Earlier this year, I detailed my experience opening a Citigold checking account to earn American Airlines miles and how I was able to fund it successfully with a credit card. Once the miles had posted for opening the Citigold account, I downgraded the account to a Basic Checking account which I have kept open with the minimum amount ($1,500) in it to avoid any monthly service fees. I realized I never opened a savings account with Citibank when I opened that checking account so last week I opened a Savings Plus account for the sole reason to fund it with a credit card to earn points. Spoiler alert – I was successful but here is a recap of the various steps I took and important details you need to know.
While there are various ways to apply for this account, I chose to apply online as this was the quickest and most convenient method for me. On the Citibank Savings Plus account information page, it clearly lists the ability to use a credit card to fund the account which alleviates any concern about using a credit card.
Well don’t mind if I do…
- Decline any offer to fund the account with a Citibank checking account or any other account you may have with another bank.
- Note: You actually can’t fund a Citibank account with a credit card online. Unlike when I opened my checking account, I was not given option to print a form to fax in my credit card information to fund the account so I would have to call in to fund it.
- It is advisable to wait a day to call in to fund the account as reps can’t initially process funding on the account.
- In the meantime, decide which credit card to use and set the cash advance limit to zero. Doctor of Credit maintains an excellent list of which cards will post this as a purchase vs. a cash advance. It might also be helpful to call your bank and inform them of a large purchase but I did not do this.
- I would choose either a Citibank or Barclays credit card as I haven’t read many reports of those cards posting as cash advances. I personally used my Citi Prestige. Citibank won’t accept American Express so no Amex cards will work.
- DO NOT USE a Chase card under any circumstance as this will almost always post as a cash advance.
- Once you’ve waited a day call New Accounts at 1-800-745-1534.
- Protip: They are only open Monday to Friday from 9am EST to 6pm EST.
- Tell the rep you opened a Savings Account yesterday and you would like to initially fund it with a credit card. My rep noted the funding would be processed as a purchase but did warn me some banks will still treat this as a cash advance and I would be responsible for any fees.
- After providing my card information, my rep stated the account would be funded in a few days and in the event something went wrong, I would receive an email notifying me of the issue.
Sure enough, I checked two days later and I saw a $14,500 charge on my Citi Prestige AND $14,500 in my new Savings Account. Success!
Coded as a Purchase on my Citi Prestige
Credit Card Deposit in my Savings Account
Even though I didn’t receive any signup bonus for opening this account (unlike the current Citigold offers for 50,000 ThankYou Points or 50,000 American Airlines Miles), I still think this is a worthwhile endeavor especially if you already have a checking account with Citibank from a previous offer. Opening a savings account allows you another easy opportunity to fund a bank account with a credit card for a large amount – your credit line is the only constraint! For maybe 20 minutes or so of work, I earned 14,500 Citi Thank You Points. If I redeem those points at a rate of 1.6 cents per point for AA flights, that’s worth $232 in free flights!
With how easy this is, anyone else going to try this?
PointsCentric 