Citibank vs Charles Schwab

Citibank is a large national bank best for high balance customers. How does it compare to Charles Schwab? Read our comparison chart below.

Citibank has over 600 branches across the United States. Service fees and ways to waive are on the high side. Best for high-balance customers who can open one of the elite accounts to earn reward points, get preferred rates, and other perks.

While Charles Schwab offers stock and ETF trades at $0 commission and options trading at $0 commission + $0.65 per contract. There is no minimum deposit, no maintenance fee, and no inactivity fee.

Compare Citibank with Charles Schwab, side-by-side. Read on for an in-depth look, including ratings, reviews, pros and cons.

	Citibank	Charles Schwab
	OFFER Citi Checking - $1,500 Bonus Read Citibank Review	SPECIAL OFFER $0 Commissions on Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades - Learn More Read Charles Schwab Review
	Benefits and Features
Savings	Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings: Available in AA, AE, AK, AL, AP, AR, AS, AZ, CO, DE, GA, GU, HI, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MP, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, OH, OK, OR, PA, PR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VI, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY and select markets in Florida and Illinois. Citi® Savings: Available in CA, CT, DC, MD, NV, NJ, NY, VA, and select markets in Florida and Illinois.
Stock Trading		$0 commission on U.S. stocks and ETFs
Options Trading		$0 + $0.65 per contract
CD	6-Month Fixed Rate CD - 3.00% APY 9-Month Fixed Rate CD - 3.00% APY 5-Year Fixed Rate CD - 2.00% APY 1-Year Fixed Rate CD - 0.10% APY 3-Month Fixed Rate CD - 0.05% APY
Checking
Mutual Fund Trading		$0 for funds from Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource and up to $74.95 per purchase for all other funds
Money Market
Banking		Yes
Mobile App	iOS & Android	Yes
Futures Trading		$2.25 per contract
Customer Service	24/7 Live Customer Service (Telephone)	24/7
Locations	645 retail bank branches concentrated in the six key metropolitan areas of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Washington, D.C.	300 locations
	CreditDonkey® Reviews
Savings
CD
Checking
Mobile App
Customer Service
Stock Trading
Options Trading
Mutual Fund Trading
Online Platform
Banking
Commissions and Fees
Ease of Use
Research
Pros & Cons	Pros: Perks for high balance customers Many fee-free ATMs Global presence Cons: No free checking option Higher balance requirements Low savings APY	Pros: Vast selection of commission-free ETFs and mutual funds 2 platforms (one for beginners and one for advanced traders) 24/7 customer service including online chat Cons: Commission costs on mutual funds outside of the commission-free funds Robo-advisor option requires a minimum investment of $5,000
Bottom Line	Large national bank best for high balance customers... Read full review	Good choice for beginning and advanced investors looking to invest in ETFs and mutual funds or investors that require extensive research... Read full review
		$0 Commissions on Online Stock, ETF, and Options Trades 500 Commission-Free Online and Options Trades Schwab's Referral Offer - Up to $1,000 Bonus
Blank fields may indicate the information is not available, not applicable, or not known to CreditDonkey. Please visit the product website for details. Citibank: Pricing information from published website as of 05/07/2025. This content is not provided by Citi. Any opinions expressed are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by Citi. Charles Schwab: Pricing information from published websites as of 01/22/2025.

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