Citibank VS EBSB Direct

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: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • High interest rates on accounts
  • CDs have low opening required amounts
  • Accounts are entirely online
  • Debit card offered for MMA

Cons:

  • Limited deposit accounts offered
  • Highest rates require a large amount
  • MMA has a fee and high opening amount
  • Must link to another account
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.

EBSB Direct Review

The EBSB Direct accounts offer good interest rates. The rates are slightly lower than other online-only accounts. They are higher than your typical brick-and-mortar bank rates.

The EBSB Direct accounts have low opening required amounts. The 15-month CD only requires $1,000 to open. The six-month CD and the money market account both require $2,500 to open.

EBSB Direct accounts are entirely online accounts. You apply for the accounts online, not at a branch location. You can make transactions for your EBSB Direct accounts at an EBSB branch location. Everything for your EBSB Direct accounts are online.

The money market account with EBSB Direct offers a debit card for you to access your money. Federal regulations allow six withdrawals per month from the money market account. There is a fee if you withdraw more than six times.

EBSB Direct only offers a money market account and two personal CD terms. The term lengths are six-months and 15-months. There are no other personal or business accounts available.

To earn the highest interest rate offered on the MMA, you must have at least $10,000 in the account. Balances from $10 to $9,999 earn interest, but a lower rate. The highest interest rate requires at least $10,000.

The money market account has a monthly fee of $8. Waive the fee by keeping at least $2,500 in the account. That is also the amount required to open the MMA. Keeping $2,500 in the account waives the fee and earns the lower interest rate.

To make electronic transfers, link your EBSB Direct accounts to an external account. You can link the accounts to another financial institution in the United States. More than one account can be linked to your EBSB Direct account.

Read the full EBSB Direct review.

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