Deal has ended, view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $500
- Availability: CT, DE, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VT, VA, D.C., MD, FL
- Deposit required: $20,000
- APY: 0.07% APY
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull as long as you opt out of overdraft protection.
- ChexSystems: Mixed data points
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: Avoidable
- Early account termination fee: None
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: 11/27/24
Contents
The Offer
- Citizens Bank is offering a savings bonus of $250-$500.
- Get $250 when you make one single deposit of at least $10,000 in new money to your personal Citizens Savings account and maintain the savings balance through March 5. Must have an existing or open a new personal Citizens Checking account to qualify
- Get $500 when you make one single deposit of $20,000 or more in new money to your personal Citizens Savings account and maintain the savings balance through March 5. Must have an existing or open a new personal Citizens Checking account to qualify.
The Fine Print
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To Earn Bonus: You must, 1) have an existing or open a new personal Citizens Checking account between 11/12/24 and 11/27/24 and, 2) have an existing or open a new personal Citizens Savings account between 11/12/24 and 11/27/24 and, 3) have one single deposit of at least $10,000/$20,000 or more in new money post into one personal Citizens Savings account by 12/6/24 and, 4) your savings balance as of the end of the day prior to the qualifying single deposit plus qualifying single deposit ($10,000/$20,000) must be maintained through 3/5/25. The qualifying deposit of $10,000.00-$19,999.99 is eligible for a $250 bonus, or qualifying deposit of $20,000.00 or more is eligible for a $500 bonus. If the qualifying deposit at the end of the retention period drops into the lower tier, you will be eligible for the lower bonus.
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Qualifications: New money is external funds that are not currently on deposit with Citizens or Citizens Access. The participating personal Citizens Savings account must remain open and active AND the participating personal Citizens Checking account must have a balance greater than zero and remain open and active through the payout date stated in the table below to qualify for this offer.
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Eligibility: Only one personal Citizens Savings account is eligible for a bonus and only one customer on the savings account is eligible for a bonus. Customer will only be paid a one-time bonus for this program. Offers may be withdrawn without notice. Offer eligibility is determined at Citizens’ sole discretion.
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Payout: Bonus will be deposited to your personal Citizens Checking account by the date stated in the table below and will be labeled as “Balance Builder Bonus”. If your personal Citizens Checking account is closed prior to payout date stated in the table below, then your personal Citizens Savings account will also no longer be eligible for this offer. Bonus will be reported to the IRS for income tax purposes.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
One Deposit Savings from Citizens® has a $4.99 fee this is waived with any deposit.
Early Account Termination Fee
As far as we know there is no early account termination fee.
Our Verdict
Nice that this works for existing customers as well. Both deals work out to be 10% APY annualized if we assume a three month hold period (will be slightly longer than this, so not as good). Worth doing if you need to tie up some money for awhile. Will add to the best savings bonuses.
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
I deposited a check for $20k. A branch employee called me to tell me it will be on hold for a few days. I basically said, “so what?” He says I ought to wire over another $20k given the deadline. Sounded like bs: “post” doesn’t mean available. But I don’t know if there could be game-playing—and maybe there won’t be a staffed CFPB by the time the bonus is due!
A lot of banks like Chase and Marcus dont give 2 $hits about CFPB anymore. Marcus always closes the complaints by copy pasting some marketing non sense without addressing the issue at hand. On Chase’s side, it is goes to some CS that is in US but talking to them, you get the sense that they are not any smarter than the outsourced ones in Philippines.
But CFPB at least is a way to get hold of someone outside their regular call centers, the best thing Obama did!
Be careful. There was some language in the offer that you should maintain the balance of the $20k plus whatever was in the account before the $20k hit. Depending on how they define things, you wouldn’t want to get stuck maintaining $40k.
True.
However even with money orders these places ‘hold’ the funds so internally to the system ot does not look like money is there.
Cashiers checks are similar which again they should clear right away. But internally the deposit might still be seen as pending. I almost ran into that issue with another bank.
Very annoying I agree.
Does anybody have a screenshot of the offer page and terms they could share? I totally forgot to grab one…
There is a capture here: https://archive.is/E3dGF
Jon
Wondering if you already moved your 10/20k? I was thinking of moving it on Thursday 12/5 to give myself and extra buffer of a day.
I setup the transfer at Lending Club lasted weekend, scheduled to be pushed 12/2. It arrived same day, per my online banking at Citizens. I logged into Citizens in the wee hours today and it was there, dated for 12/2.
Had I known it would be so quick, I could have waited a few more days. Loss of about $2.60 per day. YMMV
fdic
Hi.. guess what, to do this offer, I did the $400 checking only offer as I couldnt find anything better. Opened the mail today and the $600 checking and savings combo offer ($300+$300) is back. They had been sending that to me for years but stopped in the last 4-5 months or so and then started again 🙂
Do you think theoretically speaking, it would have been possible to combine $300+$300 mailed offer with this offer (the one in this thread)? My thinking is yes, do you agree?
thanks
It’s impossible for me to say that. Milking two savings bonuses out of Citizens in unison is pretty new territory AFAIK. I personally don’t think it would work, but I think I saw someone got a CSR to say it would… with the explanation that everyone gets this savings offer, and the mailer promo is separate.
I am sure there will be some interesting comments come April 30th, 2025 when these bonuses are due. Remember, “Offer eligibility is determined at Citizens’ sole discretion.” Judge, jury, and executioner!
I only feel good about mine because I saw each account had a promo code. I am about 93% certain mine will be good ($400 Checking/$500 Savings). My P2, (same promos), I worry about her checking offer, because we had the online promo applied by the “back office” after we left the branch. No guts, no glory!
I just remembered Citi has clauses for this in their fine print… if you enroll in more than one similar offer, you only get the higher one.
Citi says “You cannot use the same account to meet requirements of two separate offers during the Offer Period of this promotion.”
And, “Multiple enrollments in these offers may lengthen the amount of time it takes to pay you your cash Bonus by as much as 90 days because you only will be awarded the offer with the highest Bonus value.”
But, people (myself included) have been able to stack the Wells Fargo $525 savings bonus, and the promo interest rate, so their system will accept two savings promos.
We will see… Citizens, don’t fail us.
Correct me if I’m wrong but this Savings account’s interest is near 0? Wonder if this is a case where it would make sense to “contact the bank” to ask if the offers do stack or not?
“fdic” was asking only based on theory, because I knew they had already signed up on a similar path as me… $400 checking offer, and the supposedly Citizens-wide savings bonus on this post. (I just chose to open the accounts separately so I could see the promo applied)
The window to open the savings for “Citizens-wide savings bonus” in this post has past. You needed to already have had the account at this point, and funded it to the desired level. So… it’s now moot… until next time this sort of bonus comes around, if ever.
Someone in the DoC comments did reach out to Citizens and was told that “yes”, the combo checking/savings promo & savings promos can stack. However, asking a CSR promo questions is dicey at best. They often spew their own interpretation, vs. going higher up the food chain and ask a supervisor or the appropriate dept. There is a legal beagle on DoC (name rhymes with Micky) that says the bank DOES have to follow-thru with what a paid rep says… I am not so sure that is true, but sure, if you can get them roll over.
As I stated in a prior comment, it’s up in the air if this will pan out for someone doing essentially TWO savings bonuses at the same time.
So, long story short… no harm in reaching out to the bank with questions. Go for it. They get paid to answer questions. Save a copy of the chat/SM… one-way phone recording (if your state allows), take note of time/date, employee number, ticket number, etc.
Autumn
Thanks for your insight. I dont even have an offer attached to my savings 🙂 so lets wait and see.
I guess ideal timing would have been to open with 600 offer and get the bonus and then this offer shows up and just make the deposit:)
Yes, timing is key. But, can’t time something you didn’t know about. (Unless you have the time machine)
I’m confused. Did the campaign end earlier than expected? My accounts existed before 11/12/24. But since the offer appears as no longer available, does it mean that funds deposited between now and 12/6/24 will no longer qualify for this offer?
The assumption would be that no new signers are allowed and the offer is still valid for those in the process of doing their “one deposit”…
Because of the low-ball interest rate, I’d say a lot of people were waiting until last minute. I expect my deposit to hit Tuesday or Wednesday this week and I know I am not backing down.
If they were cancelling the promo for anyone who had not funded, I think it would be very clearly stated, and not an “offer has ended”. I am sure plenty of people will call the bank.
wait so even though there was no promo code… and no targeted link.. and no confirmation of the promo.. Do you think it will be honored for those of us who made a deposit a week ago? I never reached out to customer service before making the transfer.. just made the transfer about a week ago. I wonder if they will honor the savings bonus or if I’m just going to be losing out on interest? I’m also currently doing the standard checking / savings sign up bonuses.
If you have doubts, feel free to contact the bank. Their word would mean much more than mine.
Autumn
i’m technically not in FL so i feel worried about contacting bank on this one.. plus user discussion always most important on bank bonuses as you know.. just curious your thoughts on this one 🙂
The promo was active when you made your deposit. I would be shocked if they don’t honor it.
It’s the people who make the deposit after they decided to take the page down are the ones in the gray area. They SHOULD honor it…
I feel confident because I have the promo code attached to my account, AFAIK. My deposit arrived last night.
I called them today just to be sure. They took downt he page because the part of the promo that required you to open a new checking/saving was only good till 11/27. The part that didnt require opening new accounts is still good till tomorrow.
Not surprised. But what’s funny is they didn’t take it down until sometime Monday, 12/02. I recall looking at it that morning.
“3) have one single deposit of at least $10,000/$20,000 or more in new money post into one personal Citizens Savings account by 12/6/24”
maybe I just overthink this, if I deposited say $5 on 11/27, then deposit $20K on 12/3, will this meet One Single deposit requirement?
It should as that is basically what I did.
I already had an account but opened a new one that has the promo code attached.
As such I have two deposit accounts, which they allow and the promo code is connected to this new offer.
I have the one large deposit coming in……actually I see it there as of this writing.
Now it’s just a waiting game until April.
-M
warning for others who do their saving account bonus. I did the $600 ($300 checking and $300 saving ) post office moving packet promo. I got the checking bonus after one direct deposit, but didn’t get the saving bonus after making 3 monthly deposits of $500. Since I opened my accounts in branch, I went to ask, the banker created a case , later got a reply saying that the 3x$500 deposits should not be toched until bonus posted, since I used some of them, it fell beow $1500, so I am not qualified for the payout and there ‘s nothing they can do. I checked the paperwork the banker gave me when opening the accounts, it just mentioned 3 monthly deposits, didn’t state that deposits should be kept there. Also the banker didn’t tell me that either. When I read the small prints from the postal promo card, it did mention that the $1500 need to be there, but it was buried deep into the fine prints. I know that I should read everything carefully and it’s my mistake not doing so, but this is kind of misleading om purpose for the bank when doing this. Just wondering if it’s a good idea to file some complain to see if they may give the bonus to me? Thanks a lot for any insight. Happy holidays to all.
always CFPB
Yes, no harm in trying CFPB. By the way, I already opened mine with a a $400 only bonus. Can these offers be found in all post offices? Can you please tell me what do they look like? Do I have to ask for that change of address packet or something like that? thanks
Can ask a moving packet in post office, it is inside, not always have it, but you need go around several to find one. I saw someone selling on Ebay for a few bucks.
I’m in the middle of the 300 + 300 mailer promo (with bonus payout date of Jan 31st from the table)
Is there anything disqualifying me from going for this 500 savings promo simultaneously?
(doesn’t look like it from the language above)
CS told me that they’re stackable.
Being the DP I wanted to see: Closed my last account Citizens checking & savings 5/22/24, and opened new ones today, 11/25/24. (Closed 187 days ago, testing the “previous 6 months” churn rule)
$400 Checking offer: Applied for Checking today… Approved.
$500 Savings offer: Applied for Savings separately, same day. Approved.
Not sure where people were seeing that you had to fund with $10K at opening on the savings application? I funded the checking with $5, and the savings with $2 using debit card.
Both P1 applications offered me a Citizens credit card without a SUB. Not today, Satan!
My P2 also did the add-on Savings with her Citizens existing checking tonight. I tried to have her apply with Chex frozen and with ACH funding, and it said to apply in branch. Removed Chex freeze, applied with Debit Card funding, and instantly approved.
No Chex inquiry was done for either P1 or P2, “hard” or “soft”. Not sure why they selectively pull Chex. Likely EWS inquiry, and certainly LexisNexis, since you are actually logging into LexisNexisSolutions when applying.
Race ya to the finish line,
fdic.
Cool. I didnt even try with Chex frozen because in early 2023 they had denied me because of Chex. When you tried yours, did you try with Chex unfrozen?
When you opened your Savings separately, I guess it has the the other promo attached to it, right?
I also opened mine with $10 and $10.I am thinking of putting in 20k by day after tomorrow.
For P1… yes, my chex was not frozen. After what happened with my P2, having to resubmit the application… figured I better play it safe.
Yes, I liked the reassurance of seeing the promo code on the application.
It’s very possible their pushing the code to all open savings accounts… But I didn’t feel like having the debate months from now. Hopefully everyone has an easy time with this promo.
I totally get what you did, yours is much safer way than what I did 🙂
I was just overly worried about 2 Chex on 1 day for some reason and them not getting combined etc.
11/27 update – I stopped by the branch today to open this due to some issues opening online.
Banker confirmed me there is no code required when I asked about it.
So you and others who opened both together should be fine
BTW my Chex was frozen so don’t know if they tried to inquire.
They forced you to do an initial deposit of $10K earlier, otherwise you would get an error message:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/new-existing-ct-de-ma-mi-nh-nj-ny-oh-pa-ri-vt-va-d-c-md-fl-citizens-bank-250-500-savings-bonus-10000-20000-deposit-required/#comment-1950637
Now they have fixed it: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/new-existing-ct-de-ma-mi-nh-nj-ny-oh-pa-ri-vt-va-d-c-md-fl-citizens-bank-250-500-savings-bonus-10000-20000-deposit-required/#comment-1956323
Thanks for that clarification.
Do you think what I did below would work for both the promos?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/new-existing-ct-de-ma-mi-nh-nj-ny-oh-pa-ri-vt-va-d-c-md-fl-citizens-bank-250-500-savings-bonus-10000-20000-deposit-required/#comment-1958863
Based on the terms, you should be eligible for both the $400 for checking and this $250/$500 bonus for your savings.
thank you!
Just to clarify, I opened my Savings as part of the application for this $400 Checking only promo
https://www.citizensbank.com/promo/checking/bau-2024-d2.aspx
And I dont have to do any registration for this thread’s promo ($250 or $500), and simply just transfer $20k in one go, right?
For this savings promotion, it says if you already have a Citizens Savings account, you simply need to “Make a deposit of a minimum $10,000 or more to your existing Citizens Savings account to get one step closer to earning extra cash.” So you should be fine.
For existing account holders we only need to deposit 10k and not 20k for the bonus?
You can do $10K or $20K… you will get the corresponding bonus amount ($250 or $500).
Tina
$10K is for the $250 bonus, it is the minimum deposit amount to earn any bonus for this promotion. If you want $500, you still have to deposit $20K.
Why you opened savings separately ? Won’t it cost an extra Chex inquiry ?
Or it gets merged into one inquiry automatically ?
AFAIK When applying for checking it prompts to add savings on the same application ?
That would work too for the Savings bonus isn’t it ?
I said “No Chex inquiry was done for either P1 or P2, “hard” or “soft”. Not sure why they selectively pull Chex.”
Ron
I did it that way because I wanted the reassurance of the Savings bonus being attached. There is an offer code for the Savings offer.
My logic is explained in this thread: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ct-de-ma-mi-nh-nj-ny-oh-pa-ri-vt-citizens-bank-400-checking-bonus-2/#comment-1958240
Ah the surety of seeing the promo code. Thanks
I saw that you didnt get Chex hit but that you couldnt have known in advance.
I guess you prioritized the promo code certainty over Chex hit in this case.
Same day Chex inquiries from the same entity will merge.
So I took the plunge, I had a few $300+$300 mailers but they were all expired and nothing new on the way. So I signed up for the $400 checking only promotion but included a savings as well.
Spoke to 2 reps and they both said, no special registration needed for this promo after the opening, just bring in the new money. Lets see how it goes. Btw, checked Chex right afterwards and saw an inquiry
Would be great to jump on this, but I recently closed the checking and savings account back in August chasing the $300 + $300 SUB. Couldn’t find any language on how long to wait before opening new accounts and grabbing this SUB. Does anyone know?
This one is open to existing account holders as well.
it is not a SUB in the real sense.
Since you closed yours you will have to open and make the required deposit in a timely fashion
My Chex is currently frozen and thawing it now. Do anyone know if it is ok to apply after an hour or so of doing that or should I wait longer?
Your Chex is available to be pulled within seconds of being thawed. You can verify this by pulling your Chex report and if the freeze is in place, it will be listed on the first page.
Not sure why they don’t issue the report showing the thaw until overnight though… guess they figure it’s low priority.
Works the same way for when freezing; it’s instant, and you can verify the same way.
fdic
Thank you!