Our Verdict
Citizens Bank was founded in 1828 and headed in Providence, Rhode Island. Citizens Bank has over 1000 branches and operates in 15 states Virginia, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, and Florida. However, the bank has refused to be limited by states because the bank serves you no matter your region in the U.S. Most importantly, this bank no longer offers personal loans but rather provides home loans, student loans, and auto loans as lending services under personal category on its website https://www.citizensbank.com/custom/regionalizationgateway.aspx#
Pros
- Flexibility in interest rate
- Availability in all states
- Increment in the loan amount
- Variety of lending products
- Digital presence
- Option for inclusion of co-signer
Cons
- Unconventional personal financing products
- Products only serve three main purposes
Who This Product Is Best For
Citizens Bank is good for you if you are a borrower who:
- Is a student looking for schooling financing
- Is looking for mortgages Products
- Wants funds for house building, buying, or reconstruction
- Is looking for a lender with flexible rates
- Wants different kinds of personal financing options
- Prefers lenders with a wide range of availability
- Prefers doing business with old mortar and brick bank
- Wants rewards on loans
- Wants access to large amounts of funds
Who This Product Isn't Right For
You find it hard to get along with Citizens Bank if you are a borrower who:
- Prefers conventional personal loans
- Hates strict application procedures
- Wants access to fast funding
- Doesn’t like mortgages loans
- Has bad credit history
- Is a new borrower with blank credit history
What This Product Offers
Home loans: This is a mortgage loan that you can use to buy or build a house. Citizens Bank divides this loan into 4 categories. You have the Home loan, refinancing, new construction loan, and home equity line of credit.
Student loans: Get this loan to finance your school fees and semester fee as may be requested by your school. As a parent, you can also get it for your children to cover their schooling expenses. This loan has different categories which are undergraduate loans, undergraduate loans, parent loans, student refinancing, and refinancing for medical residents.
Auto loans: Secure your dream automobiles such as cars, and trucks with a Citizens auto loan. Be aware that you cannot get funds into your account for This loan. Instead, Citizens Bank pays the money directly to the dealer of your choice.
Product Details
Home loans
Here, you get a mortgage amount of up to $300,000 for a property that is worth $400,000. This loan offers a favorable fixed rate which the lender only charges on the mortgage amount.
Mortgage amount: $300,000
APR: Varies based on the term. For 15 years 5.37% and 6.14 for 30 years.
Repayment term: 15 to 30 years
Students loans
Pick your choice loan according to your academic level and needs. The undergraduate loan gives a favorable fixed rate of 4.99% and a variable rate of 5.11%. Also, there is a graduate loan which you can use for postgraduate studies such as MBA programs, Law school, medical school and dental school. The fixed rate is 6.00% while the variable rate is 5.76%.
Loan amount: Not fully disclosed but you can get up to $15,000 on scholarships.
APR: Can be up to 7.14%
Repayment term: Up to 30 years
Fee: Not disclosed
Auto loans
You can finally drive your dream car with this loan. This product can be active for up to 30 years and while the bank doesn’t disclose the rates and amounts of the loan, it does mention that they are competitive.
Where This Product Stands Out
Competitive rates
Citizens Bank does not fully disclose the rates on its lending products. However, most traditional banks offer favorable rates and Citizens is not an exception. You can choose an APR as low as 4.99% and as high as 7.14%.
Variety of lending products
Citizens Bank allows you to choose various kinds of loans to meet your financial needs. Ranges from home loans, student loans, and auto loans with each category packed with numerous options to choose from.
Co-signatory on loan products
This lender only values you if you have a higher credit score. To boost your chance of getting approval, Citizens Bank provides a feature that allows someone with good credit history to vouch for you by signing a loan form together with him.
Discount rates
For every of its loan products, especially home loans and student loans, you can enjoy a discount rate of 0.125% if you activate automatic payments as your repayment method.
Wide range of availability
Citizens Bank offers you a loan even if you are not living in any of the states where the bank serves. Its lending products serve all citizens.
Where This Product Falls Short
No conventional personal loans
If you want conventional personal loans which give you the freedom to use the money for general purposes, then, look away from Citizens Bank. Citizens Bank no longer gives out personal loans again. Every loan on the website is purpose-specific.
No specified amount for student and auto loans
The lender only gives you a possible rate per product and remains silent on the amount for student and personal loans.
No direct funding for an auto loan
If you are applying for Citizens Bank’s auto loan, note that you won’t get the funds into your checking account. A Citizens Bank representative makes the payment on your behalf.
Limited lending options
All the Citizens Bank’s personal financing options only serve three purposes—building purpose, education, and automobile. When you follow the options under each category, you may say the loans offer numerous options. But when you consider the purposes they serve, you may agree that they are highly limited by purpose.
Available to borrowers with good credit history
Citizens Bank has strict requirements to qualify for any of its loans. Before you move steps towards applying for the loan, wait a moment to check your credit standing. If you have a bad credit history, consider alternatives to the bank.
How to Qualify for This Product
Citizens Bank doesn’t reveal any details on the needed criteria to qualify for any of its loans. Instead, contact 1-888-514-2300 to find a loan officer to know the specific qualifications you need for Citizens Bank’s personal loans.
Credit history
Possess a good credit history with a FICO score that is 700 and above. Remember, Citizens Bank still remains one of the oldest mortar and brick banks in the country and it can collect anything less than good credit.
Annual revenue
According to LendEDU’s review of Citizens Bank, the website claims that this lender requires your annual revenue to be somewhere above $24,000 before you can qualify for any of its personal lending products.
Proof of identity
Provides documents that reveal your residential identity. The reason why is that Citizens Bank offers a rate based on your state of residence.
Proof of collateral
Citizens Bank’s new personal lending products are largely mortgages that require proof of collateral. Therefore, the purpose for which you are taking out the loan becomes the collateral to secure the loan. That the house in home loans and cars and trucks in auto loans are all security to the loans.
How to Apply for This Product
Citizens Bank loan officers don’t disclose the specific paperwork you need to apply for the loan. Visit the bank branch or online website to inquire from a loan officer about the possible requirements you need for a chosen loan. Nonetheless, whatever the loan specialist may tell you, there are general documents you need to attach to the special requirements for any loan application.
- Loan application
- Driver’s license, citizenship certificate, birth certificate, and Social Security Card.
- Bank statements, income and expenses documents, tax returns, and contact information,
- Tax receipts, voter registration card, bill payments receipt, and mortgage statements.
Alternatives to This Product
Best Egg
You can get funds within one business day with this lender. Best Egg gives a personal loan which you can use for any financial occurrence. You can get up to $50,000 with a flexible rate.
KeyBank
Choose from a wide range of personal loan products that this lender offers and get up to $25,000. This loan serves a general purpose and the loan term is up to 7 years. Moreover, if you have bad credit history this lender can help you rebuild by offering a loan amount that’s up to $3,500 for up to 4 years.
Fifth Third Bank
This lender offers you a personal loan that is up to $500,000 with a long term that reaches 20 years. You can use this loan just for any financial goal. Instead of settling for Citizens Bank’s mortgages, go for Fifth Third Bank as you can get a figure higher than the former and use it for an unrestricted goal.
LightStream
Lightstream provides personal loan amounts that can be up to $100,000 with a competitive interest rate which is as low as 9.99%.
Customer Reviews
On Better Business Bureau’s website, Citizens Bank has an A+ rating based on the fact that the bank has closed 1,346 complaints with the agency in the past three years. Also, in the last 12 months, Citizens Bank already closed over 570 complaints. On the other hand, things take a downturn as the bank gets a poor rating of 1.05 stars from the potential 5 stars on the Bureau’s website. This star rating showcases the review results of 200 customers.
Methodology
We reviewed *this product* based on 20 data points in the categories of loan details, loan costs, eligibility and accessibility, customer experience and the application process. We rated *this product* based on the weighting assigned to each category:
- Loan cost: 35%
- Loan details: 25%
- Customer experience: 20%
- Eligibility and accessibility: 10%
- Application process: 10%
Within each major category, we also considered several characteristics, including available loan amounts, repayment terms and
applicable fees. We also looked at minimum credit scores and time in business requirements and the geographic availability of the lender. Finally, we evaluated *this product* customer support tools, borrower perks and features that simplify the borrowing process—like online applications, prequalification options and mobile apps.
No Comment! Be the first one.