That is too much hassle

or the OP reallized this deal was so hot that to share its details would kill it for everyone who already knows about it.

OR, maybe it DOES NOT work now and the OP just saved us all some pains!

Anyway, in my experience, Citi will gladly make your CA be ZERO if you request it (I did so in a message at my citi.com) and I recommend doing it to ZERO $ because some merchants can "sneak in" authorizations for more if you do it to say, $100. I know AAA does, so be careful! Set it to $0.

I know Chase and US Bank cannot and will not change your CA value. I do not know about anyone else to date.

MM

FWIW, I upgraded from a Citi eSavings acct to a Ulti Savings acct in <5 minutes. All you needed to do to log in, ask to open a new acct, transfer the balance from your eSavings to Ultimate Savings Acct, and voila! you've just netted an extra .15% or so APY.

Not a bad way to net extra interest while still keeping my savings super liquid (Citibank is also my primary checking acct so there are no ACH delays).

-g

I opened a Citi savings and e checking acct with at 10K AA miles offer which also provided no fees and no minimum balance for life.

I suspect "upgrading" might entail fees and minimum balance requirements. But, I would be happy to be wrong.

I would like to find out too. Fees are no good.

FWIW, and i'm not necessarily ANTI-inquiries (depends on the person), but CITIBANK did a hard pull of my credit report (they disclose this on the application, but not whether its soft or hard) through Experian. Take this into consideration when applying for the E-Savings account w/them.

If you're not in a hurry, you might wait to see if Citi offers miles to open Ultimate.

(I'm aware of reports of delays getting bonuses from Citi, but mine worked out.)

good tip! in fact it seems historically true that Citi always ups the bonus AFTER the first round of people sign up.

be the second mouse.
MM

Actually, I found out this was not true - at least for eSavings. I keep all of our money in the eSavings account and set up transfers in expectation of paying bills. However, a few weeks ago I tried to set up a transfer and I got an error that indicated that I had 'exceeded the limit of transfers' for the month. I called the bank to have them override it and was told that it was not possible as there was a 'federal limit' on the number of internet and phone transfers. The only option was to go into a Citibank and do the transfer in person or at a real citibank ATM (not 7-11). It was quite iritating, the limit is 6 and there is no counter anywhere. The month is based on your statement month.
Other than this irritation (and the fact that I signed up when it was 5%!) the account has been great, very easy, instant transfers and since our mortgage is with citimortage I instantly transfer my payment.

Yes there is Federal Reserve Regulation D about the number of withdrawls you can make on a savings or money market account. Withdrawls made at a branch or ATM are excluded from the limit.

The "counter" is very easy to see. Just click on the account and look at the number of transfers you've made since you last earned interest.

Since you just learned about it, I thought I should mention that if you exceed the limit 3 times in a calendar year, your account will be closed.

That is very upsetting to hear as it means the CSR (who was not in an ICC) basically lied to me - and of course I have nothing in writing. There is a federal law that limits withdrawals, but I was told the transfers don't count. The part about In-person/ATMs (vs. internet) makes no sense at all as the law was written in a time when there were no ATMs or internet banking.

Fortunately I can survive with that limit. Appreciate the heads up. ^

There is a limit of 6 of which 3 may be check withdrawls.

Sometimes this is poorly worded and I've heard a bank rep (not Citi) say something like "transfers don't count." She really meant the limit of 3 doesn't apply if you do all transfers.

The In-Person/ATM exclusion makes sense to me. People used to keep a savings passbook and make withdrawls in person. ATMs came along and they are still "in person" since you are at a bank location of sorts.

Ahhh! That would be really annoying. As far as I know that was the first time we have done it. It was beyond frustrating as we were at home for 5 minutes to swap out our bags from our wedding, and grabbing our bags for our 2.5 week honeymoon so we didn't have any extra time to go to a branch on the way to out international flight. Luckily there is a branch at JFK so I jumped out of the car did the transfer and we made our flight. Might need to open another account and keep half and half so that we can always access our money.

one word with regards to earning interest on your savings:

INGDirect.


This high-interest-earning savings acct lets you do any transfers to any bank any time. Could take a couple extra days but so worth it in the end! Plus, a little known fact, if you do a transfer between ING and Bank of America, it counts as a Direct Deposit! This alleviates their monthly fee for some accounts such as the bank ones that have airline bank cards that earn miles on PIN transactions as well as credit transactions out of your checking account! The only downside with BofA is that they have no OD protection unless you have one of their credit cards too and not all will work for that. the baseball BofA cards do not, for example. BTW, ING transfers to Citi do NOT count as DDs. They were wiser.

Nevertheless, I have set up all my accounts so they can transfer in and out of one another. I use citi and it costs nothing but I have nothing in it right now either. If I try for the ultimate savings acct, I may try to load it in creative ways...

You can also do this with the Citi account. I've made external transfers several times including the free next day service.

You also get this with Citi AA Debit MasterCard.