If you are looking to open a personal or business account for the first time, you might be wondering which bank is the best to open an account with. Wells Fargo and Citibank are both massive and are the third and fourth largest American banks respectively, and both have their benefits, but there are some key differences between them which I would be talking about in this article. Let us know more detail about ‘Wells Fargo Vs Citibank: Which Is Better To Do Business With?’.
Wells Fargo Vs Citibank: Which Is Better To Do Business With?
I would be comparing both banks based on:
🟡 Account opening Process.
🟡 Interest rate.
🟡 History and Net Worth.
🟡 Controversies and Scandals.
If you are finding it difficult to choose which one of these two banks to do business with, this article would help you make up your mind. Ready to find out which bank suits your needs best?. Let’s compare the two banks.
Account opening Process
Personal Account: You can open two types of personal account with Wells Fargo, a personal checking or savings account, and both accounts can be opened individually or jointly. To open both types of personal accounts, you would need your basic information, social security number, driver’s license, and a minimum opening deposit amount. You can apply for a Wells Fargo personal account both online and in person.
You can also open two types of personal accounts with Citibank, a checking account or a savings account. Citibank offers different types of checking accounts, and you can check out their offers on To open both types of personal accounts, you would need your personal information, social security number, your employment status and income, your driver’s license, state ID or military ID, and no minimum deposit amount.
Business Account: To open a business account with Wells Fargo you would need original or certified copies of your business documents, Taxpayer Identification Number for both the business and the individuals opening the account, and two forms of personal identification, one of which must be issued by a government agency.
To open a business account with Citibank you would need your business formation document, a government issued form of personal identification, Taxpayer Identification Number, Transaction activity, and number of employees.
Interest Rate
1. Personal Loan Interest rate:
Wells Fargo offers personal loan amounts ranging from $3,000 to $100,000 with fixed annual percentage interest rates from 5.74% to 20.99%.
Citibank offers personal loan amounts from $2000 to $30,000, with annual percentage interest rate ranging from 9.99% to 16.49%.
2. Business Loan Interest rate:
Wells Fargo offers small business loans of amounts up to 5 million dollars with Interest rates ranging from 6.25% to 22.99%. And business credit lines of amounts ranging from $5,000 to $500,000 with Interest rates ranging from prime +1.75 to prime +9.75%.
Citibank offers business loans of amounts ranging from $5,000 to $5,000,000, but there is no information about their Business loan interest rate online.
Brief History and Net Worth
Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo was founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo during the California Gold rush, to provide Express mail delivery, Gold transportation services, and banking services to a rapidly growing California during the Gold rush. After the Gold Rush, Wells Fargo remained a dominant banking organization in the West. Wells Fargo has undergone a lot of mergers in its 170 years of existence, most significant of which was the merger with a Minneapolis+based company called Norwest Corporation. As of February 2022, Wells Fargo is ranked 41st on the Fortune 500 company rankings, and is worth $1.79 trillion. Wells Fargo’s corporate headquarters is located in San Francisco, California.
Citibank: Citibank is a division of Citigroup which is a multinational group of companies that offers financial services. The company was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and its first President was Samuel Osgood, a statesman and retired Colonel. As of February 2022, Citibank’s parent company, Citigroup is ranked 44th on the Fortune 500 company rankings, and is worth $1.7 trillion Citigroup’s corporate headquarters is located in the city of New York.
Controversies and Scandals
Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo has been through a few scandals in its 170 years history, notable among which is its account fraud scandal and its recent fake job interview scandal. In 2016, millions of fraudulent accounts were opened on behalf of Wells Fargo clients without their consent. And in May 2022, it was revealed that Wells Fargo had conducted fake interviews in order to increase their employee diversity.
Citibank: Citibank has been through a series of scandals in its 210 years history notable among which was its conflicts of interest on investment research in 2002 for the bank was fined $400 million, and allegations of thefts from Customer accounts in 2008, for which it was forced to pay $18million in refunds.
For me, WellsFargo is the better bank.
