Citibank: What more could you want in Internet personal banking?
Written: Aug 21 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Ease of myciti.com, Banking with true higher standards, ThankYou points, No fees banking
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: For the best and ease of Internet banking, Citibank delivers an awesome Web site with ease to do all your banking with no fees at all. 5.0 APR on e-Savings.
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| garethusa's Full Review: Citibank |
I've had many bank accounts. And banks have changed so much over the time I opened up my first savings account when I was eight years old thanks to my mom.
Ever since I moved to the northeast, I have used Chase Manhattan, RIGGS Bank, Chevy Chase Bank, Bank of America (see my review) and now Citibank.
I opened up my Citibank EZ checking account by taking advantage of a promotion that could earn you up to $200. First of all, the EZ checking account was created for those who bank mainly by Internet or through the use of ATMS and phone customer service primarily. The great thing though is that if you needed Citibank services in person at a branch, you were not limited to a maximum 2 visits without an assessed fee like Bank of America.
Furthermore, by setting up direct deposit - for as little as $5 direct deposit - you are entitled to free checking and have no minimums to keep.
What I liked about using Citibank is that I opened up my EZ checking account over the Internet and never had to go into the bank. How cool is that?! Plus, I earned $100 of my $200 promotion simply by making 2 online payments for 3 months consecutive. (To earn the other $100, you had to make an additional 12 months of 2 online payments which I lost track of!) So, it was nice to get a free $100 just for being a customer.
The Internet page of Citibank - www.myciti.com - is easy to use and navigate. I can easily set up companies that I make payments to every month (for instance my car payment, credit card payments, school loan, etc.) and I can schedule them ahead of time, on a recurrent basis, or simply just go in a few days before payment is due and make the payment then.
I have never had to call in to Citibank Customer Service in my two years of having my checking account open. Recently I opened up the E-Savings account as well to take advantage of the outstanding 5% APR interest offered to you. That beats ING Savings (which commercials are always on the air and who I had a banking relationship with but they were always offering less interest than Citibank so I closed my ING savings account), Bank of America and Capital One for savings accounts. I am sure Citibank is probably the only bank that offers the highest interest possible in a simple savings account.
Furthermore, there is ThankYou Rewards. Earn points for all the banking you do at Citibank. From having a checking and savings account, to credit cards, personal and mortgage loans, to even your debit card activity or having direct deposit or using your account for online payments, you get rewarded with ThankYou Points that can help you get cash back, buy gift cards, redeem for items, or even lower your Citibank credit card APRs for a period of time. It makes sense. A bank that rewards you for banking and doing all your banking activities with them.
To this day, I have never been happier with a bank. I have never had any NSF activities with Citibank and my online payments have always been applied to on time if you allow yourself 3 business days to arrange before the due date.
You can even set up simple transfers between your checking account(s) to your savings account(s) and other Citibank accounts. Just like you can set up having cash transferred from your Citibank credit cards into your checking account as added Overdraft protection.
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I recently requested a Balance Transfer from Citibank to my Citi credit card online. I took advantage of one of their promotional offers and it took no more than 3 minutes to complete the balance transfer request from Citicards.com. Once the balance transfer was approved, Citicards.com sent me an e-mail notification with all the terms of the promotional balance transfer including the terms of the balance transfer. This was perfect! As in my review of Bank of America, BOA never sent an e-mail confirmation that provided you with the terms of the balance transfer. I have already had 2 balance transfers with Bank of America that have gone wrong - one was by using a special mailed check and the other was taking advantage of an online offer. This Citibank balance transfer is definitely a great model that all banks should utilize when approving balance transfers that were initiated online. I will never do another balance transfer with BOA again.
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It has been a pleasure to do my personal banking with Citibank since I mainly use the Internet and then primarily Citibank ATMS. Now you can use Citibank ATMS at 7-11's with no ATM fees!
What more could I possibly want out of Internet personal banking? Citibank gives me everything!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
garethusa
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Washington, DC USA
Reviews written: 84
Trusted by: 17 members
About Me:
Meeting planner; enjoy yoga, jogging, writing, music, cats, travel and cooking/eating :-)
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