This bonus has expired, you can view our new coverage of Citi checking bonuses here.
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $300
- Availability: Nationwide (can be done online)
- Direct deposit required: Yes, see what counts here
- Additional requirements: Maintain $15,000 for 60-days
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: $25, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: None
- Expiration date:
December 31st, 2016January 12th, 2017March 31st, 2017April 14th, 2017June 30th, 2017September 30th, 2017
Contents
The Offer
- Receive a sign up bonus of $300 when you open a new The Citibank Account Package and complete the following requirements within 30 days of account opening:
- Make a qualifying deposit of $15,000 or more in new-to-Citibank funds into the new checking account or a new or existing Citibank Savings Plus Account or Citi Savings Account, and maintain a minimum balance of $15,000 for sixty (60) consecutive calendar days following the date when you made the qualifying deposit.
- Within thirty (30) days, 1 qualifying Direct Deposit1 must post to the new checking Account each month for 2 consecutive calendar months after opening the new checking account
Use the link from the landing page and it will pre-populate with the offer code; you need that offer code there to get the bonus. You can also apply in a Citi branch or over the phone at 1-866-422-1475 and use code CZVB (some people see CZRK).
[If you apply online from a non-cookied browser, you’ll get an error message after entering your home state. Just click the back button and everything should be smooth sailing from there.]
The Fine Print
- To qualify to earn a $300 cash bonus, you must enroll in this offer either online by clicking apply now, with a Personal banker in a Citibank branch or over the phone: open a new eligible consumer checking account in The Citibank Account Package between 11/9/16 – 12/31/16.
- Within 45 days after account opening you must complete the following: (1) Complete 1 qualifying Direct Deposit to your checking account or make 1 or more qualifying purchase transactions with your Citibank Debit Card totaling $250 or more, ( 2) make a qualifying deposit of $15,000 or more in new-to-Citibank funds into the new checking account or a new or existing Citibank Savings Plus Account, and (3) maintain a minimum balance of $15,000 for 30 consecutive calendar days following the date when you made your qualifying deposit.
- If you are eligible and fulfill the required activities then the cash bonus will be credited to your new checking account within 90 calendar days from the date when you completed all offer requirements.
- A new consumer checking account in The Citibank Account Package is required. Customers must be 18 years or older to participate in this promotion.
- Existing checking customers are not eligible.
- Enrollment in this offer does not guarantee eligibility.
- To qualify for this promotion, you must enroll in the promotion, meet the terms and conditions of this offer and perform the required qualifying activities contained in this offer.
- To be eligible for this offer, you must not currently have a consumer checking account with Citibank or have been a signer on or owner of a Citibank consumer checking account within the last 180 days
- Limit of one of each offer per customer and one offer per account.
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fee
This bonus is available on the Citibank Account Package.
- The Citibank Account Package needs $10,000 in combined average monthly balances to remain fee free. Otherwise, there is a $25 monthly fee.
Early Termination Fee
In the past, Citi has not charged any ETF, and none is mentioned for this offer.
Our Verdict
As mentioned at the top of this post, they have extended this offer so I don’t think we will see the $400 offer again soon. Also keep in mind this bonus is churnable, so you really want to do is as often as possible.
Citi just offered a similar bonus, but that was for $400 and didn’t require the debit card purchase. Keep in mind with Citi that getting your bonus from these promotions is generally not that straight forward and usually requires some calling in (I’d recommend reading through that previous bonus post to get an idea about what I’m talking about). We will still probably add this to our best bonus list as you can churn these bonuses (just can’t currently have an account or have had one in the last 180 days), but you really should have done the $400 offer. There is also a current $500 offer but the requirements are much harder to meet.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
I just received the $300 bonus – a little after 3 months of account opening. Pretty fast without calling in to verify anything. It looks like Citi is becoming better at this. Thanks!
Can CITI account be closed as soon as the 300 posts ?
Yep, I’ve done this exactly the past 2-3 times, just ACH pulled out the funds and called them to close. Secure message also works, but I called to make sure the last time
This no longer appears to involve a debit card purchase.
Got my bonus confirmation today. Woo hoo!
DP:
Account open: April 29
DD: Fidelity ACH over 3 months – May, June, July
Bonus email: Sept 9
nice! and huge thanks for the Fidelity DD DP update!
i setup my employer’s DD (ADP) but it takes 2 bi-weekly cycles and this offer states ‘within 30 days’. idk if citi has any grace period but my real dd wouldn’t have made it on time. so i did a bunch of $25.xx transfers – Alliant, Fidelity, Chase, Discover and soon WF. knowing that Fidelity works is kind of a relief.
You’re welcome. 🙂 You’ve certainly covered your DD bases so there shouldn’t be a problem getting your bonus.
any idea if Alliant worked?
no idea. haven’t really seen dp for alliant. i’ve seen positive dps for chase, fidelity, paypal and capital one though but as always, ymmv.
got an email today with subject line: “Don’t Miss Out on Your Checking Bonus. — Dear XxX, Thank you for choosing Citi for your banking needs, and congratulations on your enrollment in the Citibank $300 Checking Offer (“Offer”).”
basically same verbiage as the offer details here. so rather than wait and encounter the ‘W-9-form-not-submitted-bonus-denial’ headache, i went to chat today inquiring about W-9 form and how to submit it. at first, he said to submit it thru mail and that the address is on my welcome kit. i replied that i can’t seem to find anything about w-9 form on my kit (welcome kit was probably returned to sender as i don’t get regular mails on my physical address. i asked and had them expedited me my debit card and pin thru fedex and ups ground) and that i’ve only read about it on my email – “To be eligible for the bonus, a U.S. person must have a valid Form W-9 on file”. he paused for a few seconds and came back with “By looking at your account, the account is now W9 certified. No need to fill up another w9 form, XxX.”
take it with a grain of salt but i hope i won’t need to contact them again after fulfilling all the requirements. rare, but i did read some DPs about people getting the bonus without ‘fighting’ them or even contacting them. wish me luck! 😀
Anyone have the June promo code? Citi says I didn’t meet requirements and stupid csr can’t find the bonus code
CZXC
I also applied in June so assume it’s the same.
Does anyone knows when Citi changed fine print for this bonus? Opened account in July and moved out money after 30 days, but now I see requirement is to keep money for 60 days:
$300 Offer Citibank Account Package:
To qualify to earn a $300 cash bonus, you must open a new eligible consumer checking account in The Citibank Account Package between 7/01/17 – 9/30/17 and complete the following within thirty (30) days of opening the new account:
1. Make a qualifying deposit of $15,000 or more in new-to-Citibank funds into the new checking account or an existing Citibank Savings Plus Account or a new or existing Citi Savings Account, and maintain a minimum balance of $15,000 for sixty (60) consecutive calendar days following the date when you made the qualifying deposit.
AND
2. 1 qualifying Direct Deposit* must post to the new checking Account each month for 2 consecutive months after opening the new checking account.
The first Qualifying Direct Deposit must post to the Eligible Checking Account within thirty (30) calendar days of the opening of the Eligible Checking Account. Qualifying Direct Deposits are Automated Clearing House (ACH) credits, which may include payroll, pension or government payments (such as Social Security) by your employer, or an outside agency.
After April 14. It was 30 days till then
The offer from April 15- Jun 30 had the 60 days language and I am guessing the subsequent ones too.
Yeah also note that they dropped the requirement (or option) of the $250 debit purchase…
Anyone with an existing Citi user/pass try to churn this again using the same user/pass?
I did this bonus last year and because people were having issues with Citi being Citi, I created a dedicated user/pass for the checking account, which is still active. Tried to use it at the beginning of the app, upon login didn’t show the bonus terms, just the option to open a new account. Tried to use it towards the end of the app (where it asks you to create a user/pass or tells you to click if existing user), it gave me an error with no way to go back. I probably should have created yet a new user/pass, might do that in the future, for now figured I’ll wait in case Citi decides to process the app despite me not getting to hit the button to apply on the final stage of the app.
Applied online to open the Interest Checking Account to get $300 bonus. Received an email saying the application is being processed. called up Customer care to confirm the application and she said the application has been declined. o_o
She did not tell any reason and said I will receive a letter in 7 days about it. Wondering what can be the reason for the rejection. 🙁
PS: I have a Citi Prestige, opened last year, did a lot of spending in it. My Wife residing at the same address has a Citi Prestige, opened last month and also a Citi AAdvantage Platinum. we received Bonus on all the three Cards. As far as I see, we have a good relation with Citi.
DP: (under terms just prior to the new ones)
04/14: opened
08/08: bonus posted
All requirements met in June.
Initially deposited $15k and removed $5k after 30 days.
DD option used (can be any ACH source), rather than purchase.
Hi! Did you use actual payroll or fake DD like Discover, paypal, etc? Thanks.