“On deposit” at Citibank refers to the total amount of money you currently have sitting in your deposit accounts, including checking, savings, and certificates of deposit. When you see this label on your Citibank account summary or online dashboard, it represents the cash balance the bank is holding for you across those accounts. It does not include credit card balances, loan amounts, or (in most views) investment holdings.
What Counts Toward Your On Deposit Balance
Your on deposit total pulls from the bank accounts where your cash is actually held. At Citibank, the deposit accounts that feed into this figure include Regular Checking, Access Checking, Citi Accelerate Savings, Citi Savings, Citi Miles Ahead Savings, Citibank Savings Plus, and Certificates of Deposit. If you hold an IRA or Roth IRA through Citibank, those retirement account balances can also count toward your combined totals.
Investment accounts held through Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CGMI), Citibank’s brokerage arm, are tracked separately as investment balances rather than deposits. However, both deposits and investments can be combined when Citibank calculates your overall relationship balance for tier eligibility. So while your brokerage portfolio won’t show up under “on deposit,” it still matters for determining the banking perks you qualify for.
Why Citibank Tracks This Number
Citibank uses your deposit balances to determine your relationship tier, which controls the fees you pay and the benefits you receive. The bank calculates a Combined Average Monthly Balance (CAMB) by averaging the daily balances across all your eligible deposit and investment accounts over a calendar month. That average, not a single snapshot, is what decides your tier.
The two main tiers where this matters are Citi Priority, which requires a combined average monthly balance between $30,000 and $199,999.99, and Citigold, which requires $200,000 to $999,999.99. If your combined balance drops below your tier’s minimum for three consecutive calendar months, you’ll be moved to a lower tier.
This is why your on deposit balance matters beyond just knowing how much cash you have. Keeping it above a certain threshold can unlock fee waivers, higher interest rates on savings, and access to priority customer service.
On Deposit vs. Available Balance
Your on deposit balance is not always the same as your available balance. The on deposit figure reflects the total funds credited to your account, but some of that money may be temporarily unavailable. A check you deposited yesterday, for example, might appear in your on deposit total while the bank waits for it to clear. Your available balance is the portion you can actually spend or withdraw right now.
This distinction comes up most often with new accounts. Citibank checks your on deposit balance in “new-to-Citibank funds” on the 11th business day after you open a new savings account to verify you’ve met the minimum balance for promotional interest rates. That timing gives recently deposited funds a chance to fully clear before the bank evaluates your balance.
Accounts That Don’t Count
Not every Citibank account contributes to your on deposit or combined balance totals. Accounts owned by estates, secured CD accounts, collateral holding accounts, and accounts in money purchase plans or profit sharing plans are all excluded. Accounts in tax-qualified education savings plans and those opened through Citi Global Wealth at Work or Citi Private Bank are also left out of the calculation.
If you hold accounts that fall into these categories, don’t assume they’re helping you reach a higher relationship tier. Only the eligible deposit, retirement, and investment accounts listed in Citibank’s Consumer Deposit Account Agreement factor into your combined balance.
How to Check Your On Deposit Balance
You can view your on deposit total by logging into Citi’s online banking portal or the Citi mobile app. The account summary page typically displays your deposit balances grouped together, with investment balances shown separately if you have a linked brokerage account. Your monthly statements also break down balances by account type, so you can see exactly which accounts are contributing to the total.
If the number looks lower than expected, check whether a recent deposit is still in the process of clearing, or whether one of your accounts falls into an excluded category. You can also call the number on the back of your debit card to get a breakdown of which accounts Citibank is counting toward your combined balance.