Citibank Plus Transaction Account Moving to NAB Branded Account

littlesoldier on 16/08/2023 - 14:59
Last edited 16/08/2023 - 15:01

Just received an email today
Citi Plus was one of the best travelling card, free international transaction fee, free atm fee overseas

Now being moved to NAB, looks like these nice features no longer exist
From the email, the account transition will be happening in March 2024

Here's the email:

In June 2022, we, National Australia Bank Limited (NAB), informed our customers that we had acquired the Australian consumer banking business of Citigroup Pty Limited (“Citi”). As part of the next phase of the journey, your Citibank Plus Transaction Account will be moved to a similar NAB branded account. This is expected to occur by March 2024, however there are actions you will need to take now and in the lead up to this time to ensure you can access and manage your NAB branded account.

As part of the changes, you will receive a notice of changes, your NAB branded account details, and a NAB debit card for each Citi branded account you have that currently has a Citi branded debit card. We will give you notice before we move your funds to your NAB branded account.

While there will be some changes to your Citibank Plus Transaction Account, the essential features, including interest rates and product fees and charges, will remain the same.

To make sure you have flexibility and sufficient time to familiarise yourself with your NAB branded account, we will be opening your NAB branded account before closing your Citi branded account. Once you receive your NAB branded account details, you will be able to complete the set up of your NAB branded account and start using it.

Please note that if you hold other Citi branded accounts, including a deposit, savings and/or offset account, home loan, investment, credit card or personal loan, you will
receive separate communications about changes ahead of time. If you have a Relationship Manager, they will continue to be available to answer any questions you may have.

You can visit our dedicated support page citibank.com.au/nab-transactions-savings.

Financial

Related Stores

Citibank Australia
Citibank Australia
National Australia Bank Group (NAB)
National Australia Bank Group (NAB)

Comments

  • haemolysis on 17/08/2023 - 22:00
    +1

    “While there will be some changes to your Citibank Plus Transaction Account, the essential features, including interest rates and product fees and charges, will remain the same.”

    Yeah so… the “essential features” but none of the benefits lol.

  • Aerith-Waifu on 17/08/2023 - 22:25
    +1

    Just use Macquarie Bank, they also have no ATM fees when used overseas

    • Thenarrator on 21/08/2023 - 18:56

      rates are not as good. 4-6% worse off. might as well pay ING's $5 transaction fee per withdrawal.

      • bohn on 21/08/2023 - 20:48
        -1

        don't you get five free withdrawals first with ING?

      • FirstWizard on 22/08/2023 - 08:39

        Thought they were using Master card rates, which are usually better than Visa.
        How did you know/check that the rates are not as good?

      • MrGarciaA on 22/08/2023 - 16:01
        +1

        The rates used by Macquarie are Mastercard rates - went on holiday to South Korea earlier this year checked every transaction and ATM withdrawal and every time it was equal to the Mastercard rate. Of course there are days where Visa might offer better rates than MC and vice versa but it's near impossible for the difference to be as high as you claim it to be

  • dekaiser on 18/08/2023 - 01:30
    -1

    Don't forget ubank is also owned by NAB, and since ubank acquired 86 400, the rates have just being up and up. The only good thing ubank did was kept the 86 400 app and scrapped their one.

    I think as alternatives now, it would be Up/Macquarie/HSBC/MeBank for those who don't want anything to do with NAB

  • [Deactivated] on 18/08/2023 - 08:50
    +1

    Anyone know the absolute best alternative?

    I've had Citibank forever as my travel card, I use it inbetween my CC flipping too.

    The app is pretty shit, but I haven't had many issues.

    • xdigger on 18/08/2023 - 11:51

      What about the Wise debit card? Or HSBC Global debit account. Any thoughts?

    • eTomster on 07/09/2023 - 20:36

      I used uBank in Japan in July. Worked really well. Exact Visa rates and no atm or international fees.

  • meumax on 18/08/2023 - 09:04
    +2

    !@#$% I used this account to instantly credit my Citi Mastercard when a Payall payment is due. I can Osko instantly from my mortgage offset to Citi Plus and then instant transfer from Citi Plus to Citi Mastercard.

    Now I will have to use Bpay which takes up to 2 days and I'll have to be extra careful. Can't rely on the Payall reminder SMS and do it instantly anymore.

    • CodeXD on 18/08/2023 - 09:09

      Payall reminder SMS also occurs 3 days prior to the amount taken out.

      Which is what I rely on to bpay my citi prestige. Haven't failed so far.

      • meumax on 18/08/2023 - 15:00

        I get two SMSs. One saying, "It's going to be processed". This arrives around 5 days before.

        Then I get a second that says "Your Citi Payall payment of AUD 10000.00 will be charged tonight". That's when I would do the instant transfer.

        This month, that SMS came on 2 August and the Payall shows on my statement as 3 August, so pretty much immediately after the SMS came. If I relied on the SMS and did BPay as soon as I got it, it is possible I'd be caught short because it can take up to 2 days for BPay.

  • gviddy on 18/08/2023 - 09:46
    +6

    I am currently in Bangkok and I go to the Citibank ATMs in Sukhumvit and is always great to be able to withdraw cash without any fees at an awesome rate.

    There is no way NAB will be as good as this as going forward you'll now need to pay the approx $10 ATM fee here in Thailand.

    Had this card for many many years and was the best! Ah well. Was good while it lasted. Only way anything like this comes again is from another global banking group with their own ATMs in countries. NAB does not, and never will, have this.

    • gviddy on 18/08/2023 - 09:50
      +1

      And as an aside, withdrawing cash from the ATM always was a better exchange rate than any cash exchange places here in Bangkok.

    • huydn on 19/08/2023 - 13:35

      Citibank Thailand was already sold to UOB as well. Sooner or later, you were going to lose access to fee-free withdrawals either way.

    • nickj on 20/08/2023 - 11:40

      You'd think one or more global alliances (something like airline alliances, but for banking) would emerge with free ATM withdrawals for all customers of members of that alliance.

    • Member 0230 on 06/09/2023 - 16:49

      Before you abandon CitiNAB completely, does this comment from divineiniquity change your thoughts on it, i.e., it appears many/most of the international transaction benefits are preserved, but happy to be corrected. I'm in the same boat as you.

  • xdigger on 18/08/2023 - 11:53
    -1

    Any thoughts on the Wise debit card or HSBC EveryDay Global debit card as an alternative travel card?

    • MITM on 18/08/2023 - 12:11

      Yeah - I answered you 4 posts back !

  • capslock janitor on 18/08/2023 - 12:09

    shall i open a Citi CC now ?

  • Commander1201 on 18/08/2023 - 13:22
    +1

    My travel card that's worked in every city too, always was fee free and always offered me a good exchange rate. You know when one of the bigg aussie anti competitive boys get their mitts on it, it'll be ruined.

    HBSC seems near identical though, it's not getting much of a mention?

    • littlesoldier on 18/08/2023 - 13:29
      +4

      I got HSBC and Citibank Plus and can confirm that HSBC FX rate is not as good as Citi
      by looking from the chat above, probably will try macquarie transaction account

      • Commander1201 on 18/08/2023 - 13:35
        +1

        That's what I feared, also looking into Macquarie then

  • Al09 on 18/08/2023 - 19:52
    +1

    Ive changed over to HSBC transaction account.
    It allows you to hold 5 different major currencies .

    Similar feature as citibank global thhat i had before.

    Free atm withdrawal overseas as well. Just as long is a HSBC atm

    • YesPleaseThankYou on 05/09/2023 - 16:15

      Converting to those rates uses HSBC rates. No thanks.

  • Radicfazed on 18/08/2023 - 20:29
    +2

    Bankwest have a no international currency conversion fee's and no int atm withdrawal fee card. Used it my last trip to europe i will just cancel my citibank one now.

    • prozerran on 18/08/2023 - 22:32

      bankwest as good as citibank plus? - this seems to be a new feature as i have had this easy transaction debit for yonks and i dont remember 0% currency conversion and $0 atm fees

      • timhn on 19/08/2023 - 15:11

        Even better if you get the Qantas debit card.

      • YesPleaseThankYou on 05/09/2023 - 16:16
        -1

        The rate is just going to be the applicable Mastercard or Visa rate, no matter which bank (so long as they don't charge a fee on top of that).

    • WalterBiH on 11/09/2023 - 10:49
      +3

      I have both, Citi and Bankwest.
      While on my holiday in Europe in June/July this year, I split my money between the two. Plan was to use Citi myself and give Bankwest card to my wife.
      However, what I found (tested on dozen or so ATM providers across 3 different countries):
      - CitiBank - no local ATM fees ever (wasn't using Citi branded ATMs as there were none I could find)
      - Bankwest - 5 EUR "Foreign card" ATM fee on each one I tried (same ones that Citi was fee free).

      Lucky that ATMs in Europe are obliged to advise the fee being charged before you proceed with the transaction, so I was able to avoid it and used my Citi card. My guess is that our Citi card is somehow global and not recognised as "foreign" at overseas ATMs - hence no fee. I am also assuming that NAB card, even with fee equivalency with Citi, will still be subject to these local fees.

      • bohn on 11/09/2023 - 11:17

        will still be subject to these local fees

        yeah, I would think so.

  • ass3ts on 19/08/2023 - 20:48

    I still remember the days when Citibank Australia assigned dedicated relationship managers to Citigold clients, I always had the same local person to contact for nearly everything related to my accounts, pretty much like a concierge who knew me and looked after things with minimal red tape promptly without mucking around. They also sent out regular invitations to fully-catered events at 5-star hotels which I personally wouldn't waste time on. Things started going downhill around 7 years ago and now they're gone for good.

    • nickj on 20/08/2023 - 11:43

      From 2008 to circa 2013, they were the best - no fee, decent rewards, Qantas points. Then they removed the Qantas points, reduced the rewards a lot, and all customer service was outsourced.

  • eckorock on 20/08/2023 - 00:10
    +1

    Does anybody else remember when the Citi Dining Rewards was running and you could get a FREE BOTTLE (yes entire bottle) of decent wine at a whole bunch of nice restaurants?
    Those were the days

  • luffyex2010 on 20/08/2023 - 07:33
    -3

    I got charged foreign transaction fees by citibank….. $200 for international flights tickets.

    They said "nab" it's in the T&C s but I never got charge with these fees in the past. I wanted to dispute it but their customer complaints is really not helping.

    Sigh 25 yrs with ctb, now I got to look for another reliable cc bank.

    Plus I remember the good old days where you can get 90% of your credit limit loan with zer0 interest fees for 12 months.

    • timhn on 20/08/2023 - 08:26

      They charged fx fee on the Debit card?

      • luffyex2010 on 20/08/2023 - 09:23

        Credit card

        • CodeXD on 20/08/2023 - 10:39
          +3

          It helps to let people know which credit card as citi offers quite a few.

          This whole discussion is about a citi bank transaction debit card.

          • timhn on 20/08/2023 - 12:28
            +1

            @CodeXD: Exactly. I was a bit confused reading @luffy's comment about fee. Having the Citibank Plus transaction years ago and almost used it extensively overseas and never get charge fx fees.

            I may be wrong, but i don't recall Citibank had ever issued any credit card with no fx fees - and i had applied quite a number of CCs from them in last 7-8 years.

            • farethewell on 20/08/2023 - 13:54

              @timhn: diners club attached to the main CC doesn't have FX fees, but it is going to be discontinued in a couple of months time

  • bohn on 20/08/2023 - 11:38
    +2

    Closed my citibank account. Even though it's fee free, no point keeping it, plus I hate NAB more than all the banks.

    • eckorock on 12/09/2023 - 22:50

      can you close it online or do you have to contact them?

      • bohn on 12/09/2023 - 22:51
        +1

        Online, in one of the menus.

        • eckorock on 12/09/2023 - 23:25

          thanks buddy I'm looking now , can't seem to find it… will keep looking

        • eckorock on 12/09/2023 - 23:26

          found under top menu > Services > Deposits Services > Close your savings account

  • Commander1201 on 21/08/2023 - 08:51
    +2

    From an old Ozbargain comment from 3 years ago from someone who did the work. "Citibank plus is better since they use the mastercard rate whereas HSBC uses their own rate. When I tested and converted some AUD to HKD, HSBC pocketed like 2%."

    I am going to miss Citibank, I love having an international bank account, it just felt safer and better than our lame big 4 banks. I've applied for a HSBC but regretfully it does appear an inferior product.

    • xdigger on 23/08/2023 - 11:16

      Use the Wise debit card over HSBC, better forex rates.

      • littlesoldier on 23/08/2023 - 11:28

        I am just wondering how Wise / Revolut FX rate compare to fee free debit cards like macquarie, UP and ubank
        These fee free debit cards / transaction account some can also earn interest and no limitation on daily/monthly transactions
        From memory, Wise and Revolut have upper limit on ATM withdraw and foreign currencies spending with their free tier membership

      • Commander1201 on 23/08/2023 - 11:59

        Thanks Xdigger, I'll grab one of those too!

      • YesPleaseThankYou on 05/09/2023 - 16:17
        +2

        Wise is not part of the Australian Financial Claims Scheme.

        There are so many better Australian options, as discussed in this thread.

        • xdigger on 05/09/2023 - 18:16

          Good to know, what are the lowest forex fees alternatives?

  • JHoliday on 25/08/2023 - 13:19

    So this card is linked to your main Citi Rewards card, and you can use it on sites like Booking.com or for in store purchases overseas and not get charged any international transaction fees?

    Have a trip in a couple of weeks overseas, I assume I can still apply for this even though they are shutting it down mid Oct?

    • vt on 28/08/2023 - 11:30
      +1

      It's a transaction account with a debit card so will be a different account to your Citi Rewards credit card account.

      Can no longer apply for the account as you get a "Citi branded transaction and savings accounts are no longer available to open" message when you access the page https://www1.citibank.com.au/deposits/everyday-accounts/citi….

      • JHoliday on 28/08/2023 - 12:42

        Woops sorry I should have clarified in my reply, I already have a Citi Plus Account but I was enquiring about the Diners Club card

  • JHoliday on 31/08/2023 - 18:18

    Has anyone managed to add this linked Citi Diners card to Apple Pay?

    • littlesoldier on 31/08/2023 - 18:30

      Citi linked Diners club is ending in Oct 2023 anyway…

      • JHoliday on 31/08/2023 - 18:37

        Yep I just received one, so far it has been a nightmare.

        Error when trying to apply online on the website. Had to get call centre to order it.

        Arrived in the mail and no way to activate it (didn’t show in Citi app). Had to get call centre to activate on their end.

        Now error when trying to add to Apple Pay.

        I was hoping to use it on an upcoming trip overseas so as to avoid international transaction fees.

        • farethewell on 02/09/2023 - 12:34
          +1

          it doesn't work with Apple Pay, so yeah

        • tunzafun001 on 11/09/2023 - 20:08

          Heaps.of merchants add 2.5%+ to Diners purchases anyway.

  • divineiniquity on 05/09/2023 - 12:42
    +6

    Got another e-mail today with updates on the changes they're planning to make. The changes are outlined in this PDF: https://www.nab.com.au/content/dam/nabrwd/documents/terms-an…

    Focusing just on pages 9-10 for the international transaction fees, it appears (correct me if I've read it wrong) that the migrated NAB Classic Banking account you get (if you're an existing CitiBank AU customer) will NOT have any international fees, unlike the regular Classic Banking account which does have fees. This is also outlined here: https://www.nab.com.au/personal/accounts/transaction-account…. It then means you'll have to keep this special account open otherwise signing up for a regular transaction account through NAB won't have this benefit.

    • sistermay on 05/09/2023 - 13:09
      +1

      Thanks for your effort but I suppose people like me who really love to use the Citi Plus debit card for its ability to / and fee free withdrawal of local currency while overseass would be a major feature NBA won't be able to offer. Would love to see someone correct me on this.

      • littlesoldier on 05/09/2023 - 13:26

        Page 10 : International transactions refer to using your card overseas including overseas ATM cash withdrawals = Fee waived

        Does this means we can still withdraw local currency overseas with no fee?

        • sistermay on 05/09/2023 - 13:32

          Looks like that way but it mentioned withdraw from overseas ATMs which allow Visa withdrawal, is that sort of ATMs common in countries like Japan, HK and Singapore etc ??? Do we have that sort of machines in Australia so that I can see what they look like ???

        • bohn on 05/09/2023 - 14:26

          No fee from NAB.
          There is often an ATM fee.

          UBank can already do this too.

    • littlesoldier on 05/09/2023 - 13:29
      +3

      Its great to see these offers still able to retain
      however NAB is a debit visa card, which visa FX rate is not as good as mastercard rate in general (eg. withdrawal cash in Japan ATM)

    • chrisie on 06/09/2023 - 17:28

      What's your thoughts on the change "Master Card to Visa Card", would have thought the Master Card exchange rate would have been better than Visa ?

  • JimB on 05/09/2023 - 14:32

    I still have a Citibank Plus Transaction acc solely to use for ATM withdrawals (Have Bankwest Platinum for credit purchases)

    From the comments above, it appears that Macquarie Transaction account is a worthy replacement for the Citibank Plus Transaction acc.

    A couple of questions,
    - when will the benefits of the Citibank Plus Transaction acc cease? March 2024?
    - is the forex rates for Macquarie Transaction account the same as the Mastercard rates, e.g. same as Citibank Plus?

    I'm heading OS shortly, so maybe ideal to get a Macquarie Transaction account as a backup to my Citibank Plus.

    • Costanza on 05/09/2023 - 14:58
      +3

      • You can continue to use the Citibank Plus Transaction Account and the Citi Debit Mastercard that is
      linked to that account up to and including 23 February 2024.
      • On 24 February 2024 the Citibank Plus Transaction Account and Citi Debit Mastercard will be closed
      and the funds transferred to the NAB Classic Banking account.

      • JimB on 05/09/2023 - 15:00

        Cheers.

        Will get a Macquarie Transaction account too for backup, and to use post Feb 24.

        • littlesoldier on 05/09/2023 - 15:21
          +3

          If there's no account keeping fee / monthly fee
          I think there's no harm to keep little money in NAB while opening the Macquaire Transaction account

  • huu on 06/09/2023 - 13:23

    What if you dont want to open the new NAB account? I already have one, beside from the free EFTPOS payment at Aldi there is nothing about it that worth opening

    • silverstone2023 on 06/09/2023 - 14:38

      Close your Citibank accounts before 28-Oct-23. If your account is closed, they won’t create a NAB account for you.

  • 89tnp on 06/09/2023 - 18:16

    hmmmm….

    I think I might be cancelling the card.

    I recently used ubank in Argentina and Chile. FX was good, but ATM fees were charged.

    • GreenGuava on 06/09/2023 - 18:26
      +1

      Those would have been local ATM fees, and you would have been charged those regardless of which card you used. Up till recently ING used to rebate overseas ATM fees, but I believe they ended that in August.

      • 89tnp on 06/09/2023 - 21:12

        Agree. But overall can't see anything that citi offers that ubank doesn't.

        Unless you specifically wanted a mastercard?

  • terlalu on 07/09/2023 - 14:41

    With HSBC Global and Up Bank, the only reason I kept my Citibank account open was to write cheques. They issue free cheque books. Is there an alternative bank?

  • [Deactivated] on 07/09/2023 - 19:31

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/797194?page=1#comment-1426…

    is this Bankwest card better than Citibank now? You earn QFF on spend as-well it seems.

  • JHoliday on 07/09/2023 - 21:10

    So no account keeping fees when they transfer us from Citi to NAB for this transaction account? And jump through hops like transferring $2k per month?

    • chrisie on 07/09/2023 - 22:31

      Yes

    • Baysew on 08/09/2023 - 09:31
      +2

      And jump through hops like transferring $2k per month?

      Unlike ANZ,CBA & WBC, NAB don't charge a monthly fee for their transaction account, so no hoops. This has continued with the transfer of Citibank Plus to NAB. They should call the account NAB Plus.

      • JHoliday on 08/09/2023 - 09:55
        +1

        Great to hear, thank you!

  • tunzafun001 on 09/09/2023 - 11:53

    Heading to NZ.

    Citi Plus still the best card for NZ in transactions?

    Have an ANZ debit card as well. Thought ATM withdrawals might be free in NZ… apparently not.

    Cheers

    • bohn on 09/09/2023 - 12:00

      Thought ATM withdrawals might be free in NZ… apparently not.

      that's crap of them

      • timhn on 19/09/2023 - 10:42

        Westpac AU & Westpac NZ are in Global Alliance network so ATM withdrawal is free but with 3% fx fee.

  • Eeples on 18/09/2023 - 11:28
    +1

    I made atm withdrawals fee free and atm charge free in Tokyo this week with Citibank plus transaction account.

    Nothing has changed yet.

  • iamdragoon on 23/09/2023 - 22:49

    I feel like I am one of the very few individuals that has had a citibank transaction account for more than 20 years.
    It was sad but I did remember by BSB and ACCT number.
    I normally kept the account for the ease of using it overseas.
    Is it the general consensus that Macquarie Transaction account is the way to go?
    TIA

    • rickb on 24/09/2023 - 07:36
      +1

      I have both and like you I used Citibank when travelling.

      Earlier in the year I travelled around Europe for a month but used Macquarie. It worked well apart from one issue at a hotel where they had to do a manual transaction.

      Macquarie has now replaced CBA for my domestic banking.

      • bohn on 26/09/2023 - 16:12
        +1

        Macquarie is decent. I like their security app, most banks still use sms. Like that their linked savings account can have payments come out of it automatically too. Most banks want you to transfer from the savings to the transaction account to do it.

  • rodkoguma on 02/10/2023 - 15:00

    In regard to the move to NAB for Citibank Plus Transaction accounts, NAB is replicating fee waivers on the "transferred" accounts, which means the same overseas ATM fee access/interchange fee regime we're experiencing under Citibank (check out all the "exceptions" being added to the NAB Classic Banking regime thanks to having a Citibank transferred account, which will be for life).

    So, don't close that NAB account, I reckon. In fact, if you are already a NAB Classic Banking Customer, you may want to close your existing account and start using the new account at some stage in the future… :)

    All the variations are in the PDFs at: https://www.nab.com.au/personal/accounts/transaction-account…
    In fact, Citibank pays 0% on all deposits in CPT accounts, but NAB will actually pay interest per NAB Classic Banking interest rates… so, there's a 0.01% boooonus

  • rodkoguma on 02/10/2023 - 15:02

    Also, in the lead up to a possible loss of fee-free overseas use, and also because of loss of the Citibank Global Currency account (boooooo), I have HSBC for the multi-currency and ATM-fee goodness. But your mileage may vary, and your choices are yours… Do yer research.

    But if you are trying to get an account like the ol' Citibank Global Currency account where you can transact, and lock in, local currencies, PLUS $0 ATM fee at nearly all HSBC machines (some HSBC areas which charge local ATM fees will cause a local ATM fee)… but yeah, HSBC Everyday Global Account.

    https://www.hsbc.com.au/accounts/offers/campaigns/travel-acc…

  • Ryk on 08/12/2023 - 16:56

    accounts created.
    logins at the ready.
    cards being received.
    it's a go.

    • Jiffy on 11/12/2023 - 20:32

      Which is really annoying as I closed my Citi account months ago to avoid this transition….and they've notified me that they've created NAB accounts, etc. Really poor form.

      • Ryk on 17/12/2023 - 13:13
        +1

        the copy of the database was most likely a few months old, from when they stopped opening new accounts.

        the citi transitioned accounts nab have set up are actually quite good.
        retaining all the citi zer0 fee features and by being nab they've picked-up several hundred branches, and smart ATMs.

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