Citizens Debuts Digital Bank

Citizens Financial Group announced the launch of its nationwide, direct-to-consumer digital bank. Citizens Access safely and securely offers Member FDIC-insured online savings and CD accounts with attractive rates and no fees to customers across the United States.

“Over the last several years, direct bank deposits have grown six times faster than deposits at traditional banks as consumers have sought innovative new ways to save money,” said John Rosenfeld, president of Citizens Access. “To address these evolving customer needs, we designed Citizens Access to provide an exceptional digital experience where every task is intuitive and easily accomplished, even on a mobile phone.”

Citizens Access’ customers can open and fund a new account on a mobile device or computer in fewer than five minutes. In addition, savings tools will be sent to customers to help them learn creative ways to save, such as using the platform’s tools to construct a CD ladder to benefit from higher, longer-term rates without the hassle of locking all of their money up for the entire duration.

“The industry is seeing a renewed interest in CDs as consumers turn their attention to digital-savings’ products,” Rosenfeld said. “After 10 years of declining popularity with consumers, recent trends have shown that CD growth [has] begun to outpace savings and MMA growth. Citizens Access is initially offering differentiated CD offerings and we want to help consumers understand how to best utilize these products in their savings plans.”

Though many direct banks charge fees for typical bank services (such as official checks, returned deposit items or excessive transactions), Citizens Access has eliminated all fees.

The digital bank will be marketed separately from Citizens’ current branch footprint, as well as operate separately from Citizens Bank’s current retail offerings, which include approximately 3,300 ATMs and around 1,150 branches in 11 states within the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions.