Citigroup To Start Charging Per-Month Fees On Low-Balance Accounts

Citigroup Inc said it will start charging a monthly fee of $10 on checking and savings accounts with combined balances of less than $1,500, joining a growing list of banks seeking to recoup revenue lost under new financial industry regulations.

The fee will be waived if a customer completes one direct deposit and one online bill payment per month through an account, or maintains a balance of at least $1,500 in checking and savings accounts, Citigroup said on Friday

The change takes effect in December.

Under Citi's current fee structure, customers are not required to maintain minimum account balances but must complete five transactions a month through an account to avoid a monthly fee of $8.

Citigroup said it will not charge for debit card use or online bill payment.

Stephen Troutner, head of banking products for Citi's U.S. consumer bank, said free debit card use could woo customers from other banks that are weighing whether to charge for debit card use, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co.

``Customers have told us in no uncertain terms that is a huge source of irritation,'' Troutner said.

New York-based Citi is the latest bank to tinker with its fee structure following changes in U.S. consumer banking regulations and laws over the last two years.

New regulations -- part of a broad financial sector reform effort -- limit overdraft fees and other penalty fees banks can charge.

In response, many banks have begun introducing monthly service fees for accounts, debit card use and visits to branches.

Bank of America Corp, the largest U.S. bank by assets, added checking account fees last year. The BofA changes include an ebanking account, which allows customers to use ATMs and online banking for free but charges a monthly fee of $7 for teller visits or receiving paper statements. (Reporting by Joe Rauch in Charlotte, N.C.; editing by John Wallace)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[FrankBooth23]

04:02 PM on 09/29/2011

Yeah , it was $1500 minimum , and toady i get a letter that i need $6000 minimum balance to avoid charges. Next stop credit union.

[dlnrjm]

04:00 PM on 09/29/2011

We help these crooks and this is what we get in return? Drop all of these banks, move your money to credit unions. No fees and none of them were bailed out.....!

[bzimmerman]

02:02 PM on 09/19/2011

We have already made it illegal to be poor in the US, with cities banning sleeping in public and in cars, pan handling, and even bulldozing tent cities. It is about time we re-institute poor farms, and sell the homeless to the lowest bidder.

[GoldsteinD]

01:56 PM on 09/19/2011

enough bailouts yet? this is what we get for our stimulus

[DSAldridge]

07:58 PM on 11/15/2011

Yeah, they're just "stimulating" themselves thinking about the next way to screw us. My grandfather never put any of his money in a bank. He paid everything in cash, even built his house with cash (nice house, too). I closed my BoA account, and am going to be going to a credit union. I can't do that yet, though, because I have to come up with a minimum deposit for them too, and I'm dirt poor right now.

[cdterm47]

01:45 PM on 09/19/2011

Banks refuse to loan due to risk. Solution, start charging for those few who actually have savings and viable checking accounts. Wonderful, soak fiscal responsible citizens to raise those profit margins. Penalizing savers while they shoveled with abandon loans to people incapable of paying the loans back.

[island fever1]

01:16 PM on 09/19/2011

Join a credit union.

[Aksumite]

11:33 AM on 09/19/2011

$7 to visit a bank teller? That is pretty desperate.

[paige mcghan]

11:19 AM on 09/19/2011

"Dear Lord! how do these ShityBank people sleep at night?"

[Capt Kirk]

11:06 AM on 09/19/2011

Requiring a minimum balance in order to waive monthly fees is nothing new.

[chedet]

03:54 PM on 09/29/2011

For savings maybe.

[clemmers]

10:35 AM on 09/19/2011

Move your money to a credit union! Friendly, fee-free service with people who actually get to know me personally and go out of their way to help.

Oh yeah, THEY PAY ME interest on my checking account.

[MzTexas]

09:54 AM on 09/19/2011

This is why I'm switching to a local bank from Citibank next month.

[mjw51295]

09:35 AM on 09/19/2011

This is why I bank at a local bank. Someone has to pay for Peggy

[stape45]

10:54 PM on 09/18/2011

Credit Union business should be booming.

[kenoshaguy2]

02:21 AM on 09/19/2011

Everyone should check out a credit union in thier town. Credit Unions are more reasonable in rates and accounts. They also give back and invest in your community. Citicorp is for rich people. If you don't have money they don't want you. This fee is proof of that. I wonder how long it will be before you need to have a 5000 min. in your account.

[den942]

11:14 AM on 09/19/2011

Been a Credit union member since 1978. Free checking. Free automatic transfers from savings to checking to cover checks if checking is short of funds so no bounced checks. Can't beat them...

[Severed Head]

08:39 PM on 09/18/2011

Well, I guess the 30% of Americans with no money in the bank will now join the other 30% of Americans with no money.

Make no mistake, if your DAILY balance drops below 1500, you pay.

Take c/overt loans from Fed and loan it back to the Treas for profit - check
Laying off 40K employees - check
Lavish execs salaries in hundreds of millions - check
Still too big too fail - check
--------------------------------------
Change we can believe in!!

[Darlene Bramhall]

08:29 PM on 09/18/2011

I can not believe what Citi Bank is going to do. If u don't have money's add up to $1,500 they're going to charge u. My God. People has got to start drawing there money out of that bank. People are having hard time of finding a job. They don't have that much mney. Citi Bank should say, We take only rich people. Less than that, we're going to charge u. My bank don't charge me for nothing. Bank you are discusting..

[GoldsteinD]

01:58 PM on 09/19/2011

they don't need rich people. they have the govt