Citizens Bank Overview
Citizens Bank was founded in 1828 and is among the largest American banks, with over $220 billion in assets. The company provides numerous banking solutions, like checking accounts, loans, and investments. It also offers multiple savings accounts with low or no monthly fees, no minimum deposit, and no minimum balance requirement to earn interest.
The bank has a highly-rated mobile app and several security features to keep your information safe.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- No minimum deposit
- High-quality mobile app
- No fees or fees you can waive easily
- Weekend customer service
Cons:
Citizens Bank at a Glance
Fees? | Low or no monthly fee, but has other fees like paper statement fee and foreign currency exchange fee. |
Security | FDIC insurance, SSL encryption, and biometric authentication. 24/7 fraud monitoring. |
Online experience | User-friendly site with online banking capabilities and learning resources. Transparent rates and services. |
Mobile app | iOS and Android app with mobile check deposit, transfers, bill payments, and more. |
Customer support | Customer support over the phone 7 days a week and a dedicated fraud team. |
Suitable For?
A Citizens Bank savings account is best suited for those who want to open a savings account but don’t have much money to deposit initially. It’s also a good choice for people who need a savings account with no monthly fee or one where the fees are easy to waive.
Because Citizens Bank offers many different services, it’s also a great option for people who need other accounts or products besides their savings account.
Features/Highlights
Advantages over traditional banks
Citizens Bank savings accounts have no minimum opening deposit, compared to traditional savings accounts that often require around $100 or more to get started. There’s also no minimum balance requirement to earn interest. The accounts have low or no monthly fees, and if it has a monthly fee, it’s easy to waive.
Cutting-edge banking services
Citizens Bank has a helpful tool called the Citizens Saving Tracker, which helps you set and track your savings goals. You can set up automatic transfers into your savings account, round up debit card purchases to boost your savings, or set up Smart Save.
This feature uses software to track your bank activity and identify opportunities for small $5 transfers from your checking to your savings account to reach your goals quicker.
You can use Zelle to quickly and securely send money to others if you have their email address or phone number. The platform also lets you keep all your bills in one place to ensure you always stay on top of the payments.
Traditional banking services
Citizens Bank offers traditional banking services such as checking accounts, credit cards, home loans, student loans, investments, and business bank accounts.
It also has hundreds of branches across numerous states, as well as thousands of ATMs. However, the bank doesn’t offer service in every state.
Interest rates and fees
Each of the 3 Citizens Bank savings accounts has different interest rates and fees.
The basic One Deposit Savings account has a $4.99 monthly fee and a 0.01% interest rate. To waive the fee, either maintain a $200 balance in the account or have one or more deposits into it every month.
Next, there’s the Citizens Quest Savings account. It has no monthly fee and a 0.07% interest rate. However, you must have a Citizens Quest checking account to be eligible.
Lastly, the Citizens Private Client Savings account has no monthly fee and offers a 0.10% interest rate. You need to have a Citizens Private Client Checking account, plus maintain $200,000 or more in your Citizens Bank deposit and investment balances combined.
While the interest rates aren’t particularly impressive, the accounts don’t have a minimum deposit or transaction limit.
Interest rate | Monthly fee | Minimum opening deposit | |
One Deposit Savings | 0.01% | $4.99 (waived with $200 balance or 1 monthly deposit) | $0.01 |
Citizens Quest Savings | 0.07% | $0 | $0.01 |
Private Client Savings | 0.10% | $0 | $0.01 |
While the Citizens Quest Savings and Citizens Private Client Savings accounts don’t have other fees, the One Deposit Savings account does. These include $3 for using a non-Citizens ATM, $3 for getting a paper statement, $10 for an official bank check, $5 for a money order, and $15 for foreign currency exchange.
Non-Citizens ATM fee | Paper statement fee | Official bank check fee | Money order fee | Foreign currency exchange fee |
$3 | $3 | $10 | $5 | $15 |
Customer service and online experience
You can reach out to customer support over the phone at 888-500-1478. Phone hours are 7am-10pm (EST) on weekdays and 9am-6pm (EST) on weekends.
The company has mixed reviews, with a 1.2 rating on Trustpilot. Positive comments highlight the straightforward process and customer service friendliness, whereas negative ones focus on issues with the fraud department and problems with closed and locked accounts. Citizens Bank also has a B+ from the Better Business Bureau, with most customer reviews being subpar.
The website is easy to navigate and features a comprehensive financial education section. It includes guides, calculators, and tools to help you learn more about topics like saving, budgeting, retiring, and managing debt.
There’s also a savings-specific FAQs page that answers basic questions like “When do I start earning interest on my savings account?” and “What is compound interest?”
Mobile app
The Citizens Bank mobile app is available for Apple and Android devices. It has a clean, streamlined design, with numerous useful features. You can deposit checks remotely, view account details and activity, pay bills, send transfers, freeze your card, manage your digital wallet, and more.
The app is highly rated with a 4.7 out of 5 rating on the Apple App Store and a 4.8 on the Google Play Store.
Security
Citizens Bank takes your security seriously, using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption and biometric authentication to protect your information. It also has 24/7 fraud monitoring and lets you set up security alerts on your account. The company uses firewalls to protect its data systems and automatically logs you out of a session if you’re inactive for long enough.
It offers FDIC insurance, which protects you for up to $250,000 if the bank fails. The site also contains several guides that go over different types of fraud to watch for, how Citizens Bank protects you, how you can protect yourself, and more.
Citizens Bank has an in-depth privacy policy that covers the information the company collects, what it’s used for, how and where it’s shared, how it’s gathered, and how it’s protected.
Application Process
To apply for a Citizens Bank savings account online, you need to be at least 18 years old and either a U.S. citizen or a resident alien. The process for opening an account online is as follows:
- Visit the Citizens Bank website and navigate to the Savings Accounts page.
- Choose the account you’d like to open, and click “Open Savings.”
- Follow the instructions on the application, and provide personal details like your name, email address, phone number, and state ID or driver's license.
- Make your opening deposit with a transfer from a different bank or a debit card and submit the application.
It only takes a few minutes to open an account online. While the online application is quick and easy, you can also open an account over the phone by calling 866-524-7253 8am-9pm (EST) on weekdays and 9am-5:30pm (EST) on weekends, or by going into a branch.
Citizens Bank Summary
A Citizens Bank savings account has no (or low) monthly fees, no minimum deposit, and no minimum balance to maintain to earn interest. The company offers customer support 7 days a week and has a highly rated and user-friendly mobile app.
While the interest rates aren’t particulalry high, there are no transaction limits and the company takes your security seriously with 24/7 fraud monitoring, biometric authentication, and other features.
Physical Address
One Citizens Plaza
Providence, RI 02903
Disclaimer
© 2024 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Citizens is a brand name of Citizens Bank, N.A. Member FDIC
