Citibank Plus - Totally Free Unlimited Transaction Account
This was posted 1 year 4 months 7 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal
Save hundreds of $$$! I just opened one of these accounts. It's totally free unlimited transaction account - no fees or charges for anything, and I mean ANYTHING*! Save $120 a year over NAB Gold Banking and still use NAB branches to deposit and withdraw. Or save $3 to $7 per month ($36 - $84 annually) compared to other banks just on monthly account keeping fees alone.
- Minimum opening balance - $0
- Minimum ongoing balance - $0
Here is what you get, all for nothing:
Free bottle of award winning wine at participating restaurants
Deposit and access your account at any NAB or Australia Post outlet/branch
Free unlimited access to any ATM worldwide (save up to $10 each time)
Free unlimited Outward and Inward Telegraphic Transfers to any bank (International transfers)
Free unlimited Foreign Currency Cheques Deposited
Free emergency worldwide Visa Card replacement and cash advance service
Free unlimited Bank Cheques
Free unlimited Cheque book access
Winner of 2012 Money magazine's Best of the Best awards for Innovation
And no fees or charges for anything:
No foreign currency transaction fees (normally 2.5% to 3.5% of every foreign currency transaction)
No Overdrawn fee
No Withdrawal fees
No Statement Copy fee
No Stop Cheque Payment fee
No Dishonour fees
No Overdrafts fee
Schedule of Fees and Charges: http://www.citibank.com.au/global_docs/pdf/Feesandcharges.pd... - Note that with all fees: "Excludes Citibank Plus Transaction Accounts*" (except Overdraft Interest).
Any advice is general advice only. It was prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Before acting on this advice you should consider if it's appropriate for your particular circumstances.
Comments (Closed)
+1 votem0nkeycheese on 19/01/2012 - 23:53 ¶Funny I make thread about finding a bank not that long ago.. some good comments
+8 votesIn US Bank Accounts are not just free of charges but they even pay money when you open a bank account and keep it for 6 months. That's a normal deal in US. I used to get $100 from Citi and Chase banks in US. Bank of America pays money when you refer your friend to open an account with them. Both referrer and referee gets $50 or 100 which I can't remember the exact amount. Banks in Australia are completely different breed. They charge money for keeping our own money and do business with them. For Citi Bank coming from US, it's not a big deal for them to give it for free. Rather it's a better deal for them than in US as they don't have to pay customers for that.
Problem in here is if Ausie banks keep charging customers to maintain their accounts, foreign banks can easily come in and takeover. I don't know if there are any Government regulations which can stop that happening. If our own banks become too greedy then it can't help that customers will go and find cheaper options for them.
bolt_krank on 20/01/2012 - 10:13 ¶There's regulation in Australia the limits the amount of banks that can run in the country at any one time. This is probably what's stopping the foreign banks from coming at the moment.
engineeringprof on 21/01/2012 - 11:16 ¶Pretty sure the big 4 are built into our economic four pillars policy
+4 votesThis deal might sound good, but be forewarned, Citi always sleeps when you have something really urgent.
I had a terrible experience with CITI, where they locked me out of the savings account with a large amount of cash in it and refused to communicate with me out of my general email address, they didn't have a branch wehre I could go to get this fixed and in general their support centre were a bunch complete morons.
To cut a very very very long story short,,,, I ended up going to the ombudsman and fought the case wth thier office Priscilla Bryan where they ended up compensating me 500$ as penalties and a written apology.
Perhaps things might have changed now but beware that they have no branches where you can go and have a real person address the issue. When things go wrong as they always do.
There are no branches where you can conveniently withdraw large amounts of cash if you need to.
And I had a friend working for their callcenter, the horror stories she said about the credit cards and banking are enough to put me off citibank.
Sorry IMHO a NEG for the BANK ,
+2 votesisthisthedealforyou on 21/01/2012 - 20:57 ¶Yes Citi bank gave me a complete pile of lies when trying to organise a cash loan against my credit card to purchase a large ticket item. The money was a loan for 24 hours until I could free up other cash and they told me 3 different stories in the space of half an hour…the girl I dealt with was a complete moron and eventually, after jumping up and down, the information she gave was completely false…she had told me to deal with St George Bank as their face (St George knew nothing of it or them), it would be limited fees (eventually finding out $300 odd dollars from each side) and 3 hours later and much stress I gave up.
Citibank get a big up you from me -ive
- +1 vote
There is no charge from Citibank directly, I was informed by someone in telephone banking that Citibank will "bare the cost of that" and he said they would refund any ATM operator fees. Which kinda goes against what the website says. However, Westpac group ATM have quiet an extensive network.
+1 voteYesPleaseThankYou on 19/01/2012 - 23:06 ¶NAB Gold Banking also does this. It's the best for when travelling.
-1 votealwayseric on 20/01/2012 - 06:26 ¶dont forget about the exchange rates they may charge you dearly.
Apparantly it is much better than any money exchange. I use nab overseas for 2 years now. nothing compares . never take cash anymore overseas except Thai which charge 300 bt for using atm
I also have this Citibank card but haven't use it yet so can't comment on the conversion rate
- +1 votealwayseric on 20/01/2012 - 07:16 ¶
@antzz,
i am not a NAB customer. i only use 28degrees credit card for overseas/online shopping which imo is very good not the everyone-know reason. as a HSBC customer, actually HSBC's credit card (classic) doesnt charge conversion fee too, but never tried.
- +1 vote
Bad maths, corrected. $10 X 12 = $120 a year if your not depositing $5,000. Just remember also that NAB still has more fees on the Gold account than this one, even if your depositing $5,000.
Eg.:
- Bank cheques $8 at NAB, free with Citibank
- International Drafts/Cheques $22, free with Citibank
- Telegraphic Transfers $22, free with Citibank
- Lost/Stolen Card Replacement Fee up to $100, free with Citibank
Fees quoted are from http://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/nab/nab/home/Personal_... .
- Replacement Fee
$20 per card issued in Australia.
$100 per card issued overseas.
Where second or subsequent replacement card issued in a calendar year.
- Replacement Fee
Telegraphic Transfers $22, free with Citibank
ONLY to Citibank accounts. Which makes it quite useless as everywhere else Citibank accounts are still quite expensive to own.
The only real advantage is the Bank cheques which must be ordered online, but I'm not sure I use them enuf to waste my time opening an acct yet.
i remember seeing a discussion of this account on whirlpool. never followed it up. it might potentially be good for overseas visa purchases if the exchange rates are ok.
also, the online savings account seems ok. 5.80% for the first 6 months
edit: only 2.75% interest from linked Citibank Plus Linked
Savings Account :(
+4 votesI have had one of these Citibank cards for years but now use the ING Direct account as I find it better. Not sure if these features are new but I think the free access to ATM means they don't double dip. E.G. Every (or almost every) ATM in the US will charge you an ATM fee but Citibank won't charge their own fee on top of that. My interpretation. Also, any non-partner ATMs like ANZ, you will get charged a fee. That's how it used to be anyway.
The International Transfers are definitely new. Used to be $25 or $30.
ING Direct, http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/22739, offers fee free, free ATM withdrawls at any ATM in Australia (>$200) and even better $.50 when you do a cashout at an EFTPOS terminal(>$200). If I need money, I just head into Woolworths/Coles and use the self service counter, no purchase necessary. Still no harm in having Citibank account too.
- +1 vote
If I need money, I just head into Woolworths/Coles and use the self service counter, no purchase necessary.
i've seen a 'withdraw money' button (or something like that) on woolworths terminals but i've never tested it. do you know if it gets processed as an atm transaction or an eftpos transaction?
coles have a $100 cash out limit on their self serve machines. woolworths have something higher (>$200)
- +1 voteYesPleaseThankYou on 19/01/2012 - 23:07 ¶
do you know if it gets processed as an atm transaction or an eftpos transaction?
Is it an ATM? No. Therein lies your answer.
+2 votesjackofspade on 19/01/2012 - 23:07 ¶I think it's better than ING because there's No foreign currency transaction fees (normally 2.5% to 3.5% of every foreign currency transaction).
+3 votesA word of warning on citibank (and probably other banks for that matter). Although they say "fee free foreign currency transfers" they pick up a tidy little earner on the exchange rate that they use. If you're performing regular foreign currency transfers, you're better off using a 3rd party service where you will get a better rate. I regularly use http://ozforex.com.au and after being stung by citibank and amex for a few years.
My understanding is that Visa sets the rates as they are processing the transaction. If not, checking http://www.citibank.com.au/AUGCB/aptc/augcb/fxcal/GetCalcula... and http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=1%20aud%20to%20usd... they are about the same.
Your right, but you can never really get market rates for customer level products. But looks like rates (http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_r...) are the same for Visa and OzForex.
Visa sets the rates and banks may put a cut on top.
I've found both Visa rates and customer exchange rates in Asia were cheaper than http://ozforex.com.au. Of course that only works if ur travelling.- +1 vote
Okay, so I don't think we're talking about the same thing, or perhaps it's particular to the UK. I'm talking about interbank transfers, from a bank in one country to another bank in another country.
I've just done a test interbank transfer from my citibank UK to my citibank AU.
Amount: UK£ 3,000.00
Exchange Rate: A$ 1 to UK£ 0.6936754
Amount: A$ 4,324.79Same on http://ozforex.com.au
Selling: GBP 3,000.00
Buying: AUD 4,414.80
Rate: 1.4716$90 difference on £3000.
+1 voteThis seem to be a great deal. I have the online cash manager account with no monthly fees, however there's a limit to the # of withdrawals per month and it's an online account only. I'll see if I'm able to switch to the plus account.
Telegraphic transfers between Citibank accounts worldwide have been free since ages ago (the only reason I have a Citibank account), but if they include it to non-citibank accounts overseas, that's a much better deal. IMHO, their foreign currency rates are also quite competitive.
- +1 vote
Yeah it doesn't say so, so it is a good deal if this is actually true. No other Australian banks would waive this fee. I was informed by someone who works in Bankwest that there are costs involved to the bank for each TT that you make overseas, hence the high fees that they normally charge you.
+2 votesIt says in the FAQ for this account (Citibank Plus) that:
You can send money to non-Citibank accounts using "Transfer Money Abroad". A $25.00 transfer fee applies for this service.
(It's hidden at the bottom of the FAQ).
So only free for Citibank, the benefits page is misleading and potentially deceptive…they must mean any 'citibank' account anywhere in the world.
Edit: But when you did deeper and click:
http://www.citibank.com.au/AUGCB/APPS/portal/loadPage.do?tab...It states for "Transfer Money Abroad"
* This service is fee free for Citibank Plus customers.So looks like it actually IS free and they stuffed up their own FAQ for this account.
- +3 votes
Very contradicting… Schedule of Fees and Charges says no fee beacuse this account is excluded from "Local & International Payments and Foreign Currency Services Fees. But then says "5. Overseas transactions are not included in your fee-free limit". No idea what to make of that!
greenpossum on 20/01/2012 - 10:25 ¶So what's the answer? Is it free to TT to non-Citibank correspondents? This costs $25 upwards at other banks and if you only do one TT a year, it would be worth it.
+7 votesleetguy101 on 19/01/2012 - 23:09 ¶This is a bank. There's got to be a catch somewhere. There's gotta be a downside to this, somewhere…
- +1 vote
The catch is probably that you earn zero (or almost zero) interest. They get to have your money sitting in their accounts that they can then invest and make money on.
With credit markets tightening, regular everyday deposits are becoming more important to banks.
Puff Braddy on 19/01/2012 - 23:15 ¶I wish they'd offer a nice little deal for their credit cards too, need to change to a new bank, not loving the fees with my current provider (ANZ)!!
- +1 vote
a visa debit card might be ok. i don't think i'd ever consider a credit card with citibank. check out their customer satisfaction rating http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/money/banking/sav...
- Puff Braddy on 19/01/2012 - 23:53 ¶
Hmm, not very impressive at all! Ok, god thing they aren't doing a deal for their credit cards.
+7 votesFrom talking with people I know who have Citibank credit cards
- one was offered to upgrade to the new Rewards card, for the same fee as her existing card. She accepted. Her annual fee happened to be due the next month and they billed her the full Rewards card fee. She rang up and complained. They offered her a refund, saying "this amount is fair" … the amount wasn't even the difference! She didn't accept the insufficient discount and eventually got them to refund the full differenceanother person was billed by a store that then closed to redesign itself (product not sent). He spoke to Citibank who said to give it a few more days. After the time passed, they refunded the money. About 6 months later, Citibank re-billed the original amount. The guy spent months trying to work with Citibank staff who would say (oh, it's with another department for correction now … it'll take a few weeks and we will get back to you … but then they never got back to him). He ended up having to call the banking industry ombudsman and get it sorted out through them
another person applied for a card under an offer where both he and the person who referred him would get a bunch of points. He was rejected although he made more than enough money and had his accounts in good standing. He rang up to find out what was happening and the manager apologised and approved him immediately. The catch was, when the manager approved him, it wasn't under the original offer. So they got him onto their cards and didn't give anyone the points.
If you go with a Citibank credit card, it seems to work most of the time, except you have to be prepared for some work and/or frustration as things tend to go wrong and you have to put in the effort to get things fixed.
Also you have to watch out on some of their promotions.
+1 voteI'm just wondering if i go to an ATM machine to withdraw money do i have the option of selecting savings? I currently have an ANZ Visa everyday card and can only withdraw using the credit option. Some ATM's at pubs and other places only have an option to withdraw from chequing or savings, so i'm wondering if you can select savings with this card to withdraw money?
You can actually press any of the three buttons. (At the ATM it makes no difference.)
For EFTPOS if you press credit it processes the transaction through Visa/MasterCard and charges the vendor a 2% fee. If you press Savings or Cheque, it will process it as per usual via the bank, costing the bank 'resources'.
mrdavedave on 20/01/2012 - 00:08 ¶I've read some posts about the exchange rate on this not being that great.
Does anyone know an easy way to compare exchange rates on different cards?
It seems like all banks like to hide it somewhere =P- +1 vote
All Visa cards have the same exchange rate and all MasterCards have the same rate. The only thing that will change bank to bank is the bank fee. Banks assess foreign transaction fees on crossborder transactions (typically 2.5% to 3.5% of the transaction amount - except this account doesn't have this fee).
- mrdavedave on 20/01/2012 - 00:39 ¶
Thanks for the info!
So I'm guessing that this Citibank card and NAB Visa Gold Debit card would give the same rate, seeing as they both don't charge foreign transaction fee?
- +1 vote
In that case Visa's Zero Liability covers you. http://www.visa-asia.com/ap/au/cardholders/security/zero_lia...
+1 votecuongizzle on 20/01/2012 - 00:18 ¶Keep in mind NAB Gold also offers free travel insurance if you spend $400 or $500 (can't remember exact mount) on flights/hotels/tours etc
Lots of conditions on the insurance, but:
"Your plan is activated if:
(a) You are a NAB cardholder; and
(b) Prior to the commencement of your overseas journey,
you have paid a minimum of $500 in pre paid
overseas transport costs (including travel by air, rail,
road or watercraft); and or accommodation costs; and
or organised land tour costs all of which are inclusive
of any charges, fees and or taxes (excluding foreign
currency and traveller’s cheques) with your NAB Card
account; and
(c) Transacted in the following way:
– If using your NAB Credit Card – purchases using
your credit card facility directly charged by the
merchant.
– If using your NAB Gold Visa Debit Card –
purchases using your debit card either by using
the physical card or by providing the debit
card number when paying for your purchases.
Purchases using the linked account without the
use of the debit card (e.g. by direct credit from
your NAB Internet Banking facility) will not be
covered."http://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/c3b662804709e97bb3e4b7...
- cuongizzle on 20/01/2012 - 00:39 ¶
Seems normal to me. Usually you prepay your hotel/flights in advance. that probably be over $500.
what part C for gold visa debit is saying is you cannot pay by bank transfer. You must use the credit function on the card to activate the travel insurance.
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GreenLego on 20/01/2012 - 00:37
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John on 20/01/2012 - 00:59
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rmamila on 20/01/2012 - 09:24
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foundit on 20/01/2012 - 10:41
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leetguy101 on 19/01/2012 - 23:09
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What does all fees "Excludes Citibank Plus Transaction Accounts" means?