Citibank CDs review: can you buy brokered CDs today? Best Citi CD rates: 6-months, 1-year, 3-years, 5-years.
CD Rates at Citi Invest
Certificates of deposit can be opened with some pretty decent interest rates through Citibank. Citi Self Invest, the online discount brokerage affiliate of Citibank, doesn’t offer brokered CDs, although there are some alternatives you should be aware of.
CDs at Citibank
Citibank has an extensive lineup of certificates of deposit with a variety of terms and rates. First is the bank’s no-penalty CD. This time deposit can be closed out without incurring any fees, which is the typical system with most CDs. The problem with this type of CD is a very low rate of return. Currently, the APY on the bank’s no-penalty CD is just 0.05%. The term is 12 months, and there is a $500 minimum deposit requirement.
A higher rate of return can be had with a regular CD. During our investigation, we found the following rates on Citibank’s CDs:
| CD maturity date | Annual yield to maturity |
|---|---|
| 9-month term | 4.05% (with a deposit under $100,000) |
| 9-month term | 4.75% (with a deposit over $100,000) |
| 1-year term | 4.05% (any balance) |
| 2-year term | 2.50% (any balance) |
The third and final CD type Citibank offers is a step-up time deposit. This one has a time period of 30 months. The advantage of this CD is that an extra 0.05% of interest is added every ten months. The disadvantage is the base APY; it is just 0.10% right now.
On all CD types, Citibank requires a $500 deposit. Of course, Citi offers FDIC insurance on all of its certificates of deposit, up to program limits.
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Cash Equivalents from Citi Self Invest
Although Citi Self Invest doesn’t offer any fixed-income securities, it does offer trading in ETFs and mutual funds, and some of these are short-term bond funds that can be used in lieu of certificates of deposit.
Finding bond funds on the Citi Self Invest website is quite simple. Simply click on the tile for the brokerage account on the Citi dashboard and then select the link to explore ETFs and mutual funds. Doing so will pull up the fund screener.
In the fund categories section on the left-hand side, select bonds, money market, or both. For fund type, select ETFs, mutual funds, or both.
With our scan, we found the following funds with their rates of return:
| Fund | Total return (trailing 12 months) |
|---|---|
| PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF(PULS) | 2.93% |
| Pioneer Multi-Asset Ultrashort Income Fund (MAFRX) | 3.43% |
| SPDR Bloomberg 3-12 Month T-Bill ETF (BILS) | 2.41% |
| Money Market Fund | 7-day yield |
|---|---|
| Invesco Government Money Market Fund (ACZXX) | 4.56% |
| BlackRock Money Market Portfolio (PINXX) | 4.60% |
Neither bond funds nor money market funds are insured by the FDIC. They do have SIPC protection.
Placing a Trade
To submit an order at Citi Self Invest for an ETF or mutual fund, simply go to the fund’s profile (this can be accomplished by clicking on the fund in the search results or by entering a ticker symbol in the top search bar) and then click on the blue buy button that appears on the profile.
The cost of placing a trade for either a mutual or an exchange-traded fund at Citi Self Invest is nil.
Connecting Accounts
Inside of Citi.com, bank and brokerage accounts that are opened with the same Social Security Number will be automatically linked for easy management.
Brokered CDs at Charles Schwab
If none of the fixed-income choices from Citi appeal to you, there is always Charles Schwab. This brokerage firm does offer brokered CDs, and because they come from a variety of financial institutions, a large selection will easily be found.
To find this rather long list, simply log into the website (the mobile app and desktop platform won’t work here) and head to the tab in the main menu for Research. A window will drop down with a variety of links. Several of them are for CDs and other fixed-income assets. Click on the one you want.
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Charles Schwab CD Rates
Charles Schwab’s website has several CD tools, including:
- CD ladder builder
- Matrix of CD and bond rates
- Step-by-step search engine for CDs
- Regular search engine with several criteria
- Bond calculator
Here’s a sample of CDs we found using the regular search engine:
| Bank | Maturity date | Yield |
|---|---|---|
| LendingClub Bank | 12/23/2025 | 5.50% |
| Morgan Stanley Bank | 03/20/2025 | 5.35% |
| American Express | 09/22/2025 | 5.25% |
| Morgan Stanley Bank | 09/21/2026 | 5.00% |
| Discover Bank | 09/18/2028 | 4.65% |
Read detailed Charles Schwab Review.
Visit Charles Schwab Website
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Citibank IRA Fees
An Individual Retirement Account can be opened at Citibank as a Roth, Traditional, or Rollover account. The bank does not charge an annual fee for its IRA’s. At Citibank there is also no charge for establishing a retirement account. Even better, there is no fee to close an IRA.
A Citibank IRA can be invested in either a CD or a money market deposit account. The certificate of deposit has a $250 minimum to open. The money market account has no required opening deposit. Both of the bank’s IRA options carry FDIC insurance. IRA contributions can be deposited into the money market account at any point, but a CD only accepts contributions at the beginning or end of its term.
Citibank IRA Rates
Citi's IRA rates on Money Market, 18-Month Variable CD and Day-to-Day Savings varies by state. Below are the rates for Manhattan:
Citibank Brokerage IRA Fees with Citi Personal Wealth Management
A retirement account can also be opened with Citi Personal Wealth Management, the brokerage arm of Citigroup. This option opens up many more investment choices, including stocks, bonds, ETF’s, and mutual funds.
The brokerage IRA at Citibank does come with a rather uncomfortable $75 annual fee. Enrolling in the company’s CitiGold package will eliminate the charge. There is also a minimum balance requirement of $25,000. The broker assesses a $100 fee for any account that does not meet this minimum. Placing four trades every twelve months will avoid the $100 charge. All retirement accounts with the brokerage division are insured by the SIPC, rather than the FDIC.
An IRA can be managed by investment professionals at Citi. This option has free commissions, but comes with a percentage-based annual fee. It varies based on a variety of factors, but is usually above 1%.
Transferring a Citi Personal Wealth Management IRA to another broker costs $100.
Read detailed review of Citibank brokerage account.
Commissions in the Citibank Brokerage IRA
Stock and ETF trades in a self-directed account cost $0.
Citibank IRA Fees Comparison
Only offering three IRA types is a rather small selection. Charles Schwab, by comparison, provides eight IRA versions, while Fidelity has no less than seven.
Charles Schwab charges $0 for stock and ETF trades, and JP Morgan is at $0 too.
A $75 annual fee for the brokerage IRA is very expensive, judged by today's standards. Most stock brokers nowadays charge no annual fee at all. Firstrade, Charles Schwab, and Webull have all abolished annual IRA fees. TradeStation has a $35 yearly IRA fee.
The $100 low-balance fee is also very steep. WellsTrade’s low-balance fee is only $25. It is waived with a $5,000 account balance.
Updated on 4/18/2024.
About the Author
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
