Citibank VS CommunityWide FCU

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: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • Accounts offer competitive rates
  • Low opening amounts and no monthly fees
  • Variety of savings accounts offered
  • Funds savings account

Cons:

  • Must join the credit union first
  • No ATM fee reimbursement
  • Only one checking account offered
  • CD early withdrawal penalty can be high
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.

CommunityWide FCU Review

Accounts at CommunityWide FCU offer competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online accounts. CommunityWide rates are much higher than typical bank rates. Their rates are not tiered. Any balance above the required amount earns competitive interest rates.

CommunityWide accounts have low opening required amounts. The savings accounts require $5 to open. The checking account requires $15 to open. The CD terms each require $1,000 to open. The CommunityWide FCU checking and savings accounts do not have a monthly fee. If you only open a savings account and the account does not have any activity, there is a $5 dormant account fee. That fee applies for each month with no activity.

CommunityWide offers a wide variety of savings accounts. The accounts offered include:

  • Personal savings account
  • High-yield savings account
  • Funds savings account
  • CD terms from six months to five years
  • IRA accounts

A Funds savings account is available through CommunityWide FCU. This account acts as a savings account but earns a higher interest rate. Members can only withdraw money deposited in the account at specific times. You can choose whether to withdraw the money monthly or quarterly. Money can be deposited into the Funds savings account anytime.

Before you can open an account with CommunityWide, you must become a member of the credit union. To be eligible to join, you must have worked for a certain company or be a spouse of someone who has. Members of certain organizations are eligible. Immediate family members of CommunityWide members qualify to open an account. Once you qualify, you must show a valid government-issued ID and your Social Security Number.

CommunityWide Federal Credit Union does not offer ATM fee reimbursements. They offer over 30,000 ATMs free for members to use. If you make a transaction with another ATM, not in their network, you may be charged a fee. CommunityWide will not reimburse you for those fees.

CommunityWide FCU offers many accounts, but only one checking account. The checking account earns interest for balances over $1 and requires $15 to open. It is the only checking account available through CommunityWide FCU.

The early withdrawal fee for CommunityWide FCU CDs can be higher than other CD fees. CommunityWide FCU uses a specific formula to determine the penalty. First, they take the withdrawn amount times the remaining days at twice the current APR. They then divide the amount by 365. There is not a set penalty based on term length.

Read the full CommunityWide FCU review.

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