Published 6/3/08 (Modified 3/8/11)
By MoneyBlueBook

Periodically throughout the year, Citibank cancels out old expired promotional offers and issues new ones to entice first time customers to open new Citibank checking and savings accounts. While I'm already a long time Citibank customer and won't be able to qualify for the latest Citibank promo deals, I still like to keep tabs and updates on all free money offers out there (whether banking or credit card related).

I've edited and updated my compiled list of Citibank promotion codes with the latest active bonus offers for new Citi banking customers:

• Currently, Citibank is providing a new $200 bonus deposit offer with the opening of a new Citi checking account (Promo offer code: CEMX). This offer expires on June 30, 2008.

• Citibank is also offering a new bonus offer for 16,000 Citi Thank You Network reward points with the opening of a brand new qualifying Citi checking account (Promo offer code: CSVL). The promotional Thank You points are instantly redeemable for the equivalent of a free $150 gift card. The new Citi account holder will also get to earn triple Thank You Network points for 1 year. This offer expires on July 31, 2008.

Citibank Is A Decent Banking Option For New Checking Account Customers - Not So Much For Savings Accounts However

For those of you out there who have yet to settle on or select a primary bank to handle your banking funds and transactions, you may want to take a look at what Citibank has to offer. While they offer pretty unimpressive interest rates for a major national or international bank, they do make up for lower yields in other ways. While I have a hard time recommending Citibank for savings or money market accounts due to their comparatively lower interest yield offerings, I do recommend their checking accounts.

Usually when it comes to choosing banks, I look at three major components - (1) Office branch locations and ATM convenience, (2) Online website versatility and functionality, and (3) Account interest rate competitiveness. However, when it comes to checking accounts, the interest rate component is far less important of a consideration than the first two factors. Most savvy banking consumers adopt or should adopt the practice of routinely transferring excess deposit money to high interest savings where the funds can properly earn and accrue interest. The amount that sits in the checking account should thus be the bare minimum necessary to cover daily expense turnover and fulfill emergency fund needs. As such, the minimal amount that resides in the actively used checking account will likely benefit more from the wealth of branch office and ATM locations, and a well developed online account management interface than any high interest offering. After reviewing the features offered by other prominent banks, I chose Citibank as my primary bank years ago due to its thorough national banking presence and well maintained online website for handling account transactions.

I can almost always find a Citibank location wherever I go and Citi ATM's are everywhere. Their ATM presence has multiplied tremendously ever since they partnered up with 7-11 convenience stores to offer Citibank branded ATM's, giving Citibank customers access to a much larger network of surcharge free locations to perform their banking.

In addition, as I perform the vast majority of my checking transactions electronically, having a clean, robust, and secure banking website interface to handle my active checking account transactions is very important to me - and Citibank fits the bill quite well.

Along with Citibank, Bank of America is another popular and widely accessible checking option as well, with bank branches and ATM's everywhere. They too offer free money promotions as well for new customer accounts - take a look at my updated list of Bank of America promotion codes.