Citizens Bank VS Barclays

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 1.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.5 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • No set amount to open most accounts
  • Good variety of accounts available
  • Overdraft Pass
  • Can open most accounts online

Cons:

  • Products not available everywhere
  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • Limited CD terms offered
  • Low interest rates for accounts
  • Financial Rates: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
4.35%APY
Savings/MMA
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Pros:

  • High-interest rates
  • Savings assistant helps visualize goals
  • No minimums, fees, or required amounts
  • Options on how to receive interest

Cons:

  • Limited types of accounts offered
  • Transfers take 2-3 business days
  • Customer service is not open 24/7
Citizens Bank Review

Checking, savings, and money market accounts do not have required opening amounts. However, to earn the best rates, you must be a Platinum member. A Platinum member has at least $25,000 in Citizen Bank accounts. The basic checking and savings accounts do not require you to be a Platinum member.

Citizens Bank offers a variety of accounts. These accounts include:

  • Four personal checking accounts
  • Three personal money market accounts
  • Four personal savings accounts
  • CD terms of 11, 14, and 24-month CDs
  • IRA accounts
  • Personal credit cards, lending, retirement, and investment options
  • Business savings, checking, and money market accounts
  • Business CDs
  • Credit cards, lending, and investment options for businesses

Checking and money market accounts include $5 Overdraft Pass. If you overdraw your account for $5 or less, there will not be a fee. To avoid other overdraft fees, deposit money into your account as soon as possible. There is no limit to how many overdrafts qualify for the pass.

If you live where Citizens Bank account are available, you can open most personal accounts online. The application is entirely online. To open the College Saver savings account, you need to visit a branch location. Business and IRA account must also be opened in a branch.

Accounts are not available everywhere. Citizens Bank currently operates in 11 states. If you do not live in one of these states, you cannot open an account. Those states are:

  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

Citizen Bank accounts have fees. The fees range from $3.99 to $25 each month. There are ways to waive the fees. Those included making deposits and having set account balances. The balances range from $2,500 to $25,000, depending on the account. You can waive some money market and savings account fees by opening a Platinum checking account.

There are only three standard CD terms offered through Citizens Bank. They offer 11, 14, and 24-month CDs. The 14-month CD is an online-only account. Each term requires $1,000 to open. Business and IRA CDs are also available.

Most Citizens Bank accounts have low rates. The interest rates compare to typical brick-and-mortar bank rates. The CDs offer slightly higher rates if you also open a Citizens Bank checking account. Even those higher rates are not competitive with other online accounts.

Read the full Citizens Bank review.

Barclays Review

Barclays offers extremely high-interest rates. Their rates are higher than other banks and even other online banks. Their high yield savings account and CDs earn great interest rates. Even their short-term CDs earn higher interest rates than most other banks.

Barclays offers a Savings Assistant tool. First, input your goal. Next, decide how much you want to save and how much you have saved already. Finally, decide how much you can contribute to the account each month. With one click, the Savings Assistant tells you how long it will take you to reach your goal.

There is not a set amount to open a savings or CD account with Barclays. Their accounts do not have monthly maintenance fees. There is also not a set amount you are required to keep in the different accounts.

You have the choice of how to receive the money earned on interest. You can choose to have the money kept in the CD or transferred into your Barclays savings account. You can choose to have the money transferred to a verified external account. To set up different interest options log in to your account.

Barclays only offers one high yield savings account and CDs. They do not offer a checking account. Barclays used to offer accounts for minors but stopped in June of 2017. Even though they only offer one savings account, you can open up to 25 different accounts if needed.

Your money is not available immediately. Transfers into your Barclays account take five business days. Electronic transfers from your Barclays account to your external account take 2-3 business days. Money transferred between Barclays accounts are immediate.

There isn’t an app for the Online Savings account and the CD accounts. You can access your accounts and do whatever you need to do online, but not through an app.

Customer service is not available all the time. You can reach customer service through the mail or by the phone. They are open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Read the full Barclays review.

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