Refinancing with Citizens Bank may benefit borrowers with a high debt balance and those who already have accounts with Citizens. Among the nation’s largest banks, Citizens has recently faced litigation, including suits filed by federal entities.
| Loan Limits | $10,000 – $750,000 |
| Fixed Rates | 5.44%* – 10.14% |
| Variable Rates | 5.67% – 10.63% (21.00% Cap†) |
| Terms | 5, 7, 10, 15 or 20 years |
| Min. Credit Score | Undisclosed |
*Lowest rates always include a 0.50% total rate reduction: a 0.25% rate reduction for enrolling in auto-pay plus an additional 0.25% for bank members.
†The variable rate cap is the greater of 21.00% or Prime Rate plus 9.00%.
| Private student loans | ✓ |
| Private parent loans | ✓ (in parent’s name only) |
| Federal student loans | ✓ |
| Federal Parent PLUS loans | ✓ (in parent’s name only) |
Citizens Bank Refinance Rates & Fees
Citizens Bank’s refinances student loans and Parent PLUS loans at fixed and variable rates. Medical residency refinancing is also available; fixed rates are between 5.23% and 9.46% while variable rates start between 5.43% and 9.88%.
Note that the lowest rates include a 0.50% interest rate reduction for enrollment in automatic payments from a Citizens Bank account.
| Term | Fixed Rate | Variable Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Year | 5.44% – 8.39% | 5.67% – 8.66% |
| 7 Year | 5.52% – 8.65% | 5.80% – 9.07% |
| 10 Year | 5.59% – 8.62% | 5.94% – 9.09% |
| 15 Year | 5.87% – 8.75% | 6.30% – 9.24% |
| 20 Year | 6.18% – 10.14% | 6.74% – 10.63% |
| Term | Fixed Rate | Variable Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Year | 6.29% – 8.52% | 6.56% – 8.79% |
| 7 Year | 6.33% – 8.57% | 6.75% – 8.99% |
| 10 Year | 6.37% – 8.57% | 6.83% – 9.03% |
| 15 Year | 6.66% – 8.78% | 7.16% – 9.27% |
| 20 Year | 6.95% – 9.45% | 7.45% – 9.94% |
Additional information about Citizens Bank refinance rates:
- Checking your rate with Citizens Bank will not affect your credit score. Citizens will conduct a soft, not hard, credit inquiry (learn the difference).
- Citizens Bank does offer a discount for setting up auto-pay: 0.25% interest rate reduction.
- An additional discount applies when borrowers use a Citizens Bank account to auto-pay: 0.25% interest rate reduction (for a total reduction of 0.50%).
- Variable rates are based on the 30-Day SOFR rate (3.77%as of this writing) as published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This means that as the SOFR changes, increasing or decreasing, your variable rate will change, increasing or decreasing correspondingly.
- The variable rate cap is the greater of 21.00% or Prime Rate (6.75% as of this writing) plus 9.00%.
| Year End | Fixed | Variable |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.44% – 10.14% | 6.56% – 9.94%% |
| 2024 | 5.89% – 12.10% | 6.37% – 13.29% |
| 2023 | 7.00% – 10.99% | 7.29% – 12.43% |
| 2022 | 5.39% – 11.88% | 5.09% – 11.68% |
| 2021 | 2.44% – 8.33% | 1.99% – 8.08% |
Additional Fees
Beyond interest rates, there are a number of fees a refinance lender may charge up-front or during the loan servicing period. Below is a list of these fees that Citizens Bank does or does not charge.
| Fee Type | Amount Charged |
|---|---|
| Application Fee | None |
| Loan Origination Fee | None |
| Disbursement Fee | None |
| Prepayment Penalty | None |
| Late Payment Fee | 5% of the overdue amount |
| Returned Payment Fee | $15.00 |
| Collection Fee | Undisclosed |
- Application fee – fee to apply for rates & approval.
- Loan origination fee – fee to create the new loan.
- Disbursement fee – fee for distributing funds to lenders to pay off loans that have been refinanced.
- Prepayment penalty – fee for making extra payments to reduce a refinance loan balance or pay it off early.
- Late payment fee – fee for making a late payment. Citizens Bank considers a payment late once it is 15 days overdue.
- Returned payment fee – fee for failed payments due to insufficient funds, also known as a “bounced check”.
- Collection fee – fee for collection activity on a defaulted debt.
Current Promotions & Offers
Citizens Bank offers a 0.25% rate reduction for enrolling in automatic payments. An additional 0.25% reduction is available for linking a Citizens Bank account to autopay. Combined, this is a 0.50% total rate reduction.
Citizens occasionally partners with other companies for promotional offers available to certain customers. For example, one current promotion offers employees a $500 gift card when they refinance over $40,000 in student loans. Certain restrictions apply.
Citizens Bank Refinance Eligibility Requirements
To qualify for refinancing with Citizens Bank, all borrowers must meet the criteria below.
- Citizenship Requirement: U.S. citizenship or permanent residence – OR – apply with a qualifying co-signer.
- Income Requirement: $24,000 minimum annual income.
- Credit Score Requirement: unspecified.
- Graduation Requirement: bachelor’s degree or higher.
- Location Requirement: borrowers must currently live in the United States.
Additional restrictions apply for specific individuals and loans.
- Refinance borrowers may not be currently enrolled in school without an undergraduate degree; applicants who have no yet earned their degree are not eligible for refinancing.
- Borrowers with bachelor’s degrees may be eligible to refinance up to $300,000.
- Graduates degree holders may be eligible to refinance up to $180,000.
- Borrowers with professional degrees may be approved for up to $750,000.
Citizens Bank Student Loan Repayment Options
Lenders vary greatly on the benefits and options provided to borrowers during the loan servicing period. Additionally, benefits may only be available on a case-by-case basis. Citizens Bank offers some relief options.
Deferment & Forbearance
In cases where borrowers may have difficulty making payments, Citizens Bank discloses some cases where a deferment or forbearance may be available to a borrower.
To apply for loan deferment or forbearance, applicants will most likely have to appeal to Firstmark Services, a division of Nelnet that services Citizens refinance loans.
See Citizens Bank’s conditions for deferment and forbearance below.
| Condition | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Returning to grad school | Deferment, unspecified terms |
| Disability rehabilitation | Undisclosed |
| Active military duty | Deferment, unspecified terms |
| Involuntary unemployment | Forbearance, up to 12 months in a rolling 10 year period |
| Natural Disaster | Undisclosed |
Additional Options
Citizens Bank offers other opportunities for relief or contract modification.
- General economic hardship deferment may be available to borrowers who apply; applicants will likely be directed to Firstmark Services.
- Post-active duty deferments of up to 19 months total may be available to borrowers following the end of active military duty.
- Co-signer release is available with Citizens after 36 consecutive, on-time payments of the principal plus interest.
- Death / disability discharge is available in the unfortunate circumstance that a borrower passes away or suffers total permanent disability.
Citizens Bank Reviews, Complaints & Lawsuits
Beyond our own findings, our team also collected the most genuinely insightful customer experiences we could find, including any instances of legal action against the company in which the details became public.
Citizens Bank Online Reviews
Below are 3 samples of Citizens Bank customer reviews we found on public forums, included here for their value as unedited, uncensored, and unsolicited user experiences. Note that these reviews are unverified, may include inaccuracies, and may provide outdated information (about rates, bonus offers, etc.).
Citizens Bank Consumer Complaints
As consumer finance companies, student loan refinancing lenders fall under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency. As part of their mission, the CFPB allows consumers to log official complaints. These complaints are publicly available on the CFPB official website.
Since December 1, 2011, consumers have submitted 16,617 complaints about Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (Citizens Bank) for an average of one (1) complaint every 7 ½ hours; this is 143 times faster than the average daily complaint rate among reviewed lenders.
In 2025, consumers filed 1,947 complaints about Citizens Bank, up 65.2% compared to an average year. Citizens received 1,973 complaints in 2024, equivalent to:
- 67.4% more than the number of complaints in an average year.
- one (1) complaint for every $4.28 million of that year’s corporate revenue.
- one (1) complaint for every nine (9) employees.
- one (1) complaint for every $5.48 million in its education loan portfolio.
The allegations made in these complaints are unverified, are not necessarily representative of all consumers’ experiences with Citizens Bank, and may contain outdated information (about rates, bonus offers, etc.). Note that a lender with a large customer base is likely to also have a higher number of complaints when compared with smaller lenders.
Below we’ve included three (3) of the most recent complaints (as of this writing) in which the consumer referenced student loans or student loan refinancing and consented to share their details.
