If a recent notice in your bank statement from Citigroup (C: 3.35, n.a., n.a.%) has you fretting that you won't get your money out when you need it,
the bank has a message for you: Don't sweat it.

Citi recently sent notices to a large majority of its checking account customers informing them - in no uncertain terms
- that the bank has the right to require account holders to provide
advanced notice before withdrawing money. The notice
had some customers buzzing over whether the cryptic language meant
Citi was preparing for an onslaught of customer withdrawals
- an old-fashioned, "It's a Wonderful Life" kind of bank run.

"Effective April 1, 2010, we reserve the right to require (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all
checking accounts. While we do not currently exercise this right and
have not exercised it in the past, we are required by
law to notify you of this change," the notice read.

But according to Citi officials there is nothing nefarious behind the notification, which they say amounts to nothing more
than a technical requirement for all banks that offer interest on
checking account balances. Citi says that when the FDIC
began offering unlimited account protection in 2009, the bank
converted all of its interest- and promotion-eligible accounts
that did not currently pay an interest payment into what is known in
bank circles as a Demand Deposit Account to take advantage
of the FDIC change.

When the bank moved back to standard FDIC coverage this year, it converted the accounts back to interest-eligible accounts
- known as NOW accounts - triggering the account notification.
According to a spokeswoman for Citi, all banks that offer
NOW accounts are required to reserve the right to require advanced
notice of withdrawals.

"However, we have never exercised this right and have no plans to do so in the future," according to a statement from the
bank explaining the notice.

It was unclear if the notice caused Citi customers to attempt to withdraw funds at a higher rate than normal. However,
a person familiar with the notice pointed out that customers would
have been notified by their branches that it was a technical
matter.

Spokespeople for Bank of America (BAC: 15.96, n.a., n.a.%) and JPMorgan
Chase (JPM: 39.87, n.a., n.a.%) did not immediately return
calls for comment.

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