Citibank

Pros: none
Cons: For any reason imaginary or otherwise Citibank will raise your rates.

I have been a loyal customer of Sears Credit Card for 5 years, and received excellent service and a great rate (in the neighborhood of 13%).

After Sears sold my account to Citibank they have increased this rate to 23% APR.

After calling Citibank, customer service reps would not tell my why they increased the rates even though I never missed a payment and prime rate is at 6% (I believe prime rate went up by 1% in that time).

I cannot in good conscience recommend this abominable company to anyone

Pros: Feel-good ads
Cons: Dishonest and unhelpful customer service, low interest rates, exorbitant fees

I just ended my two-year hate/hate relationship with Citibank. They pay very low rates on savings and checking relative to online options such as ING or NetBank. They also have much less flexibility if things go wrong. For example, a credit card company that I use overdrew the account twice in rapid succession. This resulted in a lot of fees--more than the balance on the account in the first place. I called Citibank to clear it up and close the account (which was low-use), and was told that both fees would be waived. They then convinced me not to close the account. (Contrast this with the credit card company, who realized their error and refunded the fees they were hitting me with.)

Low and behold, it turns out they were lying. Now I've had an overdrawn account for two months (statements are going to the wrong address--surprise). They won't do anything with the account as far as further appeals go until I pay first. Of course, then they'll have the money they promised me! You won't find me, my children, or my grandchildren within 100 yards of this bank.

Pros: Lots of ATMs and local offices.
Cons: They lie about my money, and keep it without interest.

I had a CD at Citibank and wanted to partially renew it over the phone, putting the remainder in my checking account. That sounds like a simple transaction. I spoke to a nice woman in India who took all the information and said the transaction would take place the next day.

The next day the money did not show up on the Internet. I called India again and was told it would take 2 days.

When it still did not show up on the third day, I was told it would take 7 business days (meaning 9 days in reality.)

Since they add 5 days to the delay every day, I have a feeling I will never get my money.

Pros: Good, reliable web site
Cons: Very hard to get someone on the phone. Long lines at branches

Since I do most of my banking online, I'm quite pleased
with Citibank's excellent web site. But if something
goes needs personal attention, good luck getting someone on the phone. I don't think there is even a menu choice offered to speak to a representative. Repeated 0's gets you in a queue to wait for one, but often you are bounced back to the automated system before you get someone. A very frustrating experience and a terrible way to treat customers.

Visiting a branch is better but the lines in Manhattan are
often quite long often with few of the teller station's
manned.

Pros: - Internet account access
Cons: - Worst customer service reps - Hidden charges

There was a DVD promotion by Citibank and I as well as 2 more friends enrolled. None of us got the DVD as promised (after fulfilling all criteria). All of us followed up and found the same - the customer service representative's answers were vague and only thing they did was open an investigation on our eligibility.

One of us kept repeatedly calling the customer service and even tried reaching the head of customer service (some guy named Steve). After 3 months of follow-calls, none of us got any response.

Plus, the customer service answers were vague and baseless e.g. "your investigation will take 30 days or more.", "there is a back log and you should hear from us after 30 days.". There was no concrete answer neither there was any reference number or case number provided until we asked for it (I doubt that the case number is authentic).

Overall, I would not recommend opening a checking or saving account except that you are fine with poor customer service.

Pros: Online checking is good, when it works. Many branches out there.
Cons: Horrible support for IRAs and Brokerage accounts.

I've used Citibank for over 15 years, reluctantly, as I have experienced problems but haven't found a better bank with the same level of offerings. But this time, they have taken the cake - my cake. I tried to transfer 5000 into my Roth IRA for 2006 and had to go to a local bank as the online function wouldn't work due to data entry errors for my birthday. Fine. Inconvenient but okay. I showed my ID, did all the paperwork and got my receipt. I checked back after four days and my money is GONE. They took the 5000 out of checking but never put it into my Roth IRA. Scary stuff.

The previous month I was funding the Roth IRA for 2005 and they put it into my Rollover IRA. After calling and emailing, I was informed that I had to write a letter. I said I didn't make the mistake, you did. No matter. I wrote the letter and got ready to mail it and low and behold, they actually researched and found it was their mistake.

I'll be spending another morning taking care of this, and finding another bank to move all my business too.

Pros: Nice package
Cons: Untimely customer service, bureaucracy, bad *real* customer service hours for people on west coast.

I applied online for a checking account with Citibank over a month ago. I was drawn in by the free online bill pay and a $100 incentive.

Since then, I have called Citibank over 10 times, have copied and faxed them numerous documents, have gotten a huge number of confusing packages in the mail and STILL DON'T HAVE A CHECKING ACCOUNT OPEN. Citibank has had all the documents it's needed for well over a week-- they just needed to make a "courtesy call," but they haven't. I finally got fed up today and pulled the plug on the application process. It's ludicrous that I would have to interact with a service this much before I'm even an official customer.

Pros: Nothing, not one single thing.
Cons: 15 words?: crooks, thieves, dishonest, immoral, unethical, crooked, liars, cheats, lowlifes, scumbags, irresponsible fools.

Do yourselves a favor and stay away from these thieves. Actually, my Citibank Visa, which they sent unasked for, was all the bad experience I needed from these crooks. Their Security Department, though I hesitate to call it that, approved $7,000 worth of cash advances on my card, all fraudulent, all within 24 hours, without ever checking with me, despite the fact that in the five years I had the card I never used it for a cash advance of any kind. Their actions in attempting to recoup as much of this money as possible were unethical, immoral, and probably illegal. Trust me, these people are as crooked as the day is long. They've screwed up my credit, threatened me with repaying the $7,000, and are still screwing with my credit today, and all for something I had nothing to do with. Find a small local bank wherever you live and stay as far away from these jerks as possible.

Pros: Reasonable interest rates and online account features
Cons: Poor customer service, account security issues

Attracted by the e-savings account rate, I transferred all of my money to Citibank last year. I have already had 3 unauthorized transactions which they cannot seem to explain. Their recommendation is that I switch my checking and savings account numbers every few months which makes it impossible to do online banking since I have to setup the new account each time. In addition, I tried to open up a brokerage account a few months ago. Although I received an electronic acknowledgement that they received my application, they inform me that they lost it. Half the time my calls get re-routed to India. I have trouble understanding the representative's accent and they rarely understand my issues.

Pros: Simple web site. Free bill pay. Local branches (big cities?) Low balance, high interest savings.
Cons: Other than charges for outgoing transfers I don't know of any.

Okay, So I just dished NetBank in a review. Time to balance the Karma out.

CitiBank is everything NetBank isn't. Simple (EASY!) website. Local branch presence (at least where I live). Free bill pay and incoming transfers (fee for outgoing?).

Single login for bank and credit cards. Fees are reasonable and can be avoided if you can park some money.
Open a CD or E-savings account to meet the minimum balance requirements to wave the checking fee and then it is all gravy.

Thank you points!, you can get a few hundred points a month for just banking with them.

Can't speak about customer service but that is because I haven't had any problems (That is real service).

Fees might be a problem if you can't maintain the minimum balance requirements, but if that is your case I think any bank is going to eat you up.

Pros: High donations to Upromis, at least the first $300. Easy, useful and fast on-line services
Cons: Ruthless. Never let Citibank be your sole credit card company.

Some of their practices seem like they intentionally try to "trip" people into credit problems. Here's what happened to me:
I always pay my credit card on time, but use it for everything. For this reason, my bill is typically high.
I opened an account from a different company that was offering no interest for a year. I opened that account with a balance near its limit.
Citibank found out, lowered my Credit limit to $500. I was not late on any of my payments, including Citibank.
I called Citibank customer service, the reason given for lowering my limit, was that I had a balance too near the limit on my new credit card.
I closed my Citibank account. I can't see ever using them again.

Pros: None whatsoever.
Cons: Abusive customer service.

I recently tried to open an account with Citibank over the phone. Yes, I'm an unusual customer. I was born and raised in the Midwest, but have a business abroad and live abroad. I was told that it was "illegal for someone not on U.S. soil to open an account." When I informed them that was NOT the case, I was told curtly "We do not want or need your business, sir" and hung up on.

I would seriously think twice about doing business with a financial institution which has this little respect for its customers.

Pros: None!
Cons: Inconvenient, expensive and - swindlers! Swindlers! Swindlers!

I opened a checking account with them. Immediately they started aggressively spamming my mail-box and my e-mail trying to persuade me to borrow money from them. I did not like that. 2 months later they sent me a letter saying from now on they will charge me $7/mo if I have less then $500 in my account. Then I found that business procedures they offer are inconvenient and expensive. I decided to close my account with them - and I can't do that! They ignore my request to delete my account made through authenticated CitiPhone Service to the Citibank employee, they ignore my e-mails, they "did not receive" the few faxes I've sent to delete my account and I can't reach them on the phone - their receptionist refuse to connect me to anyone and hangs up after making me wait listening to their music. Meanwhile they send me letters stating I owe them more and more for supporting my account... Beware of those swindlers!

Pros: They had a good interest rate and trouble-free for a while.
Signing up online was convenient.
Cons: They seem to try very hard to surprise you with charges and fees.

I signed up online for a Citibank account because they had a good interest rate.  The terms were no minimum balance.  At some point I transfered most of my money to a different bank.  Citi changed the terms and started charging me maintenance fees.  When that caused my account to go negative, they charged me an overdraft fee.  So I had to pay about $40 before I could close the account.  The only notification I ever got was on the paper statement, which I didn't look at carefully because the balance had been unchanged for months.

I thought that was the end of the story, but this month I got a new letter saying my account was now blocked and I would have to pay another $40 at a branch to close it.  It also stated that I had been notified, but I hadn't.  An email would have been nice.  They stopped sending me paper statements when I closed the account, and never sent an email notification of a new electronic statement.  It turns out they only closed the checking account, and then started charging me fees for the savings account which had a $0 balance.

Pros: Colorful ads and cheerful website.
Cons: Hopeless customer service.

The worst conceivable customer service. They have over-escrowed by monthly payment by about $500 for a year now and have not answered numerous e-mail and letter inquiries seeking to get my payment adjusted. Their tax work is sub-contracted out and although I was able to resolve the problem with their sub-contractor, dealing with headquarters was like beating my head against the wall. The sub-contractor itself was puzzled by the lack of response. Very friendly and cozy when they sell you the product, and then they turn into unresponsive bean counters.