[Expired] Citi $40 – $3,500 Savings Bonus

Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.

Offer at a glance

  • Maximum bonus amount: $3,500
  • Availability: Nationwide
  • Direct deposit required: None
  • Additional requirements: Deposit $10,000 – $1M and maintain for 60 days
  • Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
  • ChexSystems: Yes
  • Credit card funding: None
  • Monthly fees: $25-$30, avoidable
  • Early account termination fee: None
  • Household limit: None listed
  • Expiration date: October 3, 2022

The Offer

Direct Link to offer (‘Learn More’)

  • Citibank is offering a savings account bonus when you open a new account, deposit funds within 20 days, and maintain the deposit for at least 60 days. Here are the bonus tiers:
    • $10,000 – $40 bonus
    • $30,000 – $100 bonus
    • $50,000 – $200 bonus
    • $100,000 – $400 bonus
    • $200,000 – $800 bonus
    • $500,000 – $1,750 bonus
    • $1,000,000 – $3,500 bonus

The Fine Print

  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

Citi Basic Account Package has a $12 monthly fee, this is waived if you do any of the following:

  • Make one qualifying direct deposit per statement period and one qualifying bill payment per statement period or
  • Maintain a $1,500+ combined average monthly balance in eligible linked accounts
  • Fee also waived when first listed account owner is 62 or older.

Early Account Termination Fee

In the past, Citi has not charged any ETF, and none is mentioned for this offer.

Our Verdict

This bonus is almost entirely unexciting since you’d do better putting the funds in a high-yield savings account with no bonus rather than this Citi savings account with a bonus. What’s interesting here is that this offer would seem to stack with the Citi tiered checking bonus to spruce up earnings since that bonus allows holding funds in a linked savings account as well.

For example, if you’re doing the $75,000 checking bonus tier for $1,000 bonus, you might be able to get another $200 on top of that with the savings bonus, a nice sweetener.

The trick would be to open the checking account from the bonus landing page and not opening a savings account at that time. Then, open a savings account from the savings account bonus landing page. Then, deposit $75,000 into the savings account (or $50,000 into the savings and $25,000 into the checking). Hopefully that would yield both the $1,000 checking bonus – since it allows deposits into a linked savings account- and the $200 savings bonus.

The only part that’s not totally clear is whether you can open the savings account separately from opening the checking account and have it count for both. Here are the terms on the checking bonus:

If you also open and fund a new Citi® Savings Account, your balance can be held in your Checking Account or between your Checking Account AND your new Citi Savings Account to count toward the minimum requirement to earn a bonus.

On the 20th Day after you open your account, we will check your “On Deposit” balance in New-to-Citibank Funds which will determine the Maximum Bonus you can potentially earn (“Balance”). Your Balance can be held in your Checking Account or between your Checking Account AND a new Citi Savings Account if you open a new Citi Savings Account in the same package after opening your checking account and before your 20th day.

The Welcome Checking Cash Bonus Offer is a checking offer. Checking Accounts may only be used to fulfill the Welcome Checking Cash Bonus Offer once per Offer Period. If you enroll in multiple checking offers during an offer period and fulfill multiple checking offers in the same week, you will be awarded the offer with the highest bonus value. If you enroll in multiple checking offers during an offer period and fulfill multiple checking offers across different weeks, you will be awarded the bonus of the first checking offer to qualify. If you enroll in multiple checking account or savings account offers during an offer period, the requirements of each offer must be met separately.

The terms seem to allow for separate checking and savings bonus enrollments. My guess is this stack would ultimately work, but there is some risk involved.

Hat tip to reader EdwardD
    Chuck
  • On August 17, 2022, 12:40
Tags: bank bonusCiti

View Comments (39)

  • Citi has denied the bonus officially for the accelerate savings account saying i did not qualify, i did call in to get the account and i did receive an email stating i was enrolled, i did meet all the requirements but they are saying i wasnt invited

    I have escalated but they look pretty adamant about denying me

    They did say to appeal by sending a letter to:
    Citibank Retail Bank Executive Response Unit
    PO Box 6000
    Sioux Falls, SD 57117

  • @chucksithe @will got targeted offer today

    Earn up to a $450 bonus* plus grow your savings with a 3.85% annual percentage yield*

    As a loyal Citi cardmember, you can earn a $150 or $450 bonus with this offer. Make the required minimum deposit within 20 days of opening your account and maintain the required minimum balance for an additional 60 consecutive days.

    Minimum Deposit &
    ‌ ‌Minimum Balance
    Cash Bonus
    $20,000 - $49,999.99
    $150
    $50,000 or more
    $450

    Your Bonus will be paid to your Savings Account within 30 days after you successfully complete all required activities.

    Your Citi® Accelerate Savings account will be opened in the Access Account Package. To waive the $4.50 monthly service fee for a Citi® Accelerate Savings account in the Access Account Package not linked to a checkless Checking Account, maintain an average monthly balance of $500 or more.

    Citi® Accelerate Savings Leveled Bonus Offer
    Qualify
    So long as you are at least 18 years old, are a primary Citi credit cardmember, and have received a communication from Citibank inviting you to participate, you can apply to participate in the Citi Accelerate Savings Leveled Bonus Offer.

    U.S. persons must furnish or have a valid IRS Form W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification) on file and foreign individuals must furnish or have a valid IRS Form W-8BEN (Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals)) on file. Accounts subject to backup withholding do not qualify for this offer.

    Here are the required activities to qualify:
    First: Open a Savings Account.
    Open a new Citi Accelerate Savings Account as an owner in the Access Account Package between January‌ ‌20,‌ ‌2023 and April‌ ‌20,‌ ‌2023 (“Offer Period”).
    Certain “Savings Accounts” are eligible for the Citi Accelerate Savings Leveled Bonus Offer. Any Citi Accelerate Savings Account opened during the Offer Period that you continue to own until the end of the Maintenance Period in the Access Account Package can qualify for the Citi Accelerate Savings Leveled Bonus Offer.
    The Citi® Savings Account product does not qualify for this offer.
    Savings Accounts that are living trust accounts and custodial accounts are eligible, but fiduciary, estate, business, retirement (IRAs, SEPs, CESAs, money purchase pension plans and profit sharing plans), and other trust accounts do not qualify for this offer.
    International Personal Bank, Citi Private Bank and Citi Alliance customers do not qualify for this offer.
    Authorized Users of credit card accounts do not qualify for this offer.
    Second: Enroll.
    On or before April‌ ‌20,‌ ‌2023, enroll in the Citi Accelerate Savings Leveled Bonus Offer on the same day you open the new Citi Accelerate Savings account. You can enroll online by clicking “apply now” on the link provided and following the instructions for online account opening or by contacting a Citibank representative by phone and asking the representative to enroll you in the Citi Accelerate Savings Leveled Bonus Offer. If you open your account on citi.com by any other means than those described, you will not be eligible to earn the Citi Accelerate Savings Leveled Bonus Offer.
    Third: Deposit:
    On the 20th Day after you open your account, we will check your “On Deposit” balance in New‑to‑Citibank Funds which will determine the Maximum Bonus you can potentially earn (“Balance”). Your Balance must be deposited in your eligible Savings Account.
    If you open your new Savings Account over the phone and opt to receive the Terms and Conditions via regular mail, we will look at the 30th Calendar Day after you open your account to determine your Maximum Bonus.
    “New‑to‑Citibank Funds” are funds deposited from accounts external to Citibank, N.A. and deposited: 1) using “Enhanced Direct Deposit”, or 2) with checks, or 3) through wire transfers
    Cash deposits, Citi Global Transfers, Citi debit cards, transfers between Citibank accounts, do not qualify as New-to-Citibank Funds.
    An Enhanced Direct Deposit is an electronic deposit through the Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) Network of payroll, pension, social security, government benefits and other payments to your checking, savings, or MMA account. An Enhanced Direct Deposit also includes all deposits via Zelle and other P2P payments when made via ACH using providers such as Venmo or PayPal.
    So long as the deposit does not pre-date the opening of the Savings Account, New‑to‑Citibank Funds can be deposited into a checking account in the same package as the Savings Account and transferred to the Savings Account before the 20th or 30th Day.
    As applicable, if your 20th or 30th day falls on a Non-Business Day, we will count the first Business Day after your 20th or 30th Day.
    Fourth: Maintain your Balance
    As long as you maintain at least a $20,000 Balance every day for 60 calendar days in your eligible Savings Account starting on the 21st day after your 20th Day (“Maintenance Period”) you will remain eligible for a Bonus, but please understand if your Balance falls into a lower Balance Level for even one day during the Maintenance Period, your Maximum Bonus will change (see Chart). For example, if your Balance on the 20th Day is $50,000, the Maximum Bonus you could earn is $450. If your Balance is $49,000 on day 45, however, the Maximum Bonus you can earn changes to $150.
    Chart
    “Balance Levels” “Maximum Bonus”
    $20,000 - $49,999.99
    $150
    $50,000 or more
    $450
    Fifth: Keep your Savings Account Open until you are paid.
    To remain eligible, your Savings Account and your Citi Card Account must remain open and in good standing from the time the Savings Account is opened until you receive your Bonus. Your Bonus will be paid to your Savings Account within 30 days after you successfully complete all required activities. Please keep a balance in your Savings Account because accounts that maintain a zero balance for 90 calendar days are subject to closure in Citibank’s sole discretion.

    Multiple Offers
    The Citi Accelerate Savings Leveled Bonus Offer is a savings account offer. Savings Accounts may only be used to fulfill the Citi Accelerate Savings Leveled Bonus Offer once per Offer Period. If you enroll in multiple savings account offers during an offer period and fulfill multiple savings account offers in the same week, you will be awarded the offer with the highest bonus value. If you enroll in multiple savings account offers during an offer period and fulfill multiple savings account offers across different weeks, you will be awarded the bonus of the first savings account offer to qualify. Customers can only participate in each savings account offer once per offer period. If you enroll in multiple checking account or savings account offers during an offer period, the requirements of each offer must be met separately.

  • I've been trying to do the plan outlined (Open Checking account with promo, THEN savings with promo, THEN deposit $75,000 to qualify for both). But the problem is every time i try to open a savings I'm getting an error from Citi. Anyone else have this problem?

  • @chucksithe I don't see the checking account terms that allow holding part of the checking deposit in the savings account. In fact, the checking bonus offer terms I see specifically say you can't do this:

    "You cannot use a Citi Accelerate Savings Account or a Citi Savings Account to maintain your Balance as part of this offer and still be eligible to earn the Bonus."

    This clause is the last bullet under "Third: Deposit."

    • Sounds like the offers are regional and have different terms...what zip code did you use?
      Accelerate savings doesn't seem to even exist for me

      • Replying to myself, there's definitely different offers for the Tri-state/Mid-atlantic/CA/NV areas (possible double dip) vs the rest of US (not possible).
        @chucksithe

    • CNTL + F to find it.
      I suspect the words you are quoting mean something else - that those specific accounts with the names 'accelerate' and 'citi savings account' do not qualify. But that a savings account part of an 'account package' will qualify. I'm not sure exactly how that would play out (and I'm not even entirely sure my interpretation is correct).

  • I have learned to always check the ACH transfer T&Cs when trying to move large sums of money to take advantage of offers like this. Citi tends to hold your money hostage. If it takes 4 months to pull out your money, that affects your APR with the deal. I tried to take advantage of a Citi Miles Ahead savings account to earn miles a few years ago when savings accounts were at 0.5%, and it took months to transfer the money out of the account. For example terms were:

    $100,000.00 Limit for inbound transfers.
    $25,000.00 Limit for outbound transfers with $50k limit per rolling 30 days.

    So basically you could only transfer out $50k/month unless you wanted to pay for a wire. I should have just called them and closed the account (would have forced them to send me a check), but I still had to wait for the miles to be credited and post, and that required an active account.

    • sounds like you were trying to push out from citi?
      pulling from the external bank is only limited by the external bank's settings

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