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Citizens Access® Savings Account Review: A High-Yielding Account With No Fees

Review Updated
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Author: Matt Frankel, CFP®
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Writer, Analyst

Matt is a Certified Financial Planner™ and investment advisor based in Columbia, South Carolina. He writes personal finance and investment advice for Motley Fool Money and its parent company The Motley Fool, with more than 4,500 published articles and a 2017 SABEW Best in Business award. Matt writes a weekly investment column for the Motley Fool ("Ask a Fool") that is syndicated in USA Today, and his work with Motley Fool Money has also been syndicated to MSN and Yahoo! Finance. He has been regularly featured on Fox Business and many other major outlets. He’s a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Nova Southeastern University, and holds a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University.

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Reviewer: Steven Porrello
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Fact Checked: Nathan Alderman
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Many or all of the products here are from our partners that compensate us. It’s how we make money. But our editorial integrity ensures that our product ratings are not influenced by compensation. Terms may apply to offers listed on this page.  Citi is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. APY = Annual Percentage Yield. APYs are subject to change at any time without notice.

The Citizens Access® Savings account might be right for you if: You want to earn a high APY on a free online savings account. The APY on this account is more than 18x the national rate; however, since the account is strictly online, your deposit and withdrawal options will be limited.

  • Our team of experts assessed 100+ banking institutions
  • We evaluate all banking institutions across the same 4 key criteria: annual percentage yield (APY), brand reputation, fees and minimum requirements, and additional perks
  • Our bank ratings are never influenced by our advertising partners
  • We strictly feature products that offer federal insurance and high customer satisfaction, keeping our recommendations unbiased
Ratings Methodology
Rates as of Dec 20, 2024

Citizens Access® Savings

Member FDIC.
Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
APY
4.15%
Min. To Earn APY
$0.01
  • Competitive APY
  • No account fees
  • Unlimited transfers and withdrawals
  • FDIC insured
  • No wire transfers (inbound or outbound)
  • No checking account offered at same bank
  • No ATM access
  • No branch access; online only

Citizens Access® Savings offers a highly competitive APY and most of the features you'd expect from a reputable online savings account. Beware that wire transfers are not permitted — which may be inconvenient if you plan to pay a mortgage down-payment or closing costs from this account. Otherwise, funds should be easy to access through online transfers.

Compare savings rates

Make sure you're getting the best account for you by comparing savings rates and promotions. Here are some of our favorite high-yield savings accounts to consider.

Account APY Promotion Next Steps
3.80%
Rate info Circle with letter I in it. 3.80% annual percentage yield as of December 28, 2024. Terms apply.
Min. to earn: $0
N/A
Open Account for American Express® High Yield Savings

On American Express's Secure Website.

up to 4.00%²
Rate info Circle with letter I in it. You can earn the maximum APY by having Direct Deposit (no minimum amount required) or by making $5,000 or more in Qualifying Deposits every 30 days. See SoFi Checking and Savings rate sheet at: https://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.
Min. to earn: $0
New customers can earn up to a $300 bonus with qualifying direct deposits!¹
3.80%
Rate info Circle with letter I in it. See Capital One website for most up-to-date rates. Advertised Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is variable and accurate as of Dec. 6, 2024. Rates are subject to change at any time before or after account opening.
Min. to earn: $0
N/A

Full Citizens Access® Savings review

Citizens Access® Savings is a solid choice for many people looking to get more money out of their savings. Is it right for you? That's something only you can decide. Keep reading for a rundown of the top perks and potential drawbacks of this savings account from Citizens to help you make a decision that fits your life.

Citizens Access® Savings interest rate

Account APY Minimum Deposit
Citizens Access® Savings 4.15% $0.01
Data source: Citizens Bank.

Citizens is offering a very competitive APY, and you can reap the rewards with any amount of money in your account. This one could be a great fit for beginning savers.

Fees

Most online banks don't charge fees that are common among brick-and-mortar banks, such as account opening or maintenance fees. Citizens is no exception -- there are no fees associated with the account.

Minimum balance

A minimum deposit of $0.01 is required to open the account. After that, your money will earn the full APY regardless of your balance.

Withdrawal limit

There is no withdrawal limit on your Citizens Access® Savings account. However, since this is an online bank without physical branches or ATMs, you are limited in terms of how you can access your money.

Mobile app

Citizens offers a stellar banking app with all the functions you need to meet basic banking needs. You can view your accounts, deposit checks directly to your account, and transfer money in and out of your account.

That said, it lacks some of the more robust features of other banking apps, such as the ability to monitor all your financial accounts, including those not with Citizens, in one dashboard.

How to access your money

Although it's backed by branch-based Citizens, Citizens Access® Savings doesn't offer branch or ATM access to its customers. It also doesn't support a paired checking account.

Deposit options

There are two ways to add money to a Citizens Access® Savings account:

  • Make an online transfer from a checking or savings account you have at another U.S. bank. Linking accounts is the primary way that Citizens customers deposit and withdraw money to and from their accounts.
  • Deposit a check. You can do this through the mail, or through the Citizens mobile app. Some online savings accounts don't offer mobile check deposits through an app, so this can be a convenient differentiator.

Withdrawal options

You have two options to withdraw money from your Citizens Access® Savings account:

  • Link the account to another account you own at a different financial institution (such as a branch-based checking account) and set up a transfer.
  • Ask Citizens to mail you a check.

Online user reviews

While Citizens has an overall rating of just 1.2 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot and 1.07 out of 5 stars on BBB, among users of its app it scores much higher -- with a 4.7 out of 5 star rating in the App Store and 4.7 out of 5 in the Google Play Store.

Top perks

High APY: At 4.15% as of June 2024, Citizens Access® Savings has one of the highest APYs of the high-yield savings accounts we cover. And unlike some competitors, there's no special condition -- such as setting up direct deposit -- required to get the top rate.

Easy account opening process: Opening a Citizens Access® Savings account is user-friendly and easy, and can be done in about five minutes.

No fees: Citizens doesn't charge fees for its savings products, including no account opening or maintenance fees.

Strong customer support: Although Citizens doesn't have any branches, it offers help by phone seven days a week, and its Mon-Fri hours of 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. EDT are among the best for live support in the online banking industry.

What could be improved

No checking account offered: Unlike with some of the other online high-yield savings accounts we cover, Citizens doesn't offer an online checking account product, which limits the ways you can access your money and means you can't write checks.

No branches: Citizens Access® Savings is a fully online account.

No ATM access: ATM access for savings account customers isn't universal, but several of the top-rated online savings accounts offer the ability to access money through an affiliated ATM network. With Citizens, there's no ATM availability.

Is Citizens Access® Savings FDIC insured?

Yes, Citizens Access® Savings is FDIC insured. Depositors will enjoy up to $250,000 of FDIC insurance per account type.

The Citizens Access® Savings account might be for you if:

The Citizens Access® Savings account is best suited for customers who have checking accounts at other U.S. financial institutions, who want to maximize their savings yield. It is not likely to be the best choice for people who frequently need to deposit cash, want ATM access to their money, or want the convenience of bank branches.

Keep reading about Citizens:

Our savings account methodology

At Motley Fool Money, we rate savings accounts on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). We evaluate all savings accounts across four main criteria: annual percentage yield (APY), brand and reputation, fees and minimum requirements, and perks that really make a difference -- think ATM access, linked checking accounts, or even branch access.

Our scores are weighted as:

  • APY: 50%
  • Brand and reputation: 20%
  • Fees and minimums: 15%
  • Other perks: 15%

Learn more about how Motley Fool Money rates bank accounts.

FAQs

  • Citizens offers a high-yield savings account through its Citizens online-only banking subsidiary. Citizens Access® Savings is the name of the account, and while interest rates fluctuate over time, it tends to offer APYs on par with some of the best online banks in the nation.

  • Citizens is a legitimate, FDIC-insured bank. It is one of the oldest and largest financial institutions in the United States.

  • Interest is compounded daily and credited to your account monthly.