Understanding Hidden Fees in Your Citizens Bank Statement

It can seem next to impossible to determine your Citizens Bank fees ahead of time. The company does not readily disclose the individual fees aside from monthly maintenance fees. Even then, they emphasize that if you meet a minimum balance, you might avoid the monthly maintenance fee. In fact, one customer asked for a list of fees and policies to prevent hidden fees and was told that it’s based on each account. So, what are the different checking accounts, and what should you look for on your bank statement? 

Checking Accounts

Citizens Bank has five types of checking accounts:

1. One Deposit Checking
2. Citizens EverValue Checking
3. Student Checking
4. Citizens Quest Checking
5. Citizens Wealth Checking

For each, there is a monthly maintenance fee of $10, $5, $0 if under 25, $25 unless you keep $5,000 in your account in each, and undisclosed unless you keep $200,000 in your account each month, respectively. 

You can also expect undisclosed amounts for overdraft fees if you do not have overdraft protection and an overdraft transaction fee if you set up overdraft protection linked to a savings account with Citizens Bank. 

With any of these checking accounts, you might face ATM fees depending on the type of account you have at other banks. Additional fees might include:

• Personalized checks
• Stop payments
• Bank checks
• Money orders
• Wire transfers
• Foreign currency exchange
• And more

Savings Accounts

For a savings account through Citizens Bank, you can’t get information until you have a location-specific, personalized account, but Citizens Bank makes clear that you can expect:

• Monthly maintenance fees
• Minimum balance fees
• Transaction fees
• Inactivity fees
• Check fees

Money Market Accounts

For a money market account, you can expect:

• Monthly maintenance fees
• Transaction fees
• Inactivity fees
• Check fees

CD’s

For CDs, you can expect:

• Early withdrawal fees

What Should I Do If I am Incorrectly Charged a Fee from Citizens Bank?

Be diligent and look for errors or things that don’t make sense. This bank does not make it easy to find out information about potential fees and therefore avoid them, so it’s easy to understand why so many customer complaints about Citizens Bank have to do with hidden fees or fraudulent accounts.

If you ever see something that doesn’t make sense, contact Citizens Bank customer service. They might be able to explain that the fee was a monthly maintenance fee or ATM fee. If not, then you have two other options:

Small claims court

With small claims court, there are different restrictions based on your state. You have to check that your compensation and case qualify. Then you have to invest the time and money going back and forth to court to file paperwork and show up before a judge. 

Arbitration 

With consumer arbitration, you have more flexibility, and you can often get a faster resolution. 

Share your complaint about Citizens Bank with FairShake today.