Citibank VS Axos

Which bank is better for you?

  • 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
  • Financial Rates: 2.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
0.25%APY
Savings/MMA
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Pros:

  • Variety of accounts available
  • Competitive interest rates on accounts
  • Most accounts do not have monthly fees
  • Low opening required amounts

Cons:

  • Earning interest has set requirements
  • Tiered interest rates on accounts
  • Not all rate information listed
  • Interest rates may change without notice
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.

Axos Review

Axos Bank offers a good variety of bank accounts. They offer cash-back and interest-earning checking accounts. They offer a checking account for those over 55 and for teens. Axos offers money market and savings account, along with CDs. Their CD terms range from three to 60 months. Axos offers checking, savings, and money market accounts for businesses. They also offer lending options for personal accounts and business accounts.

The Axos Bank accounts offer competitive interest rates. The rates are slightly lower than other online accounts but still competitive. Axos Bank interest rates are much higher than typical bank rates. There is not a set account balance required to earn interest.

The Axos Bank accounts do not have monthly fees. The accounts do not have set balances that you must keep in your account to avoid fees. These accounts are free. The only accounts with a fee are the Second Chance and World checking accounts. That fee is $6.95 a month with a direct deposit for the Second Chance account. The World checking account fee is $30 if your balance falls below $150,000.

The minimum opening required amount for Axos accounts are low. Most of the Axos checking accounts require $50 to open. The World checking account requires $75,000 to open. The savings accounts require $50 to open. The High Yield savings and IRA savings accounts requires $250. The High Yield money market account and CDs both require $1,000 to open.

The Axos Rewards checking account has requirements to earn competitive interest rates. The more requirements you meet, the more interest you earn. To earn the most competitive rate, you must have a direct deposit into your account and make 15 debit card transactions each month.

Most Axos accounts have tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive interest rates requires a high account balance. The highest tier requires more than $100,000 in the account. Some checking accounts will not earn interest if the balance is over $150,000.

Not all the rate information for Axos accounts is on the website. The disclosures say accounts have tiered interest rates. The Axos website does not list the rates for the different tiers. To find the specific rates for the tiers call customer service.

Interest rates for Axos accounts may change without notice. This applies to their checking, savings, and money market accounts. The rates are subject to change without giving the customer notice. The interest rates on CDs are also subject to change at the bank's discretion.

Read the full Axos review.

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