I got a letter from CitiBank with an offer for 20,000 ThankYou Points (worth up to $200) for opening a checking account. It seems better than other deals I've seen recently, but there are requirements. It may only be valid for Citi credit cardholders who got this letter.
The short version: Go to offer.citibank.com and enter code CE2T, or call 866-445-8706 and give them that code Open a regular checking account (AKA The Citibank Account) with minimum of $1,000 by 6/30/09, and enroll it in ThankYou Network For each of the first 3 months, have either 1) a direct deposit; 2) 2 electronic bill payments; or 3) 5 non-PIN debit card purchase transactions, and you get 10,000 TYP If you do that again for each of the next 3 months, you get another 10,000 TYP The Citibank Account requires a combined balance (checking, savings, money market, retirement, credit card balances, loans, mortgages, etc.) of $6,000 or more to avoid monthly fees; having a $6k credit limit on a credit card does not count
The fine print: This offer is available to Citi cardmembers who receive this communication. Offer is not valid for existing Citibank checking customers. All accounts subject to approval and applicable terms and fees. Persons under 18 years of age are not eligible. Offer may be modified or withdrawn at any time without notice, is not transferable and cannot be combined with any other offer. Separate enrollment of eligible checking account in ThankYou network required. ThankYou Network enrollment and participation are subject to terms, conditions and restrictions. Participation limited to United States ("U.S.") citizens or resident aliens with a valid U.S. taxpayer identification number. Customer is responsible for taxes, if any. Monthly points for checking account relationship require customer to initiate minimum of one credit or debit to the account per statement cycle. Customer must deposit a minimum of $1,000 into checking account opened in a Citibank Account, Citibank Everything Counts or Citigold account relationship package by 6/30/09. Within the first month after account opening, customer must complete at least one direct deposit to, or at least two electronic bill payments from, the checking account, or five or more qualifying non-PIN purchase transactions using your Citibank debit card each month for three consecutive months to get 10,000 ThankYou Points. Customer must continue to make a direct deposit or two electronic bill payments, or five or more qualifying non-PIN purchase transactions using your Citibank debit card each month for an additional three consecutive months to get an additional 10,000 ThankYou Points. Electronic bill payments are those you make using Citibank Online, Citi Mobile or CitiPhone Banking. A bill that is paid by making a transfer between linked accounts does not qualify as a bill payment for this offer. Qualifying purchases must be submitted through the MasterCard Network and are those for which either you or a merchant designates as a "credit" transaction (including purchases you sign for, small dollar purchases that do not require a signature and use of your MasterCard PayPass), Internet, phone and mail-order transactions. Qualifying purchases do not include those initiated using a Personal Identification Number (PIN) or other transactions submitted through other payment processing networks. Each award of 10,000 bonus ThankYou Points will be credited to your ThankYou Member Account within 120 days from the end of the statement period in which you met qualifying requirements stated in this offer. Your Citibank checking account and Citi credit card account must be open and in good standing at the time the bonus ThankYou Points are posted to your ThankYou Member Account.
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posted: May. 31, 2009 @ 3:28p
sethdallob
Senior Member - 1K
posted: May. 31, 2009 @ 10:12p
Not bad if you were looking for a bank account, but a lot of hoops to jump through for the casual FWF'er...20k TYP = $200 in some GC's, or $200 worth of stuff on Expedia.
sethdallob said: Not bad if you were looking for a bank account, but a lot of hoops to jump through for the casual FWF'er...20k TYP = $200 in some GC's, or $200 worth of stuff on Expedia.
I don't think it's that many hoops to jump through. All you need is a DD for 6 months, and the official thread says Citi will take PayPal/ING/etc as DD. Or you could set it up to automatically pay $5 to a (non-Citi) credit card twice a month. Either of those takes 5-10 mins to set up, if you have $6k in Citi balances to avoid the monthly fees. So it's not for everyone.
akhan7
Member
posted: May. 31, 2009 @ 10:42p
JeebusSaves said: sethdallob said: Not bad if you were looking for a bank account, but a lot of hoops to jump through for the casual FWF'er...20k TYP = $200 in some GC's, or $200 worth of stuff on Expedia.
I don't think it's that many hoops to jump through. All you need is a DD for 6 months, and the official thread says Citi will take PayPal/ING/etc as DD. Or you could set it up to automatically pay $5 to a (non-Citi) credit card twice a month. Either of those takes 5-10 mins to set up, if you have $6k in Citi balances to avoid the monthly fees. So it's not for everyone.
Unless I'm missing something the offer is for a regular checking account which does not have a DD fee waiver.
DD is one of the offer requirements, you still need a $6k balance for the fee waiver. But that $6k can be in any linked citi account.. you can minimize lost opportunity by funding $1k into citi checking and opening a 1% "e-savings" funded with $5k.
I'd consider it if there were any citi branches around, but I'm done opening checking accounts for banks that aren't local. Too much hassle closing a BoA myaccess checking last year (eventually got it done-- in person, on a business trip to NYC.)
oopsz said: DD is one of the offer requirements, you still need a $6k balance for the fee waiver. But that $6k can be in any linked citi account.. you can minimize lost opportunity by funding $1k into citi checking and opening a 1% "e-savings" funded with $5k.
I'd consider it if there were any citi branches around, but I'm done opening checking accounts for banks that aren't local. Too much hassle closing a BoA myaccess checking last year (eventually got it done-- in person, on a business trip to NYC.)
I've never had a problem closing a BoA checking account by sending them an online message, but that's for another thread. IMHO, the people who can most benefit from this offer are those with loans, mortgages, or credit cards with Citi with enough of a balance not to have to park $5k earning crap interest in Citi's other accounts. If you actually have to deposit money, it's less good. My back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest you'd get the equivalent of about a 6% annual return over 8 months - decent, but not spectacular.
I already have an acct with them...(I am joint holder - and thankyou points are deposited in primary holder acct) but still they sent me above offer....I am wondering if I open yet another acct will i get 20K pts. Anyone in similar position?
SlowLoris
Happy Member
posted: Jun. 5, 2009 @ 4:38p
I received this letter too. I just closed my citi checking and mma in Feb, I'm surprised.
In the past, the opening deposit can be moved to other citibank saving account. I kept 6000 in saving and 0 in checking. I got 200 dollars last year by that way.
SlowLoris said: I received this letter too. I just closed my citi checking and mma in Feb, I'm surprised.
In the past, the opening deposit can be moved to other citibank saving account. I kept 6000 in saving and 0 in checking. I got 200 dollars last year by that way.
Do you know if that is okay this time?
I can't give you an authoritative answer, but the terms say you have to "deposit" $1000 and say nothing about maintaining a balance. So I'd say you can withdraw the money right away - that's what I was planning to do.
SlowLoris
Happy Member
posted: Jun. 6, 2009 @ 12:30a
Thanks JeebusSaves! I'll try that.
miraclemonth
Addicted Member
posted: Jun. 9, 2009 @ 1:33a
I got this same offer in mail. I went to the citi bank to open a checking acct. Knowing that I have > $30000 in my wells fargo, the citi bank manager signed me for 6 months citi gold. Also, I have citi PP elite card which has > 100 k TY points. He said I can earn more Ty points by making cheque to my landlord etc., which sounds great. Also my annual PPE card fee will be waived since I am a citigold member. Let me see how citi is compared with very ordinary wells fargo.
Not bad....signed up a few years ago for a similar promotion with Citibank and had no problem getting the bonus money and it was one easy phone call to cancel the account (after the 1 year or whatever the time limit was). They sent me a check for the balance of the account.
mttatkns
Thrifty Member
posted: Jun. 15, 2009 @ 3:47p
Just received this offer via e-mail. Seems to be targeted, and I have a different offer code than OP (though the reward/details are the same). Note the fine print states "This offer is available to Citi® cardmembers who receive this communication." So if you didn't receive the offer directly it's possible you won't get the bonus by using someone else's offer code.
ThePessimist
Ancient Member
posted: Aug. 24, 2009 @ 2:03p
JeebusSaves said: I can't give you an authoritative answer, but the terms say you have to "deposit" $1000 and say nothing about maintaining a balance. So I'd say you can withdraw the money right away - that's what I was planning to do. You don't have to keep the money in there, but The Citibank Account has a $12.50 (or $9.50, depending on state) monthly fee if you don't have a combined $6,000 in account balances. So, you'll be getting 20K TYP but paying $75 in fees over 6 months.
If you figure that 20K TYP are worth roughly $160, then parking $6K in there for 6 months gives you an annualized return of about 5.4%. Not bad, but more effort than it's worth to me.
If you don't park the money in there, then you're looking at $85 in profit after fees for your effort. Not bad, but not exceptional.
Either way, when you analyze it it's not any better than some of the other free money deals from banks, especially given the hoops to jump through.
ccrzhh
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 25, 2009 @ 1:03a
Did anybody use a credit card as the funding source? Which one? Was it treated as a purchase?
Citi says, "Keep this in mind when using a credit or debit card to fund your account: Your credit card issuer may regard this transaction as a cash advance or a purchase and impose a fee. Check your cardholder agreement for details."
ccrzhh
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 25, 2009 @ 1:39a
The current promotion is CEDV. Formally, it is targeted (check your Citi credit card statement) but I guess it should work for any Citi cardmember (without Citi checking account).
To start: Go to citibank.com and choose the Citibank Checking account -> Apply or directly - https://online.citibank.com/US/JRSAO/ao_online/AOEntryPoint.do?direct=true&Promo_ID=CKC6&product_list=checking&package=citibank_account
Change the offer code as CEDV -> push "Get Started"
You will see the "Promotion Disclosures" on the left.
If you have $5000 to park in CD & $1000 to initially park in checking account (since the T&C state must deposit min $1,000 into checking), then is this still a sour deal? Citibank CD's seem to be quite competitive for 2yr at 1.98%/2.00% or 5 year 3.44%APR/ 3.50%APY. A 1-yr CD at other banks currently pays ~2.00%; 2-yr at 2.50%; 3-yr at 3.154/3.25%. Of course, after 1-year rates can stay same, drop or increase. And, who knows in 2011, 2012, or 2013. If we went back in time for a 5 year CD when 12 month CD's used to be 1.0%, say in 2004 or 2005, the next 5 years we saw it rise to 4.5%, 5.5%, 4.5%, and 3%. I'm just not sure if 20,000 thankyou points is worth my money to be parked at Citibank for their current 5-year, decent for its competition of 3.5%. But, if rates do increase for 12-month-term CDs, 3.5+5+5+5+5= 23.5 versus getting 3.5x5= 17.5, that's 6% difference on 6000 for 5 years; but it assumes rates increase to 5%. The worse part is that the thankyou points for store giftcards are becoming more limited to just a handful of stores. The most choices are at the $50 giftcard levels, but they cost more thankyou points. I think i'll stay away from Citibank.
ccrzhh
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Sep. 28, 2009 @ 12:22p
1.25% Savings is another option to park the required $6,000 for 6-8 months to avoid the fees. There is formally targeted promo CEKW. Again I guess it should work for any Citi cardmember. 1. Open a new Ultimate Savings Account and deposit minimum of $1,000 by 10/31/09 2. Maintain a minimum balance of $1,000 in your account each month for the next 3 consecutive calendar months 3. Get $25
...use code CEKW when you: Go to offer.citibank.com or call 1-800-374-9500. This offer is available to Citi cardmembers who receive this communication... $25 will be credited to your Ultimate Savings Account within 120 days from the end of the statement period in which you met qualifying requirements.
Another option - they include "most" Citi credit card balances to the $6,000 to avoid the fees
ThePessimist20K TYP are worth roughly $160
20K TYP are equal to $200 if you use them for 2*$100 gift cards like Sears+Kmart+OSH+Lands End, Old Navy+Gap, Marshalls+TJ Maxx, Macys, Kohl.
bankdealsrule
Senior Member
posted: Oct. 3, 2009 @ 10:28a
Citibank is continually advertising offers. They have the $100 bonus for opening up a checking account (usually a new Citibank Account checking and above, and must be a new Citi customer). Another offer, is where a referring customer (current Citi checking customer) and a new checking customer (one who does not have Citi checking accounts) can each earn $100 for each new Citigold account, $50 for each new Citibank Account or Citibank Everything Counts Account, or $25 for each new EZ Checking account opened by new Citi customer. Also, they have this get 20k thank you points when you open Citibank Account or higher. All of these offers require the new checking customer to fund account with $1k or more (400 for EZ checking account for 'refer a friend'), and complete 1 DD, or 2 electronic bill payments, or 5 or more qualifying non-pin purchase transactions using your Citi debit card and continue for 3 consecutive months! For the 20k typ, you have to continue for an extra 3 months.Too bad you cannot combine other offers.
Too bad the 20k TYP offer states: Offer cannot be combined with any other offers. So that means i can't get both the 20k TYP after 6 months of making requirements, plus the $100 new citi customer referee.
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