Citi Up To $1,500 Personal Checking/Savings Bonus – Available Nationwide & Direct Deposit Not Required

Update 1/9/25: Extended to 7/7/25

Update 10/11/24: Deal is back until 1/7/25.

Update 7/9/24: Extended until 10/8/24

Update 1/10/24: Deal is back, $200 and $1,000 bonuses not available this time and $2,000 bonus is now $2,500. Churn period is now 365 days instead of 180.

Update 7/24/23: Deal is back and good through  1/9/24.

Update 4/10/23: Deal has been extended until 7/23/23. As there seems to be no return of the better bonuses and Citi churning clock resets every 180 days after account closing we will add this to the best bank bonuses.

Update 1/10/23: Extended until 4/4/23.

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: $2,000
• Availability: Nationwide
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: See below
• 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: 1/9/23 7/23/23 7/8/24

The Offer

Direct link to offer

• Citi is offering a sign up bonus of up to $2,000 when you open a new checking account in the Citi Account Package. The bonus you receive depends the amount you fund within 20 days of account opening and maintain that deposit for 60 days from the 21st day.
  • Earn $200 with a minimum deposit of $10,000+
  • Earn $500 with a minimum deposit of $30,000+
  • Earn $1,000 with a minimum deposit of $75,000+
  • Earn $1,500 with a minimum deposit of $200,000+
  • Earn $2,500 with a minimum deposit of $300,000+

 

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

Ideally you’d deposit your funds in the account as close to the 20 day period as possible and then withdraw shortly after the 60th day. Realistically you’ll probably need the funds in there for a minimum of 65-70 days if not longer. Rates for citi vary from 0.05% – 0.15% APY depending on the account package opened.

You really need to think of this as a savings bonus and compared it to high yield savings rates. For example if you put $300,000 into a 1% account you’d earn $530+ in a 65 day period. But if it was in a 4% account you’d earn $2,120 (more than the bonus on offer). The bonus actually scales and gets worse as it gets bigger. Reader Mark E put together this APY table based on a 70 day hold period:

• $10,000/$200 Tier = ~10.4% APY not currently available
• $30,000/$500 Tier = ~8.65% APY
• $75,000/$1,000 Tier = ~6.93% APY
• $200,000/$1,500 Tier = ~3.9% APY
• $300,000/$2,000 Tier = ~3.46% APY

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:

• A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
• Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
• PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
• Introduction To ChexSystems
• Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
• What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
• How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
• Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
• How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
• Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
• Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
• Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
• Bank Bonus Posting Times