Citizens review

Reviewed by the Editorial Team · Updated July 10, 2026 · 6 min read

A large Northeast-based bank with retail mortgage lending and relationship discounts for existing customers.

Citizens by the numbers

Source: federal HMDA data (2025), FFIEC/CFPB. *Approval rate = loans originated ÷ (originated + denied). It reflects a lender's channel and borrower mix — wholesale, online and refi-heavy lenders run lower because many applications are rate shops that never close — not how hard it is to work with. See our approval-rate breakdown.

Citizens at a glance

Citizens (Citizens Financial Group) is one of the country's oldest and largest banks, tracing its roots to 1828 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

With roughly $226 billion in assets and a branch network concentrated across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, it lends the way a full-service commercial bank does: mortgages sit alongside checking, savings, wealth management and business banking, and much of the pitch centers on rewarding customers who keep more than one product under the same roof.

As a retail depository lender rather than an online-only shop or wholesale broker, Citizens leans on its footprint.

That shows clearly in our 2025 HMDA data, where it originated 68,902 home loans worth about $21 billion at an average loan size near $304,000.

Where Citizens's approval rate sits

Citizens's 2025 approval rate of 66.7% sits against the 76.6% national average. Read it as a signal of channel, not strictness — wholesale, online and refinance-heavy lenders run lower because so many applications are rate shops that never close.

New York was the busiest state by a wide margin (roughly 23,700 loans), followed by Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Ohio, a distribution that mirrors both its historic branch map and its 2022 expansion through the Investors Bancorp deal and the purchase of dozens of HSBC East Coast branches.

The lender offers the standard conventional, FHA, VA and jumbo menu, plus refinancing and cash-out options, and applications can be started digitally with prequalification.

What distinguishes it are the relationship-based hooks: an autopay-and-e-statement rate discount and deeper Private Wealth pricing, layered on top of specialty programs for physicians and lower-down-payment buyers.

Who Citizens is best for

Citizens fits Northeast and Mid-Atlantic borrowers who already bank there, or plan to, and want to consolidate a mortgage with checking and wealth relationships to capture rate discounts.

It also suits early-career physicians and dentists seeking a low-down-payment doctor loan, and higher-balance buyers who need jumbo financing from a single established institution rather than piecing it together elsewhere.

Loan programs at Citizens

Its most notable programs and specialties:

• Destination Home Mortgage — a low-down-payment option with no PMI that may include down payment and closing-cost assistance
• Medical Professional Mortgage — high loan-to-value financing for doctors and dentists with no mortgage insurance and flexibility on deferred student-loan debt
• Jumbo and super jumbo loans for higher-balance and luxury purchases
• Conventional fixed- and adjustable-rate purchase and refinance loans
• FHA and VA government-backed loans
• Cash-out refinancing and home equity products through the broader bank

Typical industry minimum down payment by core loan type — Citizens's own minimums or credit overlays may run higher:

Where Citizens lends most

By federal HMDA records, Citizens's largest 2025 markets were New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Ohio. Explore local rates, home prices and down-payment assistance for each:

The verdict

Citizens is a solid mainstream choice for buyers in its Northeast core who value one-stop banking and can unlock relationship pricing by moving deposits over. Its doctor, jumbo and no-PMI Destination Home programs give it real range beyond vanilla conforming loans.

Borrowers outside its footprint, or those unwilling to bank there, should compare its relationship-adjusted rate against standalone lenders before committing.

How to compare Citizens

Shopping a few lenders is the single most reliable way to save. Before you commit to Citizens:

1. Get three or more Loan Estimates in a two-week window — the bureaus treat it as one inquiry.
2. Compare the APR, not just the headline rate — it folds in the fees.
3. Weigh service and loan-type fit, not price alone.
4. Verify licensing on NMLS Consumer Access (Citizens's HMDA filer ID: DRMSV1Q0EKMEXLAU1P80).

Benchmark whatever you're quoted against today's the national rate benchmark.

This review is editorial and independent — Citizens did not pay for or approve it, and all figures are from public federal data. It is general information, not a recommendation or personalized advice. Confirm all terms directly with the lender.