CitiBank

• Flexible Loan Terms
• $50,000 Max Loan Amount
• Nationwide Availability
• Time in Business

Flexible Loan Terms 

CitiBank has a flexible range of loan terms to choose from when a customer is looking into a personal loan through the lender. Term lengths include 12-, 24-, 36-, 48-, and 60-month terms. Again, this is very comparable to other banks, and while it might not be the longest loan term out there when it comes to other big-name financial institutions, it is pretty common.

A maximum five-year loan term is an average loan, especially for a personal loan. The benefits CitiBank offers its customers is the ability to choose from multiple different loan term options. This provides flexibility and ensures that all customers can find a loan that best fits their needs. If an interested borrower is in need of more time than five years to pay back a loan, smaller companies that deal exclusively in personal loans might be a better option.

$50,000 Max Loan Amount

The maximum amount a customer can borrow for a personal loan through the lender is up to $50,000. This is comparable and average to other lending companies, especially to larger companies who also offer a variety of services such as CitiBank.

The personal loans can be as low as $2,000 dollars but can only be as high as $50,000 dollars. CitiBank does have other methods of borrowing such as a customer credit line, but the maximum loan amount for this is only $25,000, making the personal loan a much better choice for customers who need a larger lump sum of cash.

Nationwide Availability

As a larger company, CitiBank has the luxury of offering its services to anyone in the United States. All 50 states are eligible to receive a personal loan through CitiBank; however, in order to fill out a loan application online, a customer must first set up a relationship with CitiBank, meaning a personal checking account or savings account.

If that does not interest a searching individual, CitiBank has many different physical branch locations all across the country. CitiBank has a customer service phone number available on its website for interested customers to call. Having the physical branch locations is both a huge benefit to customers and a hindrance. Customers have the ability to talk in person with a representative of CitiBank who can answer all questions and concerns; however, it also takes away from the convenience of doing everything online that many of its competitors offer for personal loans.

Time in Business

With more than two hundred years in business, CitiBank is a well-known company with ample amounts of experience. This can provide peace of mind to consumers that CitiBank is a trusted and experienced company in the lending industry. 

• Poor Online Transparency
• Lengthy Approval/Disbursement Time
• Fees May Apply
• Strict Missed Payment Policy
• High Interest Rates

Poor Online Transparency

Like many other big-name companies, the information of a minimum credit score needed for personal loan approval is not clear in the information it provides; however, on average CitiBank accepts a credit score of 600 or above in order to be approved on a loan application.

This is average in comparison to other companies. The reason behind needing a 600 credit score is again the size of the business. CitiBank deals with many other services besides personal loans and all of their products require higher credit scores. A large company often does not approve clients with lower scores simply because they have a massive volume of loans without low credit scores.

The need for a relatively high credit score paired with the higher interest rates through CitiBank makes its personal loans a tough service to market. Many of the other institutions CitiBank is up against for personal loans can offer their customers a much easier approval route; however, this goes back to the convenience, ease, and safety of dealing with a larger company over a smaller online business.

Lengthy Approval/Disbursement Time

CitiBank promises that once a personal loan application is filled out and the loan is approved either online or in-person, a customer can have the funds within five business days. This is an enormous amount of time compared to CitiBank's online competitors who guarantee same day approval, and fund availability within five days. In addition, the approval process can take days through CitiBank and sometimes, even weeks, as a customer is dealing with a large financial corporation instead of a small group of loan underwriters at a smaller company.

Fees May Apply

Depending on the type of loan offered, a loan origination fee, and closing costs may be charged to the consumer. Consumers should be aware of all of the terms and any processing fee you may have to pay prior to closing on their personal loan application.

Strict Missed Payment Policy

Citi Bank has a history over the last 10 years of closing credit lines when a payment has never been late or missed due to miscellaneous credit checks on consumer's present state of credit. A credit pull also negatively impacts the consumer's credit score each time a credit check is done. The credit checks are completed at random times during the duration of a consumer's business with Citi Bank, and if negative marks are seen anywhere, the consumer's card and the account will be canceled out immediately, even if you are on track to repay the loan on time and haven't submitted even one late payment.

High Interest Rates

As a larger bank that has the resources to be available to customers wherever they need it, the assumption might be made that CitiBank's rates would be very comparable to other lending companies; however, CitiBank actually has some high-interest rates found on its personal loans. 

Its rates start at around 10% and can increase to 20%. Although this top fixed rate is low compared to some other companies, the starting rate is high. CitiBank also has a disclaimer that rates can vary by state and repayment terms. Depending on the location of borrowers, they might be eligible for a different fixed-rate loan.

In addition, in order to qualify for the lowest interest rate offered, a customer must sign up with CitiBank for its personal checking and savings account and enroll in automatic payments through these accounts. Also note, the better your credit score, the lower your rates and monthly installments will be. 

View Best Personal Loan Companies