07/28/2025

Simpler Switching, Smarter Banking: Citizens Launches New Mobile Capabilities to Streamline Payments and Direct Deposits

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (July 28, 2025) – To reduce friction, enhance convenience and empower customers to take control of their financial lives, Citizens has launched a new way to update saved payment methods across popular billers, subscriptions, and online retailers. This first-of-its-kind feature among large banks helps customers manage payments in one place using their Citizens debit card or checking account.

Citizens also rolled out a refreshed direct deposit experience, a complementary enhancement to its existing capabilities to make it even easier for users to update where their paycheck is deposited.

Both features were developed in partnership with Mastercard, whose open finance technology helps power the seamless and secure experience. Integrated directly into the Citizens mobile app, these updates help customers take greater control over how they pay and get paid by simplifying tasks that have traditionally been time-consuming, such as updating payment methods or setting up direct deposits.

“Today’s consumers expect choice, flexibility, and a simplified process for managing their finances,” said Chris Powell, Head of Deposits and Customer Engagement at Citizens. “We’ve transformed the onboarding experience to remove the friction that often comes with switching banks or updating financial information, delivering secure tools that save people time and give them greater control over their money.”

Easily Manage and Update Your Payment Methods

According to J.D Power, fewer than half of U.S. retail bank customers are certain they’ll stay with their current bank. However, only 13% actually plan to switch, often because of the perceived hassle of switching and concerns about updating automatic payments and deposits. Citizens’ new switch payments capability addresses this head-on by allowing customers to:

  • Update payment methods directly with over 70 leading bill providers, subscriptions and online shopping sites, including Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Lyft, Verizon, and more.
  • Choose between a Citizens debit card or checking account for recurring charges. Billers will automatically charge the recurring/subscription payment to the card or checking account.
  • Seamlessly update their card-on-file for top bill payments and subscriptions, right from the Citizens app
  • Manage issues related to lost or stolen cards with ease, removing the headache of having to manually update payment accounts after replacing their lost or stolen card.

Customers can find the "Switch Payments" feature in the Citizens app by selecting their checking account and tapping into the account info section.

Enhanced Direct Deposit Experience

The improved direct deposit feature improves Citizens’ existing direct deposit tools, giving customers a faster and more secure way to update where their paycheck is deposited without paperwork or employer coordination. Now integrated with leading payroll providers, the upgraded feature allows users to redirect all or part of their paycheck to their Citizens checking, savings, or money market accounts in just a few taps.

"Financial management should be empowering, not complicated, no matter how an individual chooses to pay or be paid. That means designing experiences that are as intuitive as they are secure,” said Julie Schanzer, Executive Vice President of U.S. Financial Institutions at Mastercard. “These new offerings – and our partnership with Citizens – are a testament to the value of giving customers greater control and flexibility over how they manage their finances, all built on a foundation of simplicity and trust that enhances their everyday financial experience.”

Both features are built directly into the Citizens mobile app, where customers will find a guided, intuitive experience.

To learn more, visit the Citizens mobile app or CitizensBank.com.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $218.3 billion in assets as of June 30, 2025. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a full-service customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,000 ATMs and approximately 1,000 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on X, LinkedIn or Facebook.