American Express National Bank VS Citibank

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Options on how to receive interest
  • No opening required amount
  • Pay credit card bill from savings account
  • Competitive interest rates on accounts

Cons:

  • Only offer savings and CD accounts
  • Must link account to a different bank
  • Funds not transferred immediately
  • No checks, debit cards, or ATM cards
  • Financial Rates: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 2.5 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Good rates with Citi Accelerate Savings
  • Variety of accounts available
  • Low opening required amounts
  • ATM fee reimbursement for some accounts

Cons:

  • Regular account rates not competitive
  • Competitive rates have requirements
  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • Competitive CD rates require a high amount
American Express National Bank Review

American Express Bank offers ways to receive the money you earn off interest. You can deposit it back into the account earning the interest. The interest can be transferred to your CD account. You can deposit the money into your linked external account, or receive a check. You can request a check to come monthly, quarterly, or annually.

There is no minimum amount required to open an account. You start earning interest with any amount deposited into the high-yield savings account. The more money you deposit, the more interest you earn, but no required amount.

Once you open a savings account with American Express, you can link that account to your credit card. Log into your account and link the savings account to the credit card. Paying your credit card bill from your savings account does count as a withdrawal.

American Express Bank offers higher interest rates than your typical bank. Their rates are competitive with other online banks. You can find the current rates are on their website.

American Express Bank only offers a high-yield savings account and CDs. To deposit money into the accounts, you must link it to your current banking accounts. You can also sign up for direct deposit from your employer or to make automatic deposits.

You must link your American Express accounts to your current bank account. You can then transfer money between the different accounts. Federal regulations only allow six transactions each billing cycle for savings accounts.

Transferring money to and from your American Express personal account is not immediate. Money coming into your American Express account is not available until the fifth business day. All other transfers take 1-3 business days.

American Express Bank does not offer checks, debit cards, or ATM cards for their accounts. To get your money, you must transfer it from your American Express savings account back into your linked external account. If you open a CD, you must wait until the maturity date to access your money without a penalty.

Read the full American Express National Bank review.

Citibank Review

The Citi Accelerate Savings accounts offer competitive interest rates. These accounts are opened as packages. There are five packages to choose. The Citi Accelerate Savings account offers competitive interest rates. Those rates are competitive with other online accounts. This account is only offered to people who apply online. You can apply through Citibank online, CitiMobile, or Citiphone Banking.

Citi offers a good variety of bank accounts. They offer checking and savings accounts. They offer a wide variety of CD terms, with 16 different term options. Citi offers a variety of account packages that fit your banking needs. The packages vary depending on your account balance amounts.

There is not a required amount to open Citi Accelerate Savings accounts. The checking accounts do not have an opening required amount. But, to waive the monthly fees, you must have a set account balance. The minimum opening balance for CDs varies between markets. To earn the most competitive rates for some CDs requires a balance of over $25,000.

The Citigold account package offers ATM reimbursement. To qualify to be a Citigold member, you must have combined Citi account balances over $200,000. Once you qualify, Citi will reimburse you for any ATM fees charged by other banks or ATM providers. This is only for consumer accounts.

Most other account interest rates with Citi are not competitive. The Citi Accelerate Savings account offers rates competitive with other online accounts. There are also a few CD terms that offer competitive rates. Most other Citi account rates compare to typical bank rates.

To earn the most competitive rates with the Citi Accelerate Savings account, you must meet set requirements. These requirements help to waive the monthly fees. All the Citi Accelerate Savings accounts must be opened in a package. That means opening other Citi accounts that link to the Accelerate Savings account.

Each account has a monthly fee. The savings and checking account fees range from $10 to $30. There are ways to waive the monthly fees for each account. Having a set amount of direct deposit into the account can waive the fees. Having a set account balance can also waive the monthly fee. The balances required to waive the fees are high. It can range from $1,500 to $200,000 depending on the account.

Most Citi CD terms do not offer competitive interest rates. Only the six, 12, and 18-month CDs offer rates competitive with other online CDs. To earn the most competitive rates for the 12 and 18-month CDs requires a balance of $25,000. All the other CD rates are not competitive with other online CD accounts.

Read the full Citibank review.

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