Creating an Online Checking Account
Citibank requested that I provide them with certified Articles of Organization, stamped by Dept of State, or a filing receipt. It is not enough that your company is registered in the state business database online. I had my official receipt stolen a while ago, so I sent a request to the DoS for a certified copy of my Articles. Finally got them last week. I faxed my first request to the wrong number - they have different fax numbers for Articles of Organization processing and for everything else. I resent it to the right fax number, requesting that my credit card be charged and asking for expedited processing. They executed both of my requests and charged me $10 for the regular copy and $35 for expedited. I now have two copies of the same thing and feel like I wasted 35 dollars for no reason. Oh, Citibank also asked that I provide at least $1 for initial account deposit and the name/address of my first payee. Not sure why that’s necessary, but I guess it’s part of their process. I gave them the name/address of one of the newspapers where I took out ads for LLC formation.
Anyways, I faxed my certified Articles of Organization over to Citibank for processing. They also requested that I fax/bring them a copy of a utility/phone bill that proves that I live where I say I do. I didn’t have any, so I faxed them some documents from IRS that have my address and name on them. Citi also had someone call my home phone to verify that I live there.
While all of this was going on, my business banker emailed me my bank account and made sure that I received my online account set-up instructions and my new ATM card.
The online instructions came in two letters. One contained my temporary password and instructions. The other contained my CitiBusiness Online Security Token. I called the number in the first letter, told them my temporary password and randomly-generated token number and they give me a User ID and a Business Code. I then used those to log into a new Citi site that asked for my temporary password, a new token number, and a bunch of other security questions. It then allowed me to generate my own password, which I used, along with a new token, to perform transactions online. It feels very James Bond-ish your first time.
Anyways, the bad thing is that my business banker did not link up my personal checking account and my business checking account (I have both with Citi), so I had to go to an ATM and transfer my funds that way. Apparently, if I transfer funds between two unlinked accounts online, it is considered a wire and costs $12.50. Otherwise, it is free in an ATM.
