Citi Australia Home Loan

About Citi Australia Home Loans

Owning a house is the dream of a lifetime. On your hunt for the right home sweet home, you can rely on Citibank Home Loans. With the help of Citi Bank’s home loans, financial challenges faced by homeowners and property investors are easily taken care of. Citi Bank home loan interest rates are competitively priced to ensure affordable housing credits for borrowers. The Bank provides four types of home loans with fixed and variable interest rates, to offer flexibility and value to its borrowers.

Based in Sydney and Melbourne, Citi Australia is a global bank with its presence in nearly 100 nations. The bank maintains a strong commitment towards the economic welfare of the Australian people. Securities, capital markets, and treasury services are also extended by the bank with professional finesse.

Citi Bank’s home loans will merge with National Australia Bank’s (NAB) by March 2024, owing to the recent acquisition. As the bank says, ‘Write your next chapter, with a Citi home loan.’ Let’s dive straight into the various aspects of the bank’s home loans.

Features of Citi Australia Home Loans

Citibank home loans are available in four different types. The banks allow loan seekers to apply for a minimum amount of $350,000 for a maximum tenure of upto 30 years. 

Take a look at the different types of Citi Bank home loans and their distinct features.

Basic Home Loan

This is the bank’s stand-alone variable rate loan option. It’s a low-cost home loan offering the following advantages.

• Higher Savings owing to zero monthly account keeping fees.
• Penalty-free additional payments up to $1,000 per payment cycle.
• Principal and interest as well as interest-only repayments are accepted in fortnightly, weekly and monthly instalments.
• Limitless redraw of additional payments.
• Upto 4 split accounts with a minimum split amount of $20,000 per account.
• The loan cannot be used in combination with other home loans.

Standard Variable Home Loan

Another variable Citi Bank home loan interest rate option. Unlike the Basic home loan, this option can be combined with other home loans for maximum advantage. The loan offers:

• Flexibility of repayment as the variable rate of interest allows the borrower to repay the loan as and when they like.
• Redraw facility with no restrictions.
• Loan combination facility with other loans ensuring high affordability.
• 4 split accounts with a minimum split amount of $20,000 per account.
• Principal and interest as well as interest-only repayments are accepted in fortnightly, weekly and monthly instalments.
• Monthly account keeping fees are charged as per the bank’s T&Cs. 

Standard Fixed Home Loan

Standard Fixed Citibank home loan is exclusively designed to offer increased financial control over one’s borrowings. The loan option provides the following features to its customers:

• Fixed Citi Bank home loan interest rates for up to 5 years.
• Stable and certain monthly interest outflows.
• A 60-day long window, from the date of application, to fix the desirable interest rate.
• Prepayments up to $1,000 with no penalty.
• 4 split accounts with a minimum split amount of $20,000 per account.
• Penalty-free additional payments up to $1,000.
• Principal and interest as well as interest only repayments are accepted in fortnightly, weekly and monthly instalments.
• Account keeping fees are chargeable as per the bank’s T&Cs.

Standard Offset Home Loan

Loan seekers willing to link their savings accounts with home loan accounts can apply for the Standard Offset Citi Bank home loan. 

Let's check out its top features:

• Upto 100% offset facility.
• Higher savings on monthly interest payments.
• Funds readily available for repayments even during times of personal financial crises.
• Debit cards issued against the offset savings accounts can also be put to daily use.
• Loan combination with variable and fixed rate home loans available. 
• 4 split accounts can be opened with a minimum split of $20,000 per account. 
• A monthly account keeping fees to be charged by the bank.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Choosing a Citi Australia Home Loan

Benefits

• Global Reputation: Citi Bank offers banking products and services in almost 100 nations. The bank’s international recognition lends great credibility to its services.
• Competitive interest rates: Citibank offers some of the most aggressively priced home loans. Borrowers can flexibly choose between fixed and variable Citi Bank home loan interest rates.
• Minimum Financial Strain: Options like split accounts and offset facilities help customers minimise their financial burden. The bank also encourages loan combinations to save as much as possible.
• Additional Payments: The bank allows its customers to use their surplus amounts to repay more than the regular EMI amounts. Citi Australia gives a chance to its customers to save more on their interest payments in the longer run.
• Change Repayment Frequency: The bank allows its customers to adapt between fortnightly and monthly instalments on ongoing home loans by filling out a basic form.

Drawbacks

• High Charges: The bank levies several additional charges like application fees, settlement fees and account keeping fees among others.
• Limited Usage: Citi Australia majorly extends home loans for ownership and investment purposes. Obtaining loans for renovation, construction or lines of credit from the bank might prove rather difficult.
• Borrowers With Bad Credit Scores: Poorly rated loan seekers may find it difficult to apply for a home loan at CitiBank. The bank prefers candidates with high credit scores while sanctioning home loan requests.

Eligibility Criteria of Citi Australia Home Loans

Citibank home loan eligibility criteria help the bank establish an applicant’s repayment potential. To get a Citi Bank home loan approved, the applicant must be:

• At least 18 years of age.
• An Australian citizen/permanent resident.
• Financially stable.
• Consistently employed over the past few years

Tips to Improve Citi Bank Home Loan Eligibility

Follow these basic and practical hacks to get higher home loan amounts approved by the bank.

• Maintain Good Credit Scores: Citi Australia prefers loan applicants with high credit ratings. A loan seeker should make timely repayments and use a good credit mix to improve their credit scores over time. Strongly rated applicants can get benefits like low-interest rates and quick approvals.
• Apply Wisely: One should refrain from overestimating their potential and make reasonable requests while seeking a home loan. Loan seekers can use the bank’s online calculators to apply for the right loan amount and raise the chances of approval.
• Additional Measures: A home loan applicant is encouraged to submit joint applications and showcase records of consistent savings, if any, while applying for home loans. Both these steps increase the borrowers’ reliability and eventually, approval chances.

Application Process for a Citi Australia Home Loan

A home loan seeker can fill out the application form to apply for the desired home loan. After checking their eligibility and finalising the appropriate Citi bank home loan interest rate, an applicant can proceed to the application process. Prospective borrowers can contact the bank’s helpline number to gain specific details regarding loan application.

It must be noted that owing to National Australia Bank’s takeover of the Citi Bank, the bank is no longer accepting new applications as of 31st March 2023. Customers can start applying as soon as the bank notifies of the completion of the brand shifting process.

Document Requirements of Citi Australia Home Loans

Apart from physical submissions, loan seekers can also submit the following documents using the bank’s digital upload portal.

Requirements	Accepted Proofs
ID proof	●     Passport ●     Driver’s licence ●     Birth certificate ●     Other accepted documents
Income proof	Salaried Applicants: ●     Recent payslips ●     Bank statements for past few months Self-Employed Applicants: ●     Notices of Assessment ●     Taxation copies ●     Financial reports Other documents specified by the bank
Expenses	Proof of living costs such as utility bills, food bills, healthcare expenses etc.
Disclosure of debts	One month’s statement of existing debts like loans/credit cards/others
Property details	Copy of property agreement(s)
Employment proof	Letter of appointment/ Employment contract/ other documents

Contact and Support

Home Loan Enquiries: 1300 300 470 (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm) General Enquiries: 1300 131 127 (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm) E-Mail: [email protected]. [email protected] Post: Mortgages Operations, GPO Box 4799, Sydney NSW 2001.

Citi Australia Home Loan Calculators

Loan calculators are digital financial planning tools. They can offer advance and near-accurate estimates to help customers make informed banking decisions. Citibank home loan offers streamlined user design across all the mortgage calculators. The left pane of the calculator can be used for entering inputs while the right pane generates results in graphic and quantitative representations.

Citi Bank home loan seekers can access the following calculators from the bank’s official website at no extra cost:

• Borrowing Power Calculator to check the loan amount an applicant is eligible for.
• Mortgages Repayment Calculator to gain advance EMI estimates.
• Split Loan Calculator to check the loan splitting ratio between variable and fixed rates.
• Stamp Duty Calculator to check your stamp duty obligations.
• Extra Repayments Calculator for additional repayments computation.
• Lump Sum Repayments Calculator to ascertain the impact of repayments.
• Key Facts Generator to download personalised loan information. 

Steps to Access Citi Mortgage Calculators

All the abovementioned calculators can be accessed by following these simple steps:

• Log on to www.citibank.com.au
• Hover the mouse over the ‘Home Loans’ menu.

Select ‘Mortgage Calculators’ and all the available calculators will be listed for your use.