Citibank Citigold: Credit Card Funding How to Step By Step

Citibank is offering a $500 bonus when you open a Citibank Citigold Checking Account Package by 2/29/2016 with code promo 43BWK6L7UU. This is a great offer for those that want to earn an easy $500, but this article is not specifically about the bonus. This article is about how you can use this account to earn extra cash back on top of the sign up bonus by funding your checking account with a credit card. But which credit card do you use? What are the steps to earning more cash? Well, I have all the answers for you. Continue to read below and I’ll show you how to earn more with these simple tricks.

You can view the original promo by checking out our Citibank Citigold Checking Review: $500 Cash Bonus.

How to Fund Your Citibank Citigold Checking Account

1. Sign up today for the Citibank Citigold Checking Account Package.
2. Remember to use the promo code 43BWK6L7UU.
3. Click on “Apply Now.” Make sure that the account that you are apply for is the Citibank Citigold Checking Account Package, and enter the promo code.
   • If the link does not work, give Citibank a call or print out the promotional offer and talk to a Citibank representative to make sure the promotion is still available.
4. Go through the application process.
5. When you get to “Fund your account,” select “Choose another fund option.” Then select “Credit Card.”
6. This is where it gets a bit tricky. You cannot enter a credit card online; you need to fax in the credit card funding information. You’re given a link to a PDF to print out the funding sheet. Click on it, and print that out.
7. Continue with the rest of the application
8. Fill out the form you printed out for credit card funding with the amount you want to fund along with your card information and fax it in. You can add the Citigold account number to the paper to clarify which account the funding is going for.
   • (Alternative) You can also fund the account with a credit card over the phone at 1-800-745-1534 by asking for the New Account Department. You won’t be able to do this the same day of application since it takes a day for the application to process in their system; wait 24-hours and you should be okay. Some have had success with phone funding, but not all reps will know how to do this; say you want to make an ‘Initial Deposit’ on the account.
9. Wait at least 48 hours, and you will see a charge on your credit card. You will then get a Debit card in the mail. Checks will arrive separately.
10. If something goes wrong, they will call or email you to get it fixed. If the initial credit card funding doesn’t go through (i.e. it gets denied due to fraud alert), you get one more attempt to fund with a credit card. After that, you’ll have to fund it another way.

Note: Credit card funding is only available for accounts that were opened online. Reports indicate that accounts opened in-branch cannot be funded with a credit card at all because it’s treated separately. The online team won’t be able to assist you.

What’s So Special About the Citigold Checking Account

One of the key features that the Citibank Citigold Checking Account has over other cards is the fact that you are able to fund your account with a credit card. Funding with a credit card? What? Yes! You heard right. You are able to fund the checking account with a credit card to meet the minimum requirement of $50,000. Now, you should be very precise with which credit card you use to fund the account. Some credit cards offer a cash back deal when you make a purchase. Since you are funding the Citigold account with a cash back credit card, the funding will count as a purchase, and therefore, giving you cash back.

Picking the Right Card

Visa and Mastercard are the only accepted cards to fund your account. You may only use one credit card for funding (you can’t split the amount between credit cards). Some issuers may treat this as a cash advance. You may want to contact the card issuer in advance to lower your cash advance limit as a precaution, or you can fund an amount higher than your cash advance limit.

Transactions from Barclays and Bank of America credit cards have been considered as ordinary point-earning purchases. Capital One and Chase consider this as a cash advance, so these cards should be avoided. When it comes to Citi cards, however, the most trends suggest that they treat the funding as an ordinary post-earning purchase, but there have been problems where they were not. If you want to use a Citi card, it would be wise to lower your cash advance limit to an amount lower than you are planning on funding.

Note: If you are planning to fund your account with a large amount, then make sure to notify your card issuer in advance to avoid any issues. Some have had experiences where there funding was denied in order to protect against fraud. Remember, you only get two chances at funding the account with a credit card.

Confirmation

A key to take after opening your account and funding is to get a written confirmation from Citibank about the offer. Most people end up receiving the bonus after meeting the requirements, but you might need to make an extra phone call or send a secure message to assist the process. You also might want to consider taking screen shots during your process of opening the account. Once you have written confirmation, it will be much easier to message them later and get the bonus, in the event it doesn’t post automatically. Wait a couple of days before attempting to receive confirmation because the bonus is not instantly viewable as attached to your account. For added security, you can message them again after completing the necessary requirements and get written confirmation that you fulfilled those properly.

Avoiding the Fee

If you didn’t know by now, the Citibank Citigold Checking Account Package has a monthly fee of $30, but there is a way to minimize and avoid the fee. The only way to do this however is to downgrade or cancel your account. You would want to have received your bonus and keep the account funded for a minimum of 30 days before continuing or they might take away your cash bonus.

You are able to downgrade the account to a Basic checking account. The Basic account has a monthly fee of $10, but it can be waived with a couple in two ways:

• Maintaining a minimum balance of $1500
• OR have a direct deposit and one bill payment per month

After downgrading the account, you have the option of closing the account for good. This is the most fail-safe way to avoid the fees. The only thing you want to consider is if you cancel the account straight from Citigold instead of downgrading and then terminating. You may experience an early termination fee if you received your bonus. Be sure to read the fine print of the promotion.

Repeatability

If you currently have a Citigold account, this feature will not be for you, but some have said that if you no longer have an account, you are able to qualify for the bonus again after some amount of time. I suggest that you wait at least half a year from opening the account to repeat the bonus.

Conclusion

Overall, funding your Citigold Checking Account Package with a credit card can give you great cash back bonuses. Not only does it give you cash back bonuses when you fund it with a credit card, but you also earn a $500 sign up bonus. Just be sure to pick the right credit card when you fund the account. If you liked this article, check out our full list of Banking Promotions right here on BankCheckingSavings.com!