Update 4/2/24: Extended to 6/31
Update 1/16/24: Extended to 3/31
Update 10/2/23: Extended to 12/31/2023
Update 7/5/23: extended to 9/30/23
Update 5/17/23: extended 6/30
Update 11/1/22: Deal is back and valid until 12/31/22.
Update 7/5/22: Extended until 09/30/2022. Deal is better on the higher tiers. Hat tip to Mawney
Update 4/6/22: Extended until 06/30/2022
Update 1/2/22: Extended until 03/31/2022.
Update 1/4/2021: Deal is back and valid until 6/30/21. Hat tip to reader savingwizard
The Offer
- Citi is offering a bonus of up to $3,500 when you open and enroll in a new Citi Personal Wealth Management account. The bonus you receive depends on the amount of funds you fund the account with within two months of account opening, the funds must remain there for three months after account opening and you must enroll in eDelivery of statements. The bonus tiers are as follows:
- Fund $50,000 – $199,999 and get a $500 bonus
- Fund $200,000 – $499,999 and get a $1,000 bonus
- Fund $500,000 – $999,999 and get a
$1,500$2,000 bonus - Fund $1,000,000 – $1,999,999 and get a
$2,500$3,000 bonus - Fund 2,000,000+ and get a
$3,500$5,000 bonus
The Fine Print
- To qualify to earn a cash bonus reward, accounts must be funded in cash or securities and the account enrolled in e-delivery of statements within 2 months of account opening and the balance of the account must be maintained through the end of the month shown in the chart below. For example, an account opened in October must fund their account and enroll in e-delivery of statements between 10/1/20 and 12/31/20, then must maintain funds until 1/31/21.
- Offer valid for clients who are 18 years or older who fund a new individual or joint Citi Personal Wealth Management account between October 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. Account and asset eligibility requirements are explained below. Citi Personal Wealth Management reserves the right to change or cancel this offer at any time.
- Cash or securities must come from an external, non-Citi, source through a standard transfer method (e.g., a standard Transfer of Assets form, check, electronic funds transfer, ADM deposit). “New-to-Citi Funds” are 1) funds deposited from external accounts or payees other than Citibank, N.A. and 2) must be deposited using domestic ACH transfer, Direct Deposit, checks drawn on banks other than Citibank, N.A., wire transfer, trustee to trustee transfer, or ACAT securities transfers.. Cash deposits, Citi Global Transfers, international ACH transfers, and person-to-person transfer services such as Apple Pay, PayPal®, Venmo, and Zelle®, do not qualify as New-to-Citi Funds. New-To-Citi funds may be deposited into a Citibank retail account and transferred to the new CPWM account during the account funding period outlined in the chart below. However, transfers of existing funds from a Citibank retail account are not considered New-To-Citi funds for the purpose of this promotion.
- To qualify to earn a cash bonus reward, accounts must be funded in cash or securities and the account enrolled in e-delivery of statements within 2 months of account opening and the balance of the account must be maintained through the end of the month shown in the chart below. For example, an account opened in July must fund their account and enroll in e-delivery of statements between 7/1/20 and 9/30/20, then must maintain funds until 10/31/20.
- The total funding for purposes of determining the bonus level funding considered for the promotion is defined as the total amount of eligible cash or securities received in the account minus withdrawals and transfers of securities out of the account as of the deadline to fund the account based on the month of account opening. Distributions, interest, and dividends from investments will not be counted. Market fluctuation will not impact eligibility for a particular bonus level.
- The amount of the cash bonus reward is based on the funding received during the promotional period. The cash bonus will be credited to the Citi Personal Wealth Management account for customers who were enrolled in the promotion and have met the qualifying requirements stated in the offer based on the date the account was opened.
- Limit one bonus per customer. If multiple accounts are opened or funded by a customer, the offer will apply to the eligible account with the highest balance. Multiple account balances in the name of the same beneficial owner will not be aggregated for purposes of this offer, except if one account is a non-managed brokerage account and the other account is a managed account, in which case the eligible funding from these two accounts may be aggregated for bonus qualification purposes. Any additional accounts opened during the promotional period will not be eligible for bonus eligibility. Citi Wealth Builder accounts are excluded from eligibility for this bonus. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer. All requirements of the offer, including the dates in the above chart, pertain to both the eligible managed account and brokerage account.
- For purposes of this offer only, the primary owner of a joint account will be considered the customer. All accounts are subject to approval and applicable terms and fees. Account must be open and in good standing at the time the bonus is credited to receive the bonus.
- The promotion is only available for certain account types, including individual and joint accounts. Accounts not eligible for this promotion include but are not limited to corporate and other business/entity accounts, trust accounts (except Living Revocable Trusts and Family Revocable Trusts which are eligible), retirement plan accounts other than IRAs and SEPs (e.g., 401(k), money purchase pension plan, profit sharing plan, and other ERISA plan account), estate accounts, UGMA/UTMA accounts, 529 college savings plan accounts, robo-advisory accounts under the Citi Wealth Builder Program, and insurance products (including annuities). For questions about eligibility, please speak to a Citi Personal Wealth Management representative.
Our Verdict
This looks to be a good brokerage bonus as the cash/securities only need to be in the account for roughly a month (e.g fund at the end of the second month and keep the funds in there for a month after that). Knowing Citi there might be a gotcha that I’m missing here.
According to the comments this works for self directed accounts, but the set up process is extremely slow due to it all being manual.
Hat tip to reader EW
Post history:
- Update 10/11/20: Deal is back until 12/31/20.
I went for the $500 for $50k offer, so I am not at all concerned with Citigold etc. My logic was the $500 is easily worth more than lost CC rewards if I fall from Platinum Honors to Platinum if that happens.
4/9 Called in to open account. The person who answered asked me if i wnat to do the $10k offer or the $50k offer, so I guess you can sign up for the Self Invest account using the same call center. I stated I want to do the $50k self directed. They transferred me to someone almost immediately. THe person I spoke with sent email requesitng drivers license ,which I sent. I also received some automated disclosure emails and such. He said I need to have an appoinment with a “know Your customer” person and he made that appointment for 2.5 hours later, same day.
4/9 Had the KYC appointment who asked questions about income and assets. She said they don’t see anything for the credit card, so created new user ID
4/10 Received docusign for application
4/11 Afternoon -received email that account was opened.
4/11 late night – received automated email about enrolling in electronic delivery.
4/12 Called Investments Customer Service at 877-357-3399 to ask how to log in to the Pershing account at the Citi Investments site. He provided me with temporary password to login.
4/12 Sent email follow up on ACAT transfer docusign. Received reply within 5 minutes and a phone call shortly thereafter. Received ACAT docusign form within 10 minutes of their email response
4/16 Received an Enrollment in CWPM Promotion Email.
4/16 Merrill Edge shows the partial account transfer is in process and shows the $0.00 value. Citi doesn’t show the funds yet, but I suspect that will happen within the next couple days.
At some point I also called to opt out of marketing sharing, it’s buried in the welcome kit with a phone number to call and must be elected through phone.
All in all, I probably spent an hour on this. $500 for an hour of time is not bad at all. Not sure I’d want to go through the hassle again to churn it…but who knows.
I also opened a checking account on 4/12 and it showed up in my credit card dashboard almost immediately. The brokerage account, I just log in at the Citi investments site with a different username.
Customer service has been surprisingly helpful, but it sure seems like an archaic process.
You can call them up to link your brokerage and checking account so that you can transfer money between them. Your brokerage account balance will contribute to your checking account tier requirement.
Call the bank side or the brokerage side? Not sure it matters if I don’t plan on keeping the bank account around too long.
Does anyone know if the Citi PWM transfer offers can be applied to multiple accounts? e.g. can I enroll my Roth IRA in addition to my Taxable Brokerage account and get two bonuses?
From the terms:
Limit one bonus per customer. New to Citi funds considered for bonus determination purposes can be from one account only. If multiple accounts are funded by a customer in the same quarter, the offer will apply to the eligible account with the highest contribution. Multiple contributions in the name of the same beneficial owner will not be aggregated for purposes of this offer, except under the following conditions:
Customer funds one account which is an eligible non-managed brokerage account and a second account which is an eligible managed account
Customer funds one account which is an eligible IRA account and a second account which is an eligible non-IRA account
In either of the above two cases, your Financial Advisor must request the exception and the eligible funding from the two accounts will be aggregated for bonus qualification purposes. Any additional accounts funded during the promotional period will not be eligible for bonus eligibility. If both IRA and non-IRA accounts are funded and aggregated, the bonus will be allocated between the IRA and non-IRA on a pro-rata basis based on the amount of funding. All requirements of the offer, including the dates in the above chart, pertain to both eligible aggregated accounts.
Anyone know if Citi will close the account if you transfer ALL funds out after the holding date is reached? I’d like to chase another brokerage bonus but don’t want to risk not getting this one to pay out in a couple months.
I’d leave something in there. At least that’s what I have done in the past.
Need to leave $200+ to have partial transfer to avoid fee. Then leave $100 to keep account open.
Has anyone closed their checking account while doing the bonus and it affects any log in, fund buying/selling, citigold status, or the dormant status?
I want to reset the clock for churning the checking bonus but I am still doing this bonus.
I opened the brokerage account first,which could not be linked to the credit card. I then opened a checking account, which is linked to the credit card. Maybe I accidentally did this in the optimal way. 😀
They are completely different systems, and AFAIK, wouldn’t have linked in any way.
Based on the emails from their reps, if you have a bank account, you can have the brokerage account show up on the same dashboard. I assume it’s similar to how BofA and Merrill can be linked. You can’t do this if you only have a Citi CC and no bank accounts.
June 31st. Noice!
This has been extended for Q2. William Charles
Was thinking of doing this today but it seems they are closed today and I assume they are also off for the weekend…
Well, let’s hope they extend this promotion.
It’s been extended every quarter for a while now so it’s a safe bet it’ll keep going.
Motz it’s been extended for the new quarter.
Thanks Terp ! Will do it now.
There seems to be conflicting information on fees. Which is true?
Terp or Terp (not sure which Terp sorry) said no fee for low balances.
John R🔗 Said no management fees.
The fee schedule I assume to be current has both fees https://online.citi.com/JRS/CPWM/CPWMAccountFees.pdf
The best way to avoid the fees is to get a Citigold status in October when the fees are assessed. If you time the promotion accordingly, you should be able to achieve it easily.
So fees do exist and John R🔗 and Terp DPs are wrong or only for Citigold clients? I don’t see any other reference to October specifically. Could it be that October is your specific anniversary/fee date? Eric D
It’s not my anniversary of account opening. Somebody mentioned October some where, and It’s confirmed when I called. I was never charged for the fee since I have Citigold. So I cannot say for sure that the fees exist.
You should specifically ask them to open a self-directed brokerage account, which is allowed for their Personal Wealth Management account, to avoid the fees. Vita(GJ) 🔗
Looking at the document you posted, there are fees if under $25k balance. However, any of the bonus tiers will involve being above that balance so with CPWM status there would be no fee.
There are no management fees in my experience.
Your logic makes sense, but I need to account for the minimum balance fee because I was considering doing the bonus for an IRA account, leave it open with $200 for partial transfers per your DP, and churn it. Trying to find a way to churn without eating each of $95 transfer fee / $95 ira closing fee / $100 minimum balance fee / $75 annual fee.
I think this is the updated fee schedule. The one you linked is dated 2017.
https://www.citi.com/investorinfo/assets/docs/CPWM-Annual-Account-Fees.pdf
Thanks for this. If this is the latest version, it does seem like there are no annual fees.
Regardless, I decided to take the 3% match at Robinhood and dumped everything on S&P.
If the market goes up, 3% today could be the better bonus.
If the market stays flat or goes down, churning bonuses spread out over 5 years will be better.
Could go either way, but I am a sucker to ‘time limited offers’. Citi offer seems pretty much permanent at this point.
Other than Jay, has anyone gotten an invite to the subscription rebate program? The 45 day window since my tier upgrade has passed, and both CS and my banker have been useless when I asked them about it.
For cash deposits, what’s the routing number of Citi Personal Wealth Management? I was not able to see it. How can I find my account for an ACH transfer? The account number I see online consists of letters and numbers which I don’t think is the number for ACH.
Pretty certain you can’t link your CPWM account as an external bank account. Except for a few specialized accounts like Fidelity’s cash management account, brokerages tend to require you to link your bank account with them, then you can push/pull funds that are originated at the brokerage.
With CPWM, you’ll have to call them to link an account. They send you a DocuSign where you attach a voided check, then return the form. Once linked, you have to call in to instruct then to push/pull funds.
If you scroll through the comments, others have detailed the process in more detail
This is the way…