Citi Counts Venmos as Deposits to Allow Customers to Avoid Fees

Citigroup Inc. will now count payments it receives from person-to-person services like Venmo and Cash App as direct deposits that allow customers to avoid monthly fees on checking accounts.

The change will apply to the firm’s Access and Basic checking accounts, which come with $10 and $12 monthly fees respectively if consumers don’t do qualifying activities like maintain certain balances or make a bill payment. The New York-based company eliminated overdraft fees earlier this year, the largest bank yet to make such a move.

“Citi is introducing this industry-leading enhancement of direct deposit to help remove a barrier that workers ...