Citi vs. Bank of America: Which bank is better for you?

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• 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.
• Read Insider’s bank reviews of Citi and Bank of America.

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 and cons of Bank of America

Citi vs. Bank of America checking account comparisons

Below, we’ve compared two of the lowest-fee checking accounts available at each bank.

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 vs. Bank of America CD comparisons 

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.