As of October 1, 2026, Citizens is offering up to $3,000 to new checking customers who open an eligible checking account and a new savings account on the same day between October 1 and November 15, 2026. The headline number is real, but it's paid in monthly pieces over a year: up to $1,200 on the checking side, tied to your gas spending, and up to $1,800 on the savings side, tied to keeping $40,000 or more in the account.
Here's how each half works, so you can tell whether either is worth it for you.
The Checking Half: Up to $1,200 Back on Gas
The checking bonus works like a monthly gas rebate. Citizens pays back what you spend on fuel with the new account's debit card, up to a monthly cap, in any month you also meet the deposit requirement.
- Citizens Quest, Citizens Private Client or Business Advisor Checking: up to $100 a month, $1,200 total.
- One Deposit, Citizens EverValue, Student or Clearly Better Business Checking: up to $50 a month, $600 total.
To earn it in a given month, Citizens' terms require both of these:
- Deposits of $1,000 or more posting to the new checking account that month. For personal accounts, these have to be direct deposits: recurring income like salary or a pension. Citizens says money from Zelle, Cash App, Venmo or PayPal doesn't count.
- Gas purchases with your new Citizens debit card. The bonus equals what you spend at merchants coded 5541 or 5542, cent for cent, up to your monthly cap. Citizens names Shell, Wawa, Speedway, ExxonMobil, Cumberland Farms and BP as examples, but it's the merchant's code that counts, not what you bought.
Each month stands alone. Miss one, and you can still earn the next.
The Savings Half: Up to $1,800 for a Big Balance
Open a new eligible savings account the same day, then make one single deposit of at least $15,000 in new money (funds not already at Citizens or Citizens Access) within 10 business days of opening. After that, each month pays based on the account's end-of-day daily balance:
- $40,000 or more: $150 a month, up to $1,800.
- $15,000 to $39,999.99: $50 a month, up to $600.
- Below $15,000: nothing that month, though you can earn again in a later month once the balance is back up.
Before you park $40,000 here, look at what the account itself pays. Citizens' terms list Quest Savings at 0.02% APY as of September 21, 2026, and One Deposit Savings at 0.01%. Compare that with what the same money earns where it sits today; our look at savings rates against the national average is a starting point.
Who Qualifies
- New checking customers only. The primary signer can't be, or have been, a signer on any other Citizens personal or business checking account in the previous 24 months.
- Both accounts, same day. You have to open the checking and savings accounts together between October 1 and November 15, 2026.
- Once per offer. Each customer can take the consumer offer once and the business offer once.
- Excluded accounts: Citizens Private Bank Checking and Savings and Citizens Access Online Savings, plus Analysis Business Checking.
Citizens' page lets you open online or at a branch. Start the application there to confirm you're eligible.
Fees and Payout
Bonuses post as "Promo Bonus" on the last day of the month after the month you qualified. Open in October and qualify in November, and the first bonus lands by December 31, 2026. The account has to stay open through each payment date, and Citizens says bonuses may be reported to the IRS. Our explainer on why bank bonuses are taxable covers what that means at tax time.
Watch the monthly fees while you're chasing the rebate:
- Quest Checking: $25 a month, waived with $5,000 in total deposits to your primary checking each statement period or $25,000 in combined deposits and investments.
- One Deposit Checking: $9.99 a month, waived when you make one deposit each statement period.
- Citizens EverValue Checking: $5 a month.
When Each Half Is Worth It
The gas rebate is the half to look at. Say you already have a $1,000-plus paycheck you can point at Citizens and you buy $100 of gas a month: with Quest Checking, that's your gas back in every month you meet both requirements, up to a year. Just plan for the $5,000 monthly deposit waiver, or the $25 monthly fee comes out of what you earn. If you spend less on gas, you earn less, and the One Deposit tier caps at $50 a month.
The savings half only makes sense if you can leave $15,000 to $40,000 at Citizens for a year and you're comfortable with what that money gives up elsewhere. For a simpler offer, compare Chase's $900 checking and savings bonus.
The Citizens offer ends November 15, 2026. Open both accounts on the same day by then.
