Citibank currently has 3 different consumer checking and/or savings account promotions that offer a $600 bonus with a $50,000 deposit into a Citi Priority Account Package, a $400 bonus with a $15,000 deposit into the Citibank Account Package, or a $200 bonus with a $5,000 deposit into the Basic Banking Package, and you must maintain the deposits for at least 60 days in order to qualify for the cash rewards.
- Citibank Priority Account Package – $600 bonus when you open a new checking account and savings account in the Citibank Priority Account Package and deposit $50,000 for at least 60 days – available through March 31, 2019.
- Citibank Account Package – $400 bonus when you open a new checking account and savings account in the Citibank Account Package and deposit $15,000 for at least 60 days – available through March 31, 2019.
- Citi Basic Banking Package – $200 bonus when you open a new checking account and savings account in the Basic Banking Package and deposit $5,000 for at least 60 days – available through March 31, 2019.
You can apply online, in-branch, or by phone for these Citibank checking account offers, as long as you have not been a signer or owner of a Citibank checking account within the last 180 calendar days.
If you don’t have up to $50,000 in funds to deposit, then you may be interested in these easier promotions from Chase Bank, First Tennessee Bank, KeyBank, and PNC Bank.
$600 Citibank Priority Account Package Bonus
1. Visit this Citibank Priority Account Package $600 Promo Page to apply online, visit a Citibank branch to apply in person, or call CitiPhone Banking to apply by phone (when you apply online through the promo link, the Offer Code should automatically be applied on the first page of the application).
2. Open a new checking account and savings account in the Citibank Priority Account Package by March 31, 2019.
3. Make an eligible deposit of $50,000 or more in new-to-Citibank funds into your new checking or savings account within 30 days after account opening, and maintain a minimum balance of $50,000 for 60 consecutive calendar days following the date that you made your qualifying deposit.
4. The $600 cash bonus will be credited to your new checking account within 90 days from the end of the month in which you complete all offer requirements.
Citibank $600 Checking Promotional Details
- A new consumer checking account in The Citibank Priority Account Package is required.
- A new consumer savings account in The Citibank Priority Account Package is required.
- Customers must be 18 years or older to participate in this promotion.
- Existing checking customers are not eligible.
- Enrollment in this offer does not guarantee eligibility.
- To qualify for this promotion, you must enroll in the promotion, meet the terms and conditions of this offer and perform the required qualifying activities contained in this offer.
- To be eligible for this offer, you must not currently have a consumer checking account with Citibank or have been a signer on or owner of a Citibank consumer checking account within the last 180 days.
- Signers on fiduciary, estate, business and certain trust accounts may be eligible.
- Customer can have an existing Citibank Savings Plus Account.
- Offer may be modified or withdrawn at any time without notice, is not transferable and cannot be combined with any other checking offer.
- If you meet the terms of 2 or more checking offers in the same calendar month, you will receive the offer with the higher bonus value.
- Limit of 1 of each offer per customer and 1 offer per account.
- Fiduciary, estate, business and certain trust accounts are not eligible.
- A monthly service fee of $30 applies to the checking account in The Citibank Priority Account Package and a $2.50 non-Citibank ATM withdrawal fee if combined average monthly balance requirements are not maintained.
$400 Citibank Account Package Bonus
1. Visit this Citibank Checking Account $400 Promo Page to apply online, visit a Citibank branch to apply in person, or call CitiPhone Banking to apply by phone (when you apply online through the promo link, the Offer Code should automatically be applied on the first page of the application).
2. Open a new checking account and savings account in the Citibank Account Package by March 31, 2019.
3. Make an eligible deposit of $15,000 or more in new-to-Citibank funds into your new checking or savings account within 30 days after account opening, and maintain a minimum balance of $15,000 for 60 consecutive calendar days following the date that you made your qualifying deposit.
4. The $400 cash bonus will be credited to your new checking account within 90 days from the end of the month in which you complete all offer requirements.
Citibank $400 Checking Promotional Details
- A new consumer checking account in The Citibank Account Package is required.
- A new consumer savings account in The Citibank Account Package is required.
- Customers must be 18 years or older to participate in this promotion.
- Existing checking customers are not eligible.
- Enrollment in this offer does not guarantee eligibility.
- To qualify for this promotion, you must enroll in the promotion, meet the terms and conditions of this offer and perform the required qualifying activities contained in this offer.
- To be eligible for this offer, you must not currently have a consumer checking account with Citibank or have been a signer on or owner of a Citibank consumer checking account within the last 180 days.
- Signers on fiduciary, estate, business and certain trust accounts may be eligible.
- Customer can have an existing Citibank Savings Plus Account.
- Offer may be modified or withdrawn at any time without notice, is not transferable and cannot be combined with any other checking offer.
- If you meet the terms of 2 or more checking offers in the same calendar month, you will receive the offer with the higher bonus value.
- Limit of 1 of each offer per customer and 1 offer per account.
- Fiduciary, estate, business and certain trust accounts are not eligible.
- A monthly service fee of $25 applies to the checking account in The Citibank Account Package and a $2.50 non-Citibank ATM withdrawal fee if combined average monthly balance requirements are not maintained.
$200 Citi Basic Banking Package Bonus
1. Visit this Citibank Checking Account $200 Promo Page to apply online, visit a Citibank branch to apply in person, or call CitiPhone Banking to apply by phone (when you apply online through the promo link, the Offer Code should automatically be applied on the first page of the application).
2. Open a new checking account and savings account in the Citi Basic Banking Package by March 31, 2019.
3. Make an eligible deposit of $5,000 or more in new-to-Citibank funds into your new checking or savings account within 30 days after account opening, and maintain a minimum balance of $5,000 for 60 consecutive calendar days following the date that you made your qualifying deposit.
4. The $200 cash bonus will be credited to your new checking account within 90 days from the end of the month in which you complete all offer requirements.
Citibank $200 Checking Promotional Details
- A new consumer checking account in the Basic Banking Package is required.
- A new consumer savings account in the Basic Banking Package is required.
- Customers must be 18 years or older to participate in this promotion.
- Existing checking customers are not eligible.
- Enrollment in this offer does not guarantee eligibility.
- To qualify for this promotion, you must enroll in the promotion, meet the terms and conditions of this offer and perform the required qualifying activities contained in this offer.
- To be eligible for this offer, you must not currently have a consumer checking account with Citibank or have been a signer on or owner of a Citibank consumer checking account within the last 180 days.
- Signers on fiduciary, estate, business and certain trust accounts may be eligible.
- Customer can have an existing Citibank Savings Plus Account.
- Offer may be modified or withdrawn at any time without notice, is not transferable and cannot be combined with any other checking offer.
- If you meet the terms of 2 or more checking offers in the same calendar month, you will receive the offer with the higher bonus value.
- Limit of 1 of each offer per customer and 1 offer per account.
- Fiduciary, estate, business and certain trust accounts are not eligible.
Avoiding Citibank Monthly Banking Fees
Please note that you must maintain a substantial minimum balance in the Citigold and Citibank accounts in order to avoid paying monthly maintenance fees.
However, you can avoid the Basic Banking account monthly fee by making 1 direct deposit and 1 bill payment per statement period.
Citi Priority Account Package – A $30 monthly service fee applies to the checking account in The Citi Priority Account Package if minimum combined average monthly balances are not met. Except for the first 2 months after opening your new Citi Priority account or converting to Citi Priority, you will be charged a $30 monthly statement fee if you do not maintain the required $50,0000 in combined average monthly balances in eligible linked deposit, retirement, and investment accounts.
Citigold Account Package – Monthly service fee is waived if you maintain a combined average monthly balance of $50,000 in deposits and retirement balances OR $100,000 in combined average monthly balances in deposits, retirement, investments, credit cards, and loans/lines of credit excluding first mortgage, otherwise a $30 monthly service fee is applied. Effective November 1, 2016, the $30 monthly service fee will be eliminated for customers in The Citigold Account Package. If you do not maintain a minimum combined average monthly balance of $200,000 in eligible deposits, retirement accounts and investment balances, your Citigold Account Package will be converted to a different banking package and your accounts will be subject to the terms and conditions then in effect for that package.
Citibank Account Package – Monthly service fee is waived if you maintain a combined average monthly balance of $10,000 in eligible linked products, otherwise a monthly service fee of $25 is applied. Eligible linked products are linked deposits, loans, mortgages, credit cards, retirement and investment accounts.
Basic Banking Package – Monthly service fee is waived if the following transactions are completed: maintain a combined average monthly balance of $1,500 in either your Basic checking or your linked Basic Savings Account OR if you make 1 Direct Deposit AND 1 Bill Payment each monthly statement period, otherwise a $10 monthly service fee is applied. Qualifying bill payments are those made using Citibank Online, Citi Mobile or CitiPhone Banking. Bills paid by making a transfer between linked accounts and/or transfer payments made to accounts within Citibank or to accounts with Citibank affiliates do not qualify as bill payments for this offer. Qualifying direct deposits are Automated Clearing House (ACH) credits, which may include payroll, pension, or government payments (such as Social Security) by your employer or an outside agency.
These minimum balance requirements and monthly account fees may vary between different states, so please check the account details for your specific state before opening an account.
It’s also important to note that the value of rewards from redeemed points will be reported to the IRS as miscellaneous income on Form 1099-MISC, as required by applicable law.
Take advantage of this Citibank Checking bonus offer to earn $200, $400 or $600 in free rewards.
If you are able to make a larger deposit, then this Citibank Savings Account Promotion may be a better option for you to earn even more cash rewards, which are also combinable with this promotion if you can meet both of the requirements.
Correction. Under the Citi’s offer conditions, it says that to be eligible for this offer, you must not currently have a consumer checking account with Citibank or have been a signer on or owner of a Citibank consumer checking account within the last 180 days instead of 60 days.
(Sorry this is all in caps. I’m not typing it that way, but that’s how it comes out.)
I’ve been trying to earn the previous $400 promo, and although it is quite generous, I truly am EARNING it in aggravation. If I didn’t know better, I’d think CitiBank was being operated by some youngster working from his Mom’s basement.
I set up the account online and provided routing and account numbers for the account from which I planned to make the opening $15k deposit, call it X Bank. The instructions said that trial deposits would be made to X Bank to confirm. (I’ve linked X Bank to three other bank accounts and never had problems before.)
After about a week, when nothing had happened, I called Citibank and was told I had to provide evidence of my residence address since it is different from my mailing address. I was told a utility bill showing the address of service would do, so I faxed a power bill the same day to the fax number they gave me. The next day I got a message asking me to call in. I did, but the representative did nothing more than repeat the message they’d left, that my application was in process and I’d receive trial deposits. Another eight days go by. Still no trial deposits. I called the ‘new applications’ number again, around 3pm. It was closed, with a message to call “during business hours” but no mention of when those were. Their website said 8-5 but not the time zone. Further research finally established Eastern Time.
So the next day I call in earlier. Turns out the power bill I sent them wasn’t recent enough (it was 42 days old when I faxed it, and it has to be less than 30 days). Of course, nobody had mentioned that to me when I was asked to send it, and nobody mentioned it when I called in in answer to their message, although apparently that’s what that call had been about. I went back and listened to the message again. No mention of any document needed. So I sent in a more recent power bill.
Five days later, I get an email “reminding” me that the trial deposits had “failed” and I would need to mail in my deposit. I double checked – no previous communication on this at all, nor any evidence at X Bank that any trial deposits had been attempted.
I called in again, and asked how long it would take to process my check once it was received. They said I should “allow” five business days for the check to arrive by mail, and up to five business days for it to process. After all the Citibank-induced delays, that total would have put me well over the 30 days from “account opening” date within which the initial deposit has to be made to be eligible for the bonus.
So I express mailed the check ($23 cost) and tracked that it arrived in their PO box with five business days to spare for them to “process” it. Three days later, their customer service line confirmed the deposit was received and my new account balance is $15,000, but only $10 is available, and X Bank does not show ANY withdrawal or hold on that amount yet so it really hasn’t happened.
Maybe they really have given some people this bonus, but they seem determined I’m not to be one of them. However, another few days should prove it one way or the other.
Their customer service lines operate out of the Phillipines and are heavily scripted so communications are not easy, hold times on the phone are lengthy, and none of their systems seem to actually work. Are we comforted that this is one of the banks that is TBTF (too big to fail), and a crucial but weak link in our global money system? I’m not.
Follow-up to last comment on Citibank difficulties:
Unlike every other bank, Citibank does NOT allow you to use a PO box for a mailing address, even if they have your physical address on file. They claim this is a federal requirement, which of course it is not. You CAN change it, though, if you go into your local branch. Since my ‘local’ branch is several states away (no branches in my state) that’s not an option.
Nowhere in the process of setting up the account was I asked to sign a verification that I’m not subject to back-up IRS tax withholding, so now Citibank is withholding taxes from each interest payment (and presumably from the bonus as well). The process of changing that is convoluted at best.
Citibank sends you a pack of 10 free checks. Nice, but on a separate piece of paper hidden amongst all the other promotional material included with the checks, there’s a notice that you must call to confirm your checks before using them. Nothing on the check book cover disclosures about that, so very easy to miss. If you write a check without confirming in advance, it will bounce. No doubt the bounced check charges would then bring your account below the minimum required to earn your bonus, and you’d be SOL.
All the people you deal with on the phone trying to sort stuff out are very pleasant once you catch them when their department is open and after you spend 10-15 minutes on hold. This is nice, since you will spend a lot of time with these folks.
If you use the online messaging system, you will be dealing with a center in India. The responses are prompt, but not always the easiest to decipher.
Overall, this has not been an experience that endears Citibank to me.
I’ve been a longtime follower of Maximizing Money and have benefited greatly by many of the tips found here. But I have NEVER had such an agonizing journey as with the Citibank bonus.
@AnnJo – Makes me feel better that someone else is having the same difficulty with Citibank regarding backup withholding as I am. And I feel your pain.
I filled out an application online the same day as my husband and (adult) daughter- his account opened flawlessly that same evening, (although he has not yet received his bonus almost 90 days later), while my daughter’s and my applications turned into daily work. She gave up in frustration due to similar problems with her address and proof of residence and is now on her way to earning her bonus at Chase and will never go near Citibank again. I decided to stick it out and am regretting it.
My first mistake was not simply transferring the initial deposit all from one account into my new account (didn’t have the funds all in one account). I tried to deposit the remaining $10,000 to a branch and found that there are none in my state but was advised I could deposit through an ATM. Too bad Citi severed their relationship with the only ATMs in the area and they don’t take deposits. Mobile banking was out also – the amount was too large. Only other choice – I MAILED my signature card with a copy of my US driver’s license along with a check for $10,000 all stapled together.
About a week later, I was next contacted that something was “wrong” and I needed to contact the fraud department immediately. Turns out they had no record of receiving my driver’s license and were questioning the validity of the check, saying that there had been a question regarding whether the issuing bank would pay that amount and my account had been suspended. I was not able to sign in online and was left wondering where the first $5000 had gone. After an alarming 30 minutes on the phone with Citibank fraud dept where they supposedly called the issuing bank and were told that the check would NOT clear (so send another one), I called the issuing bank myself and was told that the check had in fact cleared a few days before. Quick call back to Citibank fraud and spoke with a different rep. She placed another call, confirmed the check had cleared and I was good to go on the account. Or so I thought. All I had to do was send in another copy of my driver’s license.
My first statement arrived with a few cents of Federal withholding. Since it was late in the evening, I attempted the online chat to find out what was going on. Yes, my driver’s license had been received. The chat was so convoluted that at one point I had to ask if I was conferring with a human or computer as the answers I was receiving had little to do with the questions I was asking. Gave up on that and sent a secure message through my account. I am a US citizen, born in US, you have my SSN and my US driver’s license – why are you withholding taxes? Again the answer received made no sense whatsoever – if I had put a US address on my Form W-8 or had recently changed my status to US citizen, I was subject to withholding without proper certification. I didn’t even know what a Form W-8 was! Another call to Citibank to establish again my place of birth and citizenship and was told to send in a W-9. Two weeks later I receive another letter – they had found the problem with my account! When I sent in my W-9, I had not checked the box saying that I was an individual! Please send in another W-9 and make sure to check the correct box!
At this point I admire all of you who are allowing Citibank to hold on to $50K of your funds. Sadly I missed out on the $400 promotion by a few days and all this work is only earning me $350. Maybe. I doubt I will ever deal with Citibank again.
Update on my bonus status – it is now July and I am still without a bonus. An hour on the chat line and it was finally decided that I needed to send (yet another) W-9 in. But after trying that and speaking with someone in “new accounts” I was told that I had been misinformed and that my W-9 had been on file since June. The banker said that as far as she could tell that I had met the requirements and that it could be 60-90 BUSINESS days before I would receive the bonus. She has now elevated this to the “back office” and I should be receiving a letter via USPS by August 4th telling me when I will be receiving the $300 bonus – 8 months from opening the account. The percentage rate for the $10K in the account to keep from getting a $25/mo service fee keeps going down. I can’t wait to say goodbye to Citibank! My husband, who opened his account the same day as I did, received his bonus back in May without the slightest hiccup. Maybe it’s a guy thing.
Jessica, believe me I feel for you. Now that you have your bonus, be sure to read my posting below about closing out the account.
Further update on the horrors of Citibank.
I’ve detailed in two previous posts the difficulties of setting up this account and making the initial deposit, as well as the problems of dealing with income tax withholding.
Now on to the difficulties of getting the bonus and of closing the account:
Once I had met all the requirements for the bonus and confirmed same by telephone AND via email from my online account access, I still didn’t receive it in the time promised. I was then given THREE different stories about when it would be paid – 90 days after making the initial deposit, 90 days after providing my W-9 to verify US residency and no back-up withholding requirements, and 90 days after opening the account. Each representative was adamant that HER version was correct, and that NO other version existed or been given to me. (Of course, phone contact always required an extended wait and a re-counting of the whole long story.) Finally I got the bonus (about 25 days after I calculated I should).
Then on to account closure: YOU MUST close your savings account first and transfer the funds to your checking, and you MUST confer with someone by CHAT to make sure that no more interest will be posted to your account after it is closed because if there’s interest due, Citibank will RE-OPEN your account without your knowledge or consent, deposit the interest and then charge you fees for having too low a balance, and then charge you overdraft fees for not having enough in the account to cover the monthly maintenance fee. Thankfully, I had read of this problem on a complaint page about Citibank and after extended chat sessions that read like something out of Kafka, I was finally able to get it done right and without the risk of zombie accounts coming back to life and charging me fees.
So in the end, I got my money and I did not get charged fees, but it was a LOT of work and frustration. Citi is incompetent on so many levels it’s hard to count them all. If you go after this bonus, make sure to search out all complaint boards and read about other Citi customers and their torments so you will be prepared.
I should have said that, before closing, you need to convert your interest-bearing bonus account to a non-interest bearing checking account first, rather than transferring to a checking account. Sorry for the confusion.
On vacation?
Wow! This sounds too good to be true to receive $400 after 30 days, but if they say so, it must be true. I am going to send this article to all of my friends and family members. Thank you once again for posting this, Max!
Is there any duration of time ( like minimum of 6 months or so) the citigold account package should be kept open to get the $500 promo.
As mentioned $500 will be deposited after 90 days, can we close the account after 4 months?
Hi Max,
Appreciate all your good work in this blog.
I get this error when I try to open a Citigold “Please enter a valid offer code, or leave this field blank.”
Do you have a valid code for the Citigold package.
What is the interest rate on the citigold currently? If the interest is .25% and you earn 5x you are not gonna earn $500 in interest. You will earn $78.00.
This is an awesome promotion – especially for those who already went in for the $250 account bonus offered previously this year – thank you again for the heads up!
Does customer with existing checking account eligble ?
Hello matz,
The $500 Citigold and $250 Citibank account package offers are for new checking customers only.
However, you may qualify for the $500 Citigold interest bonus with your existing account.
You can review the enrollment details in the above article if you are interested.
Thanks for leaving the comment. Max
Hello Dave,
We have added a note to the above article about the minimum balance requirements and account maintenance fees.
These fees and balance requirements seem like they may vary between different states, so we did not give any specifics at this time.
For instance, in Wisconsin, The Citibank Account has a $15,000 minimum balance requirement to avoid a $20 monthly fee, and The Citigold Account has at least a $50,000 minimum balance requirement to avoid a $30 monthly fee.
Everyone should definitely check the specific details in your state before opening an account.
I apologize for any inconvenience.
Thank you for your comments. Max
Are you aware how long this account must be kept open to earn the $400 promo? I have received 2 different answers from Citibank customer service, including a supervisor: “90 days” and “5-6 months.”
Thank you
31 days starting the count the day after you deposit the money. Then 90 days to get your bonus, less 120 in fees…….comes out after taxes and loss of interest about 290
@Dave…….Citi says it is waived for 2 months
If any one wants to use referral for opening citi bank account . please email me at divyasharma550 at gmail dot com.
we can share referral bonus
I’m doing this deal. You don’t need to keep those amount in your account…you only need to keep those amounts to avoid fees, and as ridiculous as their fees are, they don’t add up to over $400.
Still, it’s pretty disgusting to post this deal here without mentioning the penalty for having a low balance, which *is* quite substantial (like $15-20 a month or something)?
need to have at least $50,000 in checking account every month for the Citigold AND $20,000 in your checking account every month for the Citibank account
In my case I lose $40 a month interest. Thus for 31 days you leave the 50,000 in the savings account. Then pull it out. It can take 90 more days to send you 500, less 120 in fees or 380 After tax its about 290 net. Fine if after 31 days are up you can send them the same money back under the spouse name. Thus 580 net of fees and taxes. Not bad. The bad is its not backed by anything
UPDATE……Citi rep. said the 1st 2 months fees are waived. Thus I adjust my 380 to 440. CITI rep said the bank account is also FDIC covered so delete what I said above. I’m changing my real net to 40 loss of interest, 60 in fees…….is 400 less taxes is 75……..net gain is 325 after tax. For some people it’s not taxed due to tax situation. But the return is 325/50,000 is 7.8% annualized for a month.