Update 3/20/20: Rate has been reduced to 1.6%
Update 1/5/2020: Rate has been reduced to 1.75% (down from 2.21%) not 100% sure when this change happened.
Update 9/3/19: Rate lowered from 2.36% to 2.21%.
Offer at a glance
- Interest Rate:Â 2.36% APY
- Minimum Balance:Â None
- Maximum Balance:Â None, FDIC insured up to $250,000
- Availability: Available in the following states: TX, AL, AK, AZ, AR, CO, DE, GA, HI, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, OK, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NH, NM, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, WA, WV, WI and WY and the following territories, possessions and military addresses of AA, AE, AP, AS, GU, MP, PR and VI
- Hard/soft pull:Â Soft pull
- ChexSystems:Â Yes
- Credit card funding:Â None
- Monthly fees:Â $4.50
- Insured:Â FDIC
The Offer
- Citi has launched a new high yield savings account called ‘Citi Accelerate’. It’s only available in select states and offers 2.36% APY.
Avoiding Fees
This account has a $4.50 monthly fee, this is waived if you have a balance of at least $500. There is also a $2.50 ATM fee if you use a non-Citibank ATM.
Our Verdict
Interesting to see Citi offer a high yield savings account, also interesting that it’s actually somewhat competitive compared to the best current high yield accounts. Traditionally financial institutions such as Citi with a large bank presence have offered incredibly low (e.g 0.01% APY) even on savings accounts. Citi has indicated previously that they wanted to open the largest national online bank, so I wonder if this roll out is part of this or not.
Hopefully this puts pressure on other larger banks to start offering high interest savings accounts. At the moment I don’t really see any reason to open this account, although it might help waive the monthly fees on Citi checking accounts (and it’s possible to get a bonus for opening those). For a list of the best current high yield accounts, click here.
Hat tip to UA6RBP
