Citibank’s (NYSE: C) “EZ checking account” will remain free for a while longer for many of its customers
The New York State Attorney General’s office announced on Tuesday that Citibank would allow up to one million of its customers to keep their current free checking accounts for another year. During the month of November, Citigroup had announced that anyone that did not have at least $1,500 in deposit at the bank would have to pay a monthly fee or a per-check charge.
After the NY attorney general’s office made inquiries about the level of notice that Citibank had given to its customers, Citi agreed to allow people who had signed up for the accounts from January 1, 2009 to November 5, 2009 to keep their free checking account until January 31st, 2011. Additionally, customers that follow the original rules that come with their Citi checking account will not have to pay any per-check fees for one year.
“If you signed up for free checking, the bank can’t change the terms and must extend the offer for a reasonable period of time”, said Andrew Cuomo, the New York attorney general, during a news conference. Cuomo continued “We are defining reasonable, in this context, to be for one year.”
If you have a Citibank EZ checking account, you will likely hear from the bank about the settlement via postal mail soon.
