Overview

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is the 13th largest retail bank and one of the financial services firms in the United States. It has its headquarters in Providence, Rhode Island, where its roots date back to 1828. The Citizens Financial Group is part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, but the RBS plans to sell its share in the company by the end of 2016.

The bank offers retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations, and institutions. The bank has $135.4 billion in assets and $101.9 billion in deposits. Citizens Financial Group has 1,200 branches and 3,200 ATMs in 11 states. The bank has a four-star rating with Bauer Financial and a D rating with the BBB. The negative BBB rating is due to many complaints about Citizens Financial Group understating customer balances and charging overdraft fees unnecessary.

What Are Citizens Financial Group Checking and Savings Accounts Like?

Checking Accounts
Citizens Financial Group offers clients four checking accounts: One Deposit Checking, Value Checking, Personal Checking with Interest, and Circle Gold Checking with Interest. These are the main features of each account.

One Deposit is a simple and clear checking that doesn’t charge a monthly maintenance fee as long as you make a deposit of any amount during each statement period. The monthly fee is $9.99. This account does not pay interest but it has a minimum deposit of $25, gives free access to Citizens Bank ATMs, and it doesn’t charge an overdraft fee when it is caused by a transaction of $5 or less.

The Value Checking account has a low $3.99 monthly maintenance fee, but this fee cannot be waived. It includes free exclusive design checks, one “free” transaction at another bank’s ATM with no fee from Citizens Bank and you decide whether you want paper or electronic statements.

The Personal Checking with Interest account offers a maximum return of 0.01% APY and has an $11.99. The account maintenance fee can be waived if you keep a $2,500 average daily balance. The minimum deposit to open the account is $50. The overdraft fee is $35, which is high.

Circle Gold Checking with Interest offers access to exclusive services and includes a savings account and access to a money market account, at no additional cost. It does give interest, but as of December 2015, the maximum APY is 0.01%, regardless of your balance. There is a $20 monthly maintenance fee that can be waived if the monthly combined balance is above $20,000. The minimum balance to open is $250. Citizens Financial Group’s Circle Gold Checking also includes four free transactions at other ATMs per statement period.

Savings Account
Citizens Bank has four savings accounts. Green Savings, Circle Gold Savings, CollegeSaver and Citizens Bank HomeBuyer Savings.

Green Savings has a minimum balance to open of just $1 and a monthly maintenance fee of $4.99. You can avoid the fee by keeping a daily balance of $200. The interest rate is only 0.01% APY.

Circle Gold Savings has no monthly maintenance fee, as long as you have a Circle Gold Checking account. There is no minimum deposit to open. However, the interest rate is only 0.01% APY.

CollegeSaver has no maintenance fee and only requires $25 to open for children under 6 and $500 for children 6 years old to 12 years old. The interest rate is 0.05% APY.

HomeBuyer Savings is an account designed to help you save for your home down payment. There is no monthly maintenance fee, it has a $100 minimum balance and a 0.05% APY. The account also includes a $1,000 credit toward closing costs if you get the mortgage through Citizens Bank.

What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages of Citizens Bank’s Checking And Savings Accounts?

We love this about Citizens Bank:

• Flexible features and services 
• Selection of checking and savings accounts
• Low mínimum deposit
• Several ways to avoid monthly service fees

We don’t like this about Citizens Bank:

• Low-interest rates
• Fees for regular banking procedures