Citi customers with the bank’s “Basic Banking” package currently pay an $8/month service fee that can be waived if the customer makes five qualified transactions per month. The good news is that they are reducing that requirement; the not-so-good news is that Citi is raising the monthly fee for people who don’t make the necessary number of transactions.

Starting in December, if the customer makes one direct deposit and one online bill payment with the month, the new $10 fee will be waived. It can also be waived if the customer maintains an average monthly balance of at least $1,500. If the customer also has a Basic Savings account the combined total on deposit in the two accounts would count toward the $1,500 threshold.

Citi says this decision was made “in response to direct feedback from clients on providing clearer choices, more simplicity and greater rewards.”

“At the end of the day, they prefer the simplicity of not having to remember a list of activities to complete each month to avoid a service fee,” said Citi’s Head of Banking Products for U.S. Consumer Banking.

That’s reassuring, because we thought this was just a way to squeeze more money out of customers with low or inactive bank accounts.

Citibank Simplifies Banking Package Options [Citi Press Release]

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