CIT Bank Review and Bonuses

Everybody needs a safe place to tuck away their emergency fund or short-term savings goals like a vacation or for a new car. A high yield savings account is a great option to make your money work better for you. Considering the average savings account earn a measly 0.06%, you’ll want to make sure to find the absolute highest interest rate that you can.

That is where CIT Bank comes in. If you’re not sure whether to bite the bullet, keep reading for our in-depth CIT Bank review to help you decide.

What is CIT Bank?

Not to be confused with Citibank,  CIT Bank–which stands for Commercial Investment Trust–is part of the parent company CIT, founded in 1908. The parent company has over $50 billion in assets and CIT Bank has more than $30 billion in deposits and $40 billion in assets.

CIT Bank is hanging with the likes of GS Bank and Ally by offering an online savings account rate of 1.00% with their CIT Savings Builder Savings account. Tack on a great set of returns on their CD products and CIT ranks as one of our favorite online banks. Plus, the bank also offers other products like home mortgage products as well as products and services for small businesses.

CIT Bank Accounts

CIT Bank provides real-time access to your accounts–manage them online or via their mobile app. When logging in online, you can view and download statements, conduct bank transfers and more. With the mobile app, you can deposit checks and transfer money, as well as check your account transactions and balances.

Check out what CIT Bank offers in terms of bank accounts below.

CIT Bank Savings Accounts

CIT Bank offers two types of online savings accounts: the Savings Builder account and the Premier High Yield Savings account. Both offer competitive perks, including the obvious–a great APY–as well as $0 maintenance fees on your account.

For the CIT Savings Builder Savings account, you can receive up to 1.00% APY if you can maintain a minimum balance of $25,000 or make a monthly deposit of $100 or more. Otherwise, you’ll receive a lower APY at their base tier rate, which is still higher than traditional banks. See details here.

The good news is, for the first month you open your account (you’ll need a $100 minimum deposit), you can earn the higher APY.

CIT Bank Money Market Account

Another type of savings account, the CIT Bank Money Market account, offers the best rate and one of the best compared to other banks. You earn 1.55% APY and there are no account minimums to worry about–many other banks usually ask for a high account minimum in order to earn competitive rates. Yes, you’ll need at least $100 to open an account, but there are no monthly fees. See details here.

CIT Bank eChecking

CIT Bank pays interest on checking accounts. That’s right – you get interest on your balance depending on the amount. Granted, you might be able to get rates higher elsewhere, but you don’t have to worry about account minimums or spending qualifications to earn the rate, compared to other banks.

Although the bank doesn’t have their own ATM network, CIT Bank does offer $30 per month in ATM fee reimbursements. Plus, you’re not charged fees from the bank. This is something to keep in mind, especially if you intend on using the ATM more than a few times in a month.

Like the savings and money market accounts, you need to open an eChecking bank account with a minimum of $100. This amount isn’t exactly high, but there are other banks without this minimum.

CIT Bank Certificates of Deposit (CD’s)

CIT not only provides a great rate on their high yield savings account, but they also have a great line of CD’s. In fact, CIT has a few different CD products to choose from.

High Yield CDs — Ranging from 6 months to 5 years, you can invest in a CIT CD with standard terms. To be blunt, these are the weakest of the CD’s offered by CIT. The interest rates are not as strong as they are with other banks. The minimum deposit amount is $1,000.

No-Penalty CD — CIT offers customers a no-penalty CD for a period of 11 months. This CD allows you to withdraw your balance plus interest any-time you wish after the first six days without an interest penalty. The current APY on this 11-month term is 4.90%. Minimum deposit to open a no-penalty CD is $1,000. See details here.

Jumbo CDs — If you have at least $100,000 to deposit with CIT, you can take advantage of higher CD rates. Higher than what, you might ask. Well, higher than their standard high yield CD rates. Once again however, the rates are still not up to par.

CIT Bonus Offers

Unfortunately, CIT Bank promotional bonus offers have been put on hold since April 11, 2020. However, if you really want to earn some cash during this time, check out our best bank promotions page for more details on other places that may offer bonuses.

Is CIT Bank Right For You?

If you have some savings that you’d like to tuck away in a high yield, online savings account–such as your emergency fund–CIT Bank is worth a look. CIT consistently ranks as the best or one of the best banks for high interest savings.