Another data point:
5/16 - Opened USA account online (I already have an EZ checking). Called up Citi after half an hour to fund by BofA Worldpoints Visa. Was told it will post as purchase.
5/19 - Credit card shows transaction as pending.
5/22 - Transaction posts as purchase on card and balance shows on USA also.

When funding with a credit card, can you still do this option if open the new savungs account but then login with your old checking account login information?

GroveStreetOG said:glxpass said:esphan said:glxpass said:
On my promotion terms, I see no specified minimum amount for bill payments. You should print or save your promotion terms, and if Citibank tries to vary from them, you'll have a good case to prevent that.

Yes, I know a minimum bill payment amount isn't mentioned in the terms, I just wanted to share what I was told so others could possibly prevent a hassle later on.
I'd ask the CSR for documentation of that; CSRs are often wrong. I certainly wouldn't adhere to that $25 minimum, based solely on what a CSR told me, and especially with what he/she said not even mentioned in the disclosures for the promotion.

I think you're right. However, it's simple enough to make $25 billpays. What you can do is, you just make $25 worth of the minimum payment on two of your 0% credit cards (or on the same credit card twice). On the other hand, though, as you point out, it's the CSR, not the documentation, that says $25. If there really is a secret "requirement," who knows if it's $25, $50, or what.
I've a good reason for doing minimal bill pays (to my Bank of America checking account, actually). I opened my Citi checking account up under promotion MVS4 ($200 bonus), which required a minimum $100 for the initial deposit. I'm doing six months of two bill pays per month. (You get a $100 bonus for each 3-month block of consecutive bill pays.) The $25 minimum would exhaust that account long before the requirements were met.

GroveStreetOG said:But if you did make $25 billpays to a checking account, you could just pull them from the account you made the billpays to, sending the money around and around and around in a circle for 6 months.
Although such an idea is perfectly legal, I'd rather avoid activities that might raise suspicions -- totally unwarranted of course -- of something illegal or fishy. The idea of bouncing the same money back and forth between two checking accounts makes me uneasy.

I'm comfortable with the fact that there is no minimum bill pay amount stated anywhere in the promotion terms in my welcome booklet, and I don't see the need to complicate things unnecessarily.

Thanks OP for this wonderful post.

Here is my experience so far with Citi:

09/2007 -> Opened USA and got $100
10/2007 -> Opened new EZ checking account and got 20k Thankyoupoints
02/2008 -> Enrolled my Diamond preferred card in Credit protector
03/2008 -> Moved due to job change
05/2008 -> Got a free digital frame for Credit protector promo
05/10/2008 -> Funded USA with Diamond preferred for $30k
05/17/2008 -> Diamond Prefered statement generated, $30k funding show as purchase and got 30k Thankyoupoints,minimum payment due was $450.
05/18/2008 -> Activated moving benefit on Credit Protector and Credit Protector will pay the minimum balance due($450).
08/2008 -> Hopefully , will be getting 20k Thankyou points for funding 25k USA promo.

I will be repeating the above for my wife too, so overall i am a happy camper and love Citi.

ShavenYak said:glxpass said:GroveStreetOG said:But if you did make $25 billpays to a checking account, you could just pull them from the account you made the billpays to, sending the money around and around and around in a circle for 6 months.
Although such an idea is perfectly legal, I'd rather avoid activities that might raise suspicions -- totally unwarranted of course -- of something illegal or fishy. The idea of bouncing the same money back and forth between two checking accounts makes me uneasy.

There's certainly no law against moving your own money from one checking account to another. Furthermore, Citi's terms for all these offers only say you must make two payments per month with their billpay system. They say nothing about who you can or can't pay or that you can't return the money to the account.
I probably could have stated it better, but with all the adverse action people have been getting, especially from Citibank (although admittedly this pertains more to credit cards than to deposit accounts), I just don't see a reason to bounce the same money back and forth if I don't have to. I'm not suggesting anyone else not do this; I'm simply stating that I tend not to do things I'm uncomfortable with, unless there's strong justification for it. IOW, why should I play games like bouncing my money back and forth between accounts if I feel there's no good reason to do so?

Who knows, perhaps Citi would be less likely to offer these promotions if they see this kind of thing happening. Of course, making very small billpays might have the same effect, anyway. What it comes down to is that we all make decisions to the best of our ability, even if there's not always a definitive explanation or justification for those decisions -- at least, that's how I operate.

Edited for clarity - I hope.

wxl31 said:How is everyone getting around Citibank's annoying outgoing inter-institution transfer limit of 2k/day and 10k/month? Would like to quickly move my money out of Citibank and back to higher yield accounts now that I've met the funding requirements.
Just pull the money from your external accounts.

wxl31 said:How is everyone getting around Citibank's annoying outgoing inter-institution transfer limit of 2k/day and 10k/month? Would like to quickly move my money out of Citibank and back to higher yield accounts now that I've met the funding requirements.

Write checks.

Any idea for how long the balance on USA must be remain 25K+ and on Checking 1K+ in order to qualify for the promotion? It is not clear from the terms. CSR told me 60 days, but I think he was guessing.

You need 6K combined balance to avoid monthly fee on checking (switching to EZ Checking with other waiver options will disqualify you from the promo). I would at least move the 1K to USA if I knew it was "safe".

EugeneV said:Any idea for how long the balance on USA must be remain 25K+ and on Checking 1K+ in order to qualify for the promotion? It is not clear from the terms. CSR told me 60 days, but I think he was guessing.

You need 6K combined balance to avoid monthly fee on checking (switching to EZ Checking with other waiver options will disqualify you from the promo). I would at least move the 1K to USA if I knew it was "safe".

The CSR I spoke with didn't know for sure, but she thought it would be safest to leave it in there until a statement is generated with 1k in checking and 25k in USA. That would be easy proof that you met both requirements later on if the need arises.