash during some months.
Rarely overdraft, since Citi charges an overdraft fee of $35 with no grace period.
Is your business smaller, with an average balance that hovers below $5,000? There are lots of free business checking accounts that have no monthly fee — including many online accounts and a couple from brick-and-mortar banks, like U.S. Bank and Huntington. Citibank business checking at a glance
| CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking |
Monthly fee: | $15, waived with an average monthly collected balance of $5,000. |
Minimum opening deposit requirement: | $1. |
APY: | None. |
Transactions: | Up to 250 fee-free transactions per month, then 45 cents per transaction after that. |
Cash deposits: | Up to $10,000 per month with no fee. 45 cents per transaction after that. |
Bonus: | $300 when you deposit $5,000 to $19,999. $750 when you deposit $20,000 to $99,999. $1,500 when you deposit $100,000 to $199,999. $2,000 when you deposit at least $200,000.
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How to open a Citibank business checking account
You must visit a Citibank branch location to open a business bank account. There are branches in California (the Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Diego and San Francisco metro areas); and in the Miami, Chicago, Baltimore, Las Vegas, New York City and Washington, D.C. areas.
You’ll need to provide the following when you apply:
After you’ve been approved, you can make deposits or transfers to fund your account, enroll in online banking, download the mobile app and customize your alert preferences.
You can also then use your Citibank business debit card to withdraw and deposit cash at Citibank and other participating ATMs across the country; plus, you can request debit cards for your employees, if needed.
Where Citibank business checking stands out
High cash deposit limit: The CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking
account includes up to $10,000 per month in fee-free cash deposits. For comparison, the Chase Business Complete Banking®
account, Wells Fargo Initiate Business Checking℠ Account
and Bank of America ® Business Advantage Fundamentals™ Banking
all have a limit of $5,000. ATM and branch access: While you can only open a business checking account in a handful of states, once you do, you’ll have access to a fee-free network of more than 65,000 ATMs across the U.S. That includes those located at Citi branches, Citibank-branded ATMs at other locations and MoneyPass ATMs — plus additional ATMs in more than 20 countries.
Sign-up bonus: Citibank’s sign-up bonus is generous, especially if you have a lot of cash to move. Depositing more than $200,000 during the initial 20-day funding period, for instance, will get you a $2,000 bonus (as long as you maintain that balance for at least 60 days after that funding period ends). If your balance dips — or you don’t deposit as much — you can still earn smaller bonuses. You’ll get $300 for depositing and maintaining more than $5,000 and $750 for crossing the $20,000 threshold.
Unlike some other business bank account promotions, Citibank does not require you to perform additional qualifying activities to earn its bonus, like making a certain number of debit card transactions. That may make this reward easier to earn, or at least to keep track of, for some small-business owners. CitiBusiness® Checking Plus: This revolving line of credit can be used with Citibank checking accounts as a means of protection for overdrafts and uncollected funds — with associated fees. In addition, CitiBusiness Checking Plus can be used as a business line of credit, giving you the ability to withdraw funds or write checks for more than the available balance in your checking account, up to the balance of your credit line. It’s important to note that this product is subject to credit approval, meaning you must apply separately and receive approval from Citibank in order to attach this line of credit to your business checking account.
Where Citibank business checking falls short
Can’t open an account online: Regardless of the Citi business checking account you choose, you have to visit a branch location to open an account. Many competitors, including national brick-and-mortar banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Chase, offer the option to open business checking accounts online in addition to visiting a branch location. Citi has a much smaller footprint than those other financial institutions as well, with branches in just six states plus Washington, D.C.
No APY: You won’t earn interest on the funds in your CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking
account. Some online business checking accounts, on the other hand, pay more than 1% APY. If a physical branch isn’t a necessity for you, consider an option like LendingClub Tailored Business Checking. That account has an APY of 1
% and allows unlimited fee-free cash deposits and withdrawals via MoneyPass ATMs. No overdraft grace period: If you overdraft on your CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking
account, you’ll be charged a fee of $35 each time — no exceptions for only overdrafting by a dollar or two, and no option to bring your balance back above zero before a certain time. For more generous overdraft policies, consider Chase business checking or Huntington’s business account. Both banks offer $50 of wiggle room before charging overdraft fees. If you overdraft by more than that, you’ll have 24 hours to bring your account back into the black before fees kick in. The information related toCitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking
has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.