Citibank (Hong Kong) Time Deposit Account Review – that will be the topic of today’s article.
It continues our reviews of savings accounts after I looked at Marcus by Goldman Sachs , Emirates NBD, HSBC term deposit, Bank of China Smart Saver and an expat-specific solution.
The article will look at the positives and negatives of the accounts, although it remains our position to in an era of 0% interest rates, saving money in the bank doesn’t make sense.
For any questions, or if you are looking to invest, you can contact me using this form.
Citibank – ‘Citibank’ is the consumer wing of the multinational financial service provider ‘Citigroup’. It was founded in the year 1812 as the ‘City Bank of New York’. It is headquartered in ‘New York City, New York’ and has more than 4,000 branches in 42 countries.
Some of the banking and financial services provided by Citibank are ‘Credit Cards’, ‘Personal Loans’, ‘Mortgages’, ‘Lines of Credit’, ‘Commercial Loans’, ‘Deposit Accounts’, etc.
Citibank (Hong Kong) – ‘Citibank (Hong Kong)’ is a licensed bank specialized in banking and financial services, which is incorporated in Hong Kong. Citibank is known to be a preferred choice among expats and non-residents.
It was founded in the year 1902 and the headquarters is located in ‘Three Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong’ and has 49 branches in Hong Kong.
Some of the services provided by Citibank (Hong Kong) are ‘Retail Banking’, ‘Commercial Banking’, ‘Investment Banking’, ‘Private Banking’, ‘Credit Cards’ and ‘Financial Analysis’.
Before coming to the Time Deposit Account offered by Citibank (Hong Kong), let us have a look at all the other types of services offered by it.
Banking Services – There are five types of premium banking services offered at Citibank (Hong Kong), they are ‘Citigold Private Client’, ‘Citigold’, ‘Citi Priority’, ‘International Personal Banking’ and ‘Citi® Private Bank’.
Accounts and Services – The accounts and services offered at Citibank (Hong Kong) are ‘Payroll Account Services’, ‘Stock Trading Services’, ‘Global Banking’, ‘Time Deposit Account’, Renminbi Services’, ‘Checking Accounts’, ‘Savings Accounts’, ‘Multi-Currency Account’ etc.
‘Payroll Account Services’ – The Payroll account is known to provide good offers for the customers. Some of them are listed below:
‘Stock Trading Services’ – The welcome offers for the new customers who open a stock account at Citibank (Hong Kong) are as follows:
Some other features of the stock account include Mobile services, Two-factor authentication, etc.
‘Global Banking’ – Citibank (Hong Kong) also provides a wide range of services globally, specially designed for the customers who want to travel/relocate, study abroad, make investments overseas and manage their global accounts.
‘Renminbi Services’ – A wide range of services in Renminbi currency are offered, which are Forex, RMB Mutual Funds, RMB Bonds, RMB Deposits, RMB Cash Withdrawals, etc.
‘Savings and Checking Accounts’ – Citibank (Hong Kong) has welcome offers for the customers on Savings and Checking Accounts as well. People who bring in new funds into the bank can avail of a cash rebate of up to HKD7,000.
Savings Account – Citibank Savings Account comes with some quite exquisite features. Daily compound interest rates are offered, and the customers can choose from the currencies HKD, USD and RMB for their savings accounts.
A monthly consolidated statement is provided to the customers for their convenience and the accounts could be accessed via Online banking services and Phone banking services.
Checking Account – Checking Account at Citibank (Hong Kong) is good for the day-to-day transactions, which is available in HKD and USD.
They have a ‘No-Bounced-Check Protection’ feature up to HKD5,000 for the Citibanking® customers having a daily combined balance of HKD30,000 and up to HKD20,000 for the Citigold® customers.
Customers can also get access to the Citi Card offered by Citibank (Hong Kong).
A monthly consolidated statement is provided to the customers for their convenience and the accounts could be accessed via Online banking services and Phone banking services.
Checklink Savings Account – This account allows individuals to make payments as well as earn deposits on the savings.
This account also comes with the benefit of ‘No-Bounced-Check Protection’ as well. Checks will be automatically drawn from an individual’s account in order to prevent check bounces as well as penalties.
‘Multi-Currency Account’ – There are three types of Multi-Currency Accounts at Citibank (Hong Kong), which are ‘Call Deposit’, ‘Time Deposit’ and ‘Forex Trading’.
The Call Deposit account is available in 14 different currencies that are most prominently used worldwide.
The Time Deposit Account comes with 11 different currencies and the Foreign Exchange Trading account comes with an availability of 12 different currencies.
‘Credit Cards’ – There are many types of Credit Cards offered by Citibank (Hong Kong). Each card comes with different types of benefits and privileges. The Credit Cards offered are as follows:
Citi Prestige Card – This card comes with a great welcome offer of 240,000 points. The annual fee of this card is HKD3,800.
Citi Premier Miles card – A welcome offer is available on this card, which can either be 108,000 points (worth 9,000 Miles) or HKD800 worth welcome coupons.
Citi Cashback Card – As the name suggests, this card offers cashback to the customers. 2% cash rebate on hotel spending and dining spending. Welcome offer of an Afternoon Tea set for two people at Mandarin Oriental (Hong Kong) or HKD800 worth welcome coupons, or HKD700 cash rebate.
Citi Rewards Card – Customers can earn points up to 5 times while they spend money using this card. A welcome offer of HKD800 cash rebate or Afternoon Tea Set for two people at Mandarin Oriental.
Citi Clear Card – This card is useful for the people who want to make online transactions internationally. 2% cash rebate is offered on online spending in foreign currencies and entertainment shows/movie ticket privileges are also offered.
HKTV Mall Card – A welcome offer of up to HKD1,200 and great shopping benefits are offered. HKD400 without any spending and extra HKD800 cash rebate upon spending a certain amount.
Citi Octopus Platinum Card – New customers can get a welcome offer of up to HKD200. Some very exquisite benefits include the HKD1 cash rebate on every HKD200 spent, Flexi-Installment Program, Instant Cash Disbursal and Citi World Privileges.
Supplementary Card – The main purpose of this card is that it can be used by a family member of a primary cardholder. It does not have an annual fee and comes along with the primary card’s rewards.
Installment Plans – Citibank (Hong Kong) provides many types of Installment Plans to the customers. Some examples are ‘Transaction Installment Plan’, ‘Statement Installment Plan’, ‘Online Purchase Installment Plan’, ‘Bank Account Transaction Installment Plan’, ‘Merchant Interest-Free Installment Plan’, etc.
‘Mortgage Services’ – Customers are offered with many types of Mortgage services at Citibank (Hong Kong). They are:
Some tools such as Mortgage Calculators, Property Valuation, Manage Your Mortgage Loan, Property Market Updates, etc., for the convenience of the customer who wants to acquire Mortgage services or is already an existing customer.
‘Loans’ – Loans offered at Citibank (Hong Kong) are ‘card Debt Consolidation Loan’, ‘Speedy Cash Loan’, ‘Handy Loan’, ‘Ready Credit Loan’ and ‘Top-up Loan’.
The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) usually ranges from 2.01% to 44.72%, depending on the type of loan.
The loan repayment period can be set from 6 months to 60 months depending on the convenience of the customer availing of the loan.
‘Insurance’ – Citibank (Hong Kong) offers Insurance on various categories to the customers. A few examples of the types of Insurance offered by them are ‘Life Insurance’, Travel Insurance’, ‘Home Insurance’, Personal Accident Insurance’, etc.
‘Wealth Management Services’ – A few examples of the Wealth Management Services offered at Citibank (Hong Kong) are as follows:
‘Investment Services’ – A few examples of the Investment Services offered by Citibank (Hong Kong) are given below:
Some Investment-related services such as Market Insight, Online Investment Services, Investment Risk & Client Profiling, etc., are also provided to the customers.
‘Other Services’ – Citibank (Hong Kong) gives access to a wide range of banking services to its customers. Some of the most prominent banking services offered are: ‘Internet banking’, ‘Mobile Banking’, ‘Mobile Payments’, ‘Alert Service’, ‘e-Statement Service’, ‘e-Advice Service’, ‘e-Cheque Deposit Service’, ‘Payments & Transfers’ and ‘Citi Thank You rewards’.
Time Deposit Account – For most of the people, who are not familiar with the definition of ‘Time Deposit Account’, Time Deposit Account is a type of account where an individual receives a fixed-rate interest on their deposits until the deposited amount reaches maturity.
A Time Deposit Account can be considered as one of the efficient ways to handle and maximize savings. Time Deposit Accounts usually provide a higher interest rate when compared to the traditional Savings Account.
‘Time Deposit Account at Citibank (Hong Kong) – Some of the prominent and exquisite features provided with the Time Deposit Accounts at Citibank are ‘Guaranteed Returns’, ‘Higher Interest Rates’, ‘Availability of a wide range of Tenures and Currencies’, ‘Flexible renewal processes’, etc.
The highest interest rate that can be obtained with the help of a Time Deposit Account at Citibank (Hong Kong) can be up to 0.60% p.a. for HKD and up to 1.30% p.a. for RMB.
The interest rate for Mutual Fund Transfer-in Time Deposit for an amount greater than or equal to HKD200,000 is up to 2.5% p.a. (For Time Deposit Currencies HKD, USD, CAD, AUD, NZD and RMB).
The interest rate for Foreign Currency Time Deposit for the amount of HKD200,000 or above is:
These interest rates can differ in real life depending on the tenure selected and the deposited amount. These rates are just provided as a reference.
Integrated Wealth Management Services – The Integrated Wealth Management Service at Citibank (Hong Kong) include:
New Funds are the type of funds that should have been brought to the bank from an outer source and not been transferred from the accounts within the bank.
The average daily combined balance is calculated as the balances of the deposit, investments, and all other products under the individual’s name (which can either be a single account or a joint account) divided by the number of days in a month.
The RMB conversion at the bank is not free of cost and the currency exchange rate might differ as per the daily rate of RMB.
FX Trading is subjected to risk and people should be careful and always try to consult and take advice from an expert financial advisor (like us) before they could make an investment.
The Time Deposit Account at Citibank (Hong Kong) can be opened by a person by visiting a branch or with the help of Citi® Mobile App. The Procedure for Mobile App is as follows:
By doing so, the Time Deposit Account will be set up successfully.
Pros:
Cons:
Let us take a look at some other banks in Hong Kong that provide a good amount of interest rates on a minimum of HKD200,000 for a 3-month period
| Bank | DBS | Wing Lung Bank | Public Bank |
| Interest Rate | 2.3% | 1.9% | 1.7% |
Bottom Line:
Citibank is a famous bank having a good reputation not only in Hong Kong but all over the world. The Time Deposit Account is not so bad, at the same time, we cannot consider this as highly advantageous.
By taking a look at the information provided above in the article, you can come to the conclusion that Not everybody can be able to have the benefits of a preferential interest rate on the Time Deposit Account.
However, by the perfect guidance and expert advice from a good financial advisor like us, you can be able to obtain maximum benefits or choose another bank that can provide better returns.
If you are a person who needs in-depth information about this topic or guidance for opening a time deposit account, or management services to handle your assets, you can be able to avail of the expert financial and wealth management services offered by us.
Further Reading: Premier Trust Review