Citibank Savings Account Interest Rates for April 2024

Citibank savings account interest rates

Citibank offers two types of Citibank accounts.

• Citi Access Savings accounts are reserved for people in markets served by Citibank branches. These are regular, average-yield savings accounts that offer stability but not necessarily a high return on investment (ROI). Interest rates for standard savings accounts are about 0.03%, which is well below the national average of 0.58%. You can earn higher interest rates by maintaining a higher average monthly balance. These tiered accounts come with APYs up to 0.25%.
• Citi Accelerate Savings accounts exist solely online, where they can serve people in markets that don’t currently have brick-and-mortar Citibank locations. These are high-yield savings accounts with interest rates above the national average, so account holders get an even bigger bang for their buck while their money’s stowed away. Accelerate accounts have a higher-than-average APY of 4.45%, which is much higher than most traditional banks and on par with interest rates offered by many online banks.

Ultimately, your savings account interest rate will depend on the type of account you open, as well as the market rates. Before you open an account, be sure to check the current rates for each account type in your zip code and read the fine print to see if rates change depending on your tier and average balance.

Citi Savings Access

Citi Savings Access accounts are Citibank’s standard savings account option. The fundamental difference between this type of account and a high-interest savings account is that a standard account offers a lower interest rate.

Customers who live near a brick-and-mortar Citibank branch may be eligible to open a Citi Savings Access account, but Citibank has also widened availability to include customers outside the typical service areas.

If you have a residential address in the following places, you may be able to open a Citi Savings Access account in person or, in rare instances, online:

• California
• Connecticut
• Select markets in Florida
• Select markets in Illinois
• Maryland
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New York
• Virginia
• Washington, D.C.

Citi Savings Access accounts come with a monthly service fee of $4.50, but that fee is waived for accounts that meet one or more of the following requirements:

• Have been open for less than three months
• Are on a higher Relationship Tier
• Maintain a minimum balance of $500
• Are linked to a Citibank checking account

Citi Savings Access Account Interest Rates, Balance Requirements and Fees

This chart represents the APY, minimum deposit and monthly service fee requirements for accounts opened by a resident of Las Vegas zip code 89178. The details of your account, including available interest rates, may be different depending on various factors, including your geographic location.

Citi Accelerate Savings

Citi Accelerate Savings accounts are Citibank’s high-yield savings account option. 

These accounts target customers who don’t live near an actual Citibank branch and, therefore, can’t bank with Citigroup in person. 

As of February 2024, the interest rate for this account is 4.45% APY — that’s considerably higher than the national average (just 0.47% APY) and among the highest overall savings account interest rates in the United States.

Citi Accelerate Savings Account Interest Rate, Minimum Deposit and Fee

With a Citi Accelerate Savings account, you can count on consistent APY regardless of your total balance. That means you don’t have to keep a minimum amount of money in your account to qualify for a higher interest rate. 

Currently, Citi Accelerate Savings accounts are available across the United States* except for the following locations:

• California
• Connecticut
• Select markets in Florida
• Select markets in Illinois
• Maryland
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New York
• Virginia
• Washington, D.C.

*Account availability also extends to residents of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, as well as members of the U.S. military living in approved locations in America, Europe and the Pacific.

Because Citibank Accelerate Savings accounts are built for customers outside Citibank’s brick-and-mortar service area, these accounts must be opened online or via the Citi app. 

Citibank savings accounts opened in person will be Access accounts, which offer standard savings rates far lower than the APY available to Accelerate account holders. 

You cannot have both an Access or Accelerate account at the same time.

How Citibank savings account interest rates compare to other banks

Citibank savings account APY rates differ greatly between the two main products in the bank’s savings category. 

Citi Access accounts are comparable with some of the bigger traditional banks in the United States, with a 0.03% APY that beats out Bank of America’s base tier savings APY (0.01-0.02%), Chase’s standard savings APY (also 0.01-0.02%) and the standard APY for Wells Fargo savings accounts (0.015%). But the national average APY for a standard savings account is still higher than what Citi Access provides, which means you could be leaving money on the table.

On the other hand, the Citi Accelerate Savings option earns exponentially more than the national average — a whopping 4.45% versus the far lower 0.58%. It’s a competitive choice for consumers interested in safeguarding their money and enjoying a relatively high rate of return, and a Citibank high-interest savings account can be especially attractive if you already have a Citibank checking account or simply like the bank itself.

That said, Accelerate availability is limited to people in states without physical Citibank locations. If you’re not eligible to open an online Accelerate account, consider exploring high-yield savings opportunities through other banks that serve your area rather than stepping down to a standard Citi Access account and sacrificing a much higher APY.

Your best bet for Citibank alternatives with high APY savings accounts is online banks that have lower overhead, including:

• American Express National Bank: 4.30% APY
• Capital One 360 Performance Savings: 4.32% APY
• Customer’s Bank: 5.3% APY
• Discover Bank: 4.25% APY
• SoFi: 4.6% APY 
• Synchrony Bank: 4.75% APY

Eligibility requirements vary depending on the financial institution. You may have to meet certain conditions to qualify for higher interest rates, such as enabling direct deposit, maintaining a predetermined minimum monthly balance or having a linked checking account at the same institution.

All rates are accurate as of February 2024 and based on residency in Las Vegas area code 89178.

Is a Citibank savings account right for you?

If you’re trying to decide whether a Citibank interest-earning deposit account is right for you, the answer could well depend on where you live.

If you’re eligible for an Accelerate Savings account based on your residential address, you have a chance to earn an impressive amount of interest just for keeping your money safe in a high-yield account. But if you don’t qualify for anything other than Citi Access, the lower interest rate may negate any other Citi benefits you get with your account.

Before you sign on the dotted line, consider these pros and cons of opening a savings account with Citigroup:

How to open a Citibank savings account

There are two ways to open a Citibank savings account, but first, you need to meet basic eligibility requirements. 

Citigroup requires all account holders to be at least 18 years of age, be a U.S. citizen or resident alien and have a physical address somewhere in the United States or one of the territories approved by the bank.

To open a Citibank Access account in person, you’ll need to go to a brick-and-mortar Citibank branch and bring the following assets:

• A government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport.
• Your social security card or documents proving your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).
• The money needed to fund your account, provided in cash, check or debit card.

To open a Citi Accelerate account, you must open your savings account online via the Citibank website or the Citi app. 

You’ll still need your government-issued ID and social security card or tax ID number as described above, but you’ll now be submitting copies or scans of those documents digitally. You may be able to take pictures of your IDs using your smartphone and upload them to Citibank’s website or their app, or you may need to scan them and send them as attachments. Clear, in-focus pictures are important, or your application could be denied.

The easiest way to fund your Citi Accelerate account is to use your debit card to transfer money from your existing checking account to your new savings account. Alternatively, you can provide your checking account and routing numbers to do a direct transfer from one account to the other.

If you intend to open a joint savings account with your spouse or another individual, you must provide the correct documentation for both parties.

How to find Citibank savings interest rates

You can explore Citibank savings interest rates by reviewing the Citibank savings account landing page. The rates listed are updated regularly and include standard APY for different account tiers, such as Citi Priority Relationship Tier and Citigold Private Client Relationship Tier accounts.

Other Citibank savings options

If you’re not convinced a Citibank savings account is right for you, there are some alternatives.

Citi offers certificates of deposit (CDs) with terms ranging from three months to five years. The plus side to a CD is that interest rates are far higher than anything you’d get with a standard savings account, on par with the APY of a Citi Accelerate account.

There’s a big catch with CDs, however. Unlike a savings account, where you can withdraw money as needed, money invested in a certificate of deposit must remain untouched for the agreed-upon term. Withdrawing money before the CD matures could result in stiff penalties. Customers who think there’s a high likelihood they’ll need to access their savings before the proposed CD term is up should strongly consider a regular savings account or a CD with a shorter term.