Citibank is a premier traditional bank offering small business owners three business checking accounts: CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking, CitiBusiness® Flexible Checking, and CitiBusiness® Interest Checking. All come with a debit card, waivable monthly fees, overdraft protection, online and mobile banking, and a $1 opening deposit requirement. Citibank provides high fee-free monthly cash deposits up to $5,000 for CitiBusiness® Interest Checking, $10,000 for CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking, and $20,000 for CitiBusiness® Flexible Checking.
Pros
- Waivable monthly fees
- Monthly free cash deposit allowance of $5,000 for basic account
- Highly rated mobile app
Cons
- Branch visit required for account opening
- Fee-free transaction limit of 25 for interest-earning account
- Branches only available in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.; fees can vary depending on location
Features
- Free optional debit card
- $2,000 welcome bonus (in selected areas)
- Send money, transfer funds, and deposit checks through mobile
- CitiBusiness® Online, Citibank® Online, and Citi Mobile® apps
- CitiBusiness® Checking Plus and CitiBusiness® Safety Check: Overdraft and uncollected funds protection
- CitiBusiness® Preferred programs: Customized packages for more savings and higher rates
How Citibank Stacks Up With Its Competitors
When Citibank Is a Good Fit
- You run a cash-reliant business: Citibank’s CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking offers a monthly cash deposit allowance of $5,000. If you upgrade to CitiBusiness® Flexible Checking, you get $20,000 in free cash deposits per month.
- You have a low-to-moderate monthly transaction volume: CitiBusiness® Streamlined Checking offers 250 free transactions per month.
- You want to avoid overdraft fees: You can enjoy safety from overdraft fees with CitiBusiness® Checking Plus and CitiBusiness® Safety Check. These provide fund transfers to your overdrawn checking account from a line of credit or linked checking, savings, or money market account.
When Citibank Is Not a Good Fit
- You operate outside Citibank’s service area: Although Citibank has 700+ brick-and-mortar branches, it operates in only 10 states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, and Virginia) and Washington, D.C. Consider Chase for access to physical branches in all 48 mainland states. Our Chase business checking review can provide more information.
- You want to earn competitive annual percentage yield (APY) on a fee-free account: Citibank charges a $30 monthly fee for its interest-earning accounts. Bluevine’s basic checking account charges no monthly fee and earns 2.0% APY on qualifying balances of $250,000 or less, provided you meet its activity requirements. Read our review of Bluevine business checking for more information.
- You rely on wire transfers: Citibank charges high fees for wire transfers. The financial technology (fintech) solution Mercury offers fee-free incoming and outgoing wire transfers. Learn if it fits the bill through our Mercury business checking review.
See more providers in our roundup of the best small business checking accounts.
Citibank Business Checking Overview
Citibank Business Checking Requirements
You can visit any Citibank branch to open a business checking account. Applicants are required to bring one government-issued ID and a business formation document. You must provide information about your business, including business name, taxpayer identification number, transaction activity, and number of employees.
All associated individuals Associated individuals include account signers; authorized signers; owners of business (with ownership stake of 10% or more); all owners of a personal investment, company or business trust; and controlling persons like any person with significant responsibility for managing the business, such as president, managing member, general partner, treasurer, chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), or chief operating officer (COO) must provide the following Citibank business checking requirements:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Residential address (required only for owners of 25% or more and one controlling person. Documentation to verify this information may be required if third-party verifications are not successful).
- Citizenship status
- Country of residence
- Country of citizenship
- Social Security number/individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) or two forms of government-issued IDs for a nonresident Alien instead of Social Security number or ITIN
- Percentage of ownership
Before opening an account, see our guide on how to open a business bank account. It includes a free downloadable checklist of required documents.
Citibank Business Checking Features
Citibank’s business checking accounts offer an optional debit card, online and mobile banking, and overdraft protection.
Debit Card
Citibank business checking accounts come with free debit cards. You can issue additional debit cards to your employees. Cards provide fee-free access to more than 2,300 ATMs in more than 600 Citibank branches and surcharge-free access to over 60,000 ATMs in the United States, including Citi-branded ATMs in retail stores and ATMs participating in the MoneyPass Network.
Online & Mobile Banking
Citibank® Online allows you to pay bills, view account balances, and send and receive money using Zelle®. With CitiBusiness® Online, you can control multiple user access to the system, use advanced Cash Management services, and enhance your online security through token-based system access.
The app earned a rating of 4.9 on the App Store[1] (based on more than 3.8 million reviews) and 4.7 on Google Play[2] (based on over 1 million reviews). Satisfied users said that they found the app easy to use and seamless to navigate. However, a few customers said that the app takes a long time to boot up and occasionally freezes.
CitiBusiness® Checking Plus & CitiBusiness® Safety Check
Citibank offers two options to avoid bounced checks:
- A CitiBusiness® Checking Plus line of credit protects you from overdraft fees through automatic fund transfers (rounded up to the nearest $100) from your credit line to your checking account. Further, you can directly borrow funds from your Checking Plus® line of credit or transfer funds from Checking Plus® to any linked checking, savings, or money market account. Note that this feature is subject to credit approval.
- CitiBusiness® Safety Check provides overdraft protection by moving funds from your Citibank savings or money market account to your checking account when your account is overdrawn. Similar to Checking Plus®, transfers are rounded up to the nearest $100 to cover multiple same-day overdrafts.
To enjoy the CitiBusiness® Safety Check service, you need a checking account and either a linked savings or money market account. Note that only one savings or money market account can be used as the contributing account for Safety Check. For checking accounts that are jointly owned, all owners must authorize the Safety Check coverage.
CitiBusiness® Preferred Programs
Citibank offers customized banking packages where business owners can access Citibank’s best rates, special savings, and high-yield money market rates.
Terms and Features | CitiBusiness® Preferred Banking | CitiBusiness® Preferred Banking Plus |
|---|---|---|
Monthly Program Fees | $40 | $95 |
Average Monthly Balance to Waive Fees | $15,000 | $50,000 |
Included Checking Monthly Transactions | 500 | 750 |
Included Monthly Cash Deposits | $20,000 | $20,000 |
Wire Transfers | First five incoming wires free, then $15 per incoming wire First two online international wires free, then $27 per online international outgoing wire First two domestic wires free; then $15 per domestic incoming wire and $55 ($17 if online) per domestic outgoing wire | Free incoming wires First four online international wires free, then $27 per online international outgoing wire |
Business Insured Money Market Account | 0.10% per annum higher rate vs standard rates | 0.10% per annum higher rate vs standard rates |
Business Line of Credit or Installment Loan | 0.25% per annum discount off the standard rate | 0.25% per annum discount off the standard rate |
Business Services
- Citi merchant services: Next-day funding, Clover, Clover Rewards, and Clover Gift Cards
- Cash management: Remote check deposit, CitiBusiness Lockbox, automated clearing house (ACH), bill pay, and wire transfers
- Payroll and human resources (HR) services: Paychex Flex
- Trade services: Letters of credit and documentary collections
Other Business Checking Accounts
- CitiBusiness® Analyzed Business Checking: This noninterest-bearing account enables large companies to offset banking fees with earnings credit and gain access to a variety of cash management solutions.
- CitiBusiness® Escrow Account: This checking solution was created for law firms and attorneys to manage client funds by linking individual client subaccounts with one master account.
- Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA)/Interest on Lawyer Account (IOLA)/Interest on Trust Accounts (IOTA)/Maryland Affordable Housing Trust (MAHT) Accounts: This regulated interest-bearing escrow account handles short-term client funds.
- Deposit Administrator Account: Suitable for property managers, certified public accountants (CPAs), and business managers of title and real estate companies, this account allows easy management of funds for multiple clients, subsidiaries, or divisions.
- Security Deposit Administrator Account: This account simplifies security deposits, accounting, and tax reporting with no monthly fees.
Other Citibank Business Products
Citibank has a wide variety of banking products available, from business savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, to lending products and credit cards.
- Business Savings: For a minimum opening deposit of $1, you can open an interest-bearing CitiBusiness® Savings Account and waive the $10 monthly fee by maintaining an average of $500 per month.
- Money Market: With a CitiBusiness®Insured Money Market Account (IMMA), you can earn balance-based interest rates. Account balances below $5 million are given Preferred rates for APY, and account balances above $5 million are provided with Standard rates for APY.
- Certificates of Deposit (CDs): With a CitiBusiness® Certificate of Deposit, you can earn fixed returns with terms ranging from seven days to 10 years.
The following lending products are available:
- Business Installment Loans
- Business Lines of Credit
- Healthcare Practice Financing
- Commercial Mortgages
Citibank offers two types of business credit cards:
- The CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard Credit Card lets you earn unlimited mileage points and flight perks.
- The Costco Anywhere Visa Business Credit Card by Citi provides cash back rewards for cardholders who are Costco members. Learn if its rewards and features fit your needs through our Costco Anywhere Visa Business Credit Card by Citi review.
Citibank Business Checking Reviews From Users
User-published Citibank business checking reviews are mixed. On WalletHub[3], the bank earned a rating of 3.6 (based on 32,000-plus reviews). Common sentiments include the following:
- Poor fraud protection: Multiple users reported that the bank closed their accounts for unproven fraudulent charges. Meanwhile, actual victims of fraud said that representatives failed to provide adequate assistance.
- Unclaimed bonuses: Customers who qualified for bonuses at Citibank claimed that they never received their promised rewards.
- Unsatisfactory customer service: According to negative reviews, the customer service team is impersonal, slow to respond, and uninformed about the bank’s products.
Bottom Line
Citibank offers three outstanding business checking products—each features increasing amounts of free transactions and monthly cash deposit limits. Monthly fees are waivable and accounts require only $1 as a minimum opening deposit. Further, the bank offers CitiBusiness® Checking Plus and CitiBusiness® Safety Check, providing protection from overdraft fees. Offering top-value business checking accounts and a full range of banking products and services, Citibank is a great choice for businesses located near its branches.
[1]App Store
[2]Google Play
[3]WalletHub
