Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings Review: A High APY Rare for a Big Bank

Usually, you have to turn to an online bank if you want a high-yield savings account. But the Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings account offers a surprisingly competitive, high-yield APY with no minimum balance requirements, plus brick-and-mortar branch access. In this review, we'll go over all the details of the Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings account, from its rare perks to its checking account requirement, to help you decide if it's right for you.

Citi's APY is equal to that of some of our favorite savings accounts, and you don't even need to make a minimum deposit to earn it. It's definitely higher than what you'll find from a typical brick-and-mortar bank.

Top perks

Competitive APY: The Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings account earns a competitive APY of 4.35% on all balances. But you might get a higher rate at one of the banks on our best savings accounts list.

No minimum deposit: You can open a Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings account no matter how much money you have to invest.

All-in-one banking: Few banks can match Citibank's lineup of offerings to handle all of your banking needs in one place. Citi's credit cards offer best-in-class perks in addition to offering an array of banking accounts, personal loans, mortgages, investing, and wealth management services.

Monthly fee waived: For the first three months of your account, Citi will waive the $4.50 monthly fee. Then, you can avoid paying the monthly fee by keeping an average monthly balance of $500 or more, linking a Citi checking account, or maintaining a high Relationship Tier.

Relationship Tiers for high net worth clients: Citi now rewards clients for holding a high monthly average balance across numerous Citi accounts, like checking, CDs, IRA, and investments. If you have more than $30,000 in savings, you could get perks like waived account and non-Citi ATM fees, higher withdrawal limits, annual subscription reimbursements, and more. See our section below on Relationship Tiers for more details.

What could be improved

Access to high-yield savings is limited: The savings account earns great rates, but only if you live in one of its eligible states, U.S. territories, or eligible regions of otherwise ineligible states. Residents in other states can't open a Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings account.

Monthly fee: Depending on your circumstances, you could end up paying a monthly fee. If you don't have a Citi checking account, or can't maintain a monthly average balance of $500, you'll pay the $4.50 account fee.

Citi customers can use more than 65,000 fee-free ATMs at hundreds of Citi branches across the U.S. There are also plenty of online options to access your money.

Deposit options

There are several ways to deposit funds into your Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings account, including:

• ATM deposit
• Local Citi branch
• Direct deposit
• Electronic bank transfer
• Wire transfer
• Check by mail

Funds from Citi savings account deposits are typically available immediately if made before cutoff times. Deposits made later are available the next business day.

Withdrawals

You can withdraw money from your Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings account using similar methods as deposits:

• ATM withdrawal
• Local Citi branch
• Electronic bank transfer
• Wire transfer

Depending on your Relationship Tier, you may need to leave a minimum amount of funds in your account to avoid paying monthly fees.

Citi used to offer banking packages but now has Relationship Tiers. Each Tier will reward you for maintaining a specific monthly balance. The rewards grow increasingly more generous as you move toward the top tier, but each one includes a waived monthly fee and no fees on non-Citi ATM transactions. Take a look for yourself at what each tier requires and the benefits you can get.

The combined average monthly balance includes not just your Citi savings but also Citi checking accounts, CDs, IRAs, and investments accounts.

If you're new to Citi, you'll choose your Relationship Tier upon opening your account. Then, you'll need to maintain your tier's minimum balance range for three consecutive months to stay in that tier. If you want to "tier up," you'll need to maintain that tier's minimum average monthly balance for three consecutive months. The same applies for those who already bank at Citi: You won't get to choose your tier but rather will be slotted based on your combined monthly average balance for the previous three consecutive months.

If you want a high-yield savings account with the convenience of in-person banking service, a Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings account is a great choice. It's also a convenient place to park your money if you're looking for a full-service bank.

Yes, there are monthly fees if you don't meet certain requirements. But there are enough options and fee waivers for many people to avoid these charges. Remember, there are no deposit minimums or caps on interest-earning. But if you'd rather not jump through so many hoops, many online savings accounts also offer high APYs with no monthly fees.

Keep reading about Citi:

• Citi® Priority Checking Account
• Citi CD

Our savings account methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, 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 The Motley Fool Ascent rates bank accounts.