Insider’s experts choose the best products and services to help make smart decisions with your money (here’s how). In some cases, we receive a commission from our our partners, however, our opinions are our own. Terms apply to offers listed on this page.
Citi® is the clear winner if you’d like to open a CD — there’s more variety and higher CD rates.
For savings and checking accounts, it could be a tight race between the two banks.
Bank of America is more likely to address customer issues, but it’s also been involved in public scandals.
Citi and Bank of America are national brick-and-mortar banks with a variety of checking and savings accounts.
To help you figure out which bank is better for you, we’ve compared different types of bank accounts. We’re also reviewing both institutions for trustworthiness, so you may see how each responds to customer issues and whether it’s been involved in public controversies.
Pros and cons of Citi
Pros
Cons
National bank with 690 branches and access to 72,000 fee-free ATMs
Competitive interest rate on the Citi Accelerate Savings (need at least $1 in account to earn interest)
Citi groups its bank accounts into packages, so you’ll need to open both a savings and checking account
Doesn’t offer a money market account
Monthly service fees if you don’t qualify to waive them
Citi Accelerate Savings is only available in 42 states
F rating from the Better Business Bureau due to government action taken against the business and high volume of customer complaints
Pros and cons of Bank of America
Pros
Cons
Around 4,200 branches and 16,000 ATMs
Savings features on savings account (Earn up to 10% cash back through BankAmeriDeals and Keep the Change® feature lets you round up debit card purchases)
Possible to waive monthly service fees
A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau
Low interest rates on savings account
Doesn’t offer a money market account
Monthly services fees
Bank account history includes settlements involving racial discrimination and unauthorized bank creation
Citi vs. Bank of America checking account comparisons
Below, we’ve compared two of the lowest-fee checking accounts available at each bank.
Citi Access Account
Bank of America Advantage Plus Checking Account
Minimum opening deposit
Citi Access Account
Bank of America Advantage Plus Checking Account
Monthly service fee
$10 or $0
$12 or $0
How to waive the monthly service fee
Meet at least one of these requirements each month:
Make at least one direct deposit of any amount
Make one bill payment
Maintain an average monthly balance of $1,500 or more in all Citi accounts and investment accounts
Meet at least one of these requirements each month:
Make $250 or more in direct deposits
Maintain an average daily balance of $1,500 or more in your checking account
Enroll in the Preferred Rewards program
Sign-up bonus
None
$100
Next steps
Citi Access Account
Bank of America Advantage Plus Checking Account
Citi vs. Bank of America savings account comparisons
Citi offers two savings accounts — Citi® Accelerate Savings and the Citi® Savings Account. Meanwhile, Bank of America has one savings account option.
We’ve compared Citi® Accelerate Savings to the Bank of America Advantage Savings Account since these accounts are available in most states and have similar monthly service fees.
Citi® Accelerate Savings
Bank of America Advantage Savings Account
APY
Citi® Accelerate Savings
Bank of America Advantage Savings Account
Minimum opening deposit
Citi® Accelerate Savings
Bank of America Advantage Savings Account
Monthly service fee
$4.50 or $0
$8 or $0
How to waive the monthly fee
Fulfill one of the following requirements each month:
Maintain an average monthly balance of $500 or more (for Elevate, Basic, or Access account packages)
Maintain an average monthly balance of $50,000 or more across all your Citi accounts (for the Citi Priority account package)
Maintain an average monthly balance of $10,000 or more across all your Citi accounts (for the Citi account package)
Automatically waived if you have a Citigold account
No monthly service fee during the first 6 months
After that, you must fulfill one of the following requirements each month:
Maintain an average daily balance of at least $500
Link a Bank of America Advantage Relationship Banking Account
Enroll in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards Program
Are under the age of 18
Are under the of 25 and a student
Caveats
Available in 42 states (you won’t be able to open an account in CA, CT, IL, MD, NV, NJ, NY, VA, certain parts of FL, certain parts of Puerto Rico, or Washington, DC)
Will also need to open a checking account
None
Next steps
Citi® Accelerate Savings
Bank of America Advantage Savings Account
Citi vs. Bank of America CD comparisons
Citi Fixed Rate Certificates of Deposit
Bank of America Standard Term Certificate of Deposit
Term lengths
1 month to 10 years
28 days to 10 years
Minimum opening deposit
Citi Fixed Rate Certificates of Deposit
Bank of America Standard Term Certificate of Deposit
APY
Citi Fixed Rate Certificates of Deposit
Bank of America Standard Term Certificate of Deposit
Early withdrawal penalties
90 to 180 days interest
7 to 365 days interest
Types of CDs
Standard CDs, Step Up CDs, and No Penalty CDs
Standard CDs
Citi vs. Bank of America trustworthiness and BBB rating
We use ratings from the Better Business Bureau to evaluate how a bank resolves customer issues.
Bank of America has an A+ rating from the BBB, while Citi has an F rating because it’s received a high volume of customer complaints and had government action taken against the business.
A good BBB rating won’t guarantee that you’ll have a perfect relationship with a bank. Talk to current customers or read online customer reviews to see if a particular bank will be a good fit for you.
Both Bank of America and Citi have been involved in recent public controversies.
Citi has been in the following public settlements:
In 2019, Citi accidentally sent $900 million to customers.
In 2020, the bank was required to pay $400 million in a settlement with the Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC stated the bank had inefficient banking practices.
Bank of America has been in the following cases:
In 2020, the Department of Justice claimed that Bank of America denied home loans to adults with disabilities based on their disability. Bank of America paid around $300,000 to people who were refused loans and needed to implement a new non-discriminatory policy.
In 2019, Bank of America paid $4.2 million in a settlement with the US Department of Labor to people who claimed the bank discriminated against female, Black, and Hispanic applicants in the hiring process.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bank of America or Citi better?
You might favor Citi if you’re searching for a brick-and-mortar bank that pays a solid interest rate. Citi 1-year and 18-month CDs are offering a great interest rate right now. If you live in one of 42 states that have the Citi® Accelerate Savings, you’ll also be able to earn a higher interest rate than with the average savings account.
Bank of America could be a better choice if you find it easier to waive monthly services fees on a particular account. For example, the Bank of America Advantage Savings Account doesn’t charge a monthly service fee during the first six months and waives the fee automatically for anyone under age 18.
Is Bank of America or Citi bigger?
Bank of America is available in more states than Citi. Bank of America also has 4,200 branches in the US, while Citi only has 690 locations.