If you're searching for Citizens One, you most likely have one of three things in mind: a personal loan, a car loan or the loan behind your iPhone. All three have changed. Citizens no longer makes new personal loans, it stopped financing cars through dealers in 2023, and in July 2026 Apple shut down the iPhone Upgrade Program that Citizens One financed.
What is Citizens One?
Citizens One is the national lending brand of Citizens Bank, part of Citizens Financial Group. Citizens used the name for loans it made outside its branch footprint, from personal and auto loans to mortgages and point-of-sale financing such as Apple's iPhone payment plans. Today the Citizens name is still active for mortgages, home equity lines of credit and student loans.
Don't confuse it with Citizens One Checking, an account from Citizens Bank & Trust in Alabama. That's a separate bank with no connection to Citizens One loans.
Citizens One personal loans
Citizens doesn't offer personal loans to new borrowers anymore, and hasn't for several years. If you already have one, nothing changes: Citizens keeps servicing existing loans under their original terms. The closest product it still offers is a home equity line of credit, which is secured by your home rather than unsecured.
The Citizens One iPhone loan after Apple's change
For years, when you bought an iPhone through Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program, the 0% APR, 24-month loan behind it came from Citizens One. It also backed Apple's separate 24-month iPhone financing.
On July 28, 2026, Apple stopped selling iPhones through those plans and replaced them with Apple Upgrade, a leasing program run with Klarna. Here's what that means:
If you're paying off an iPhone now, keep making your payments until it's paid off. Your existing loan doesn't change.
When you buy your next iPhone, you'll have to use Apple Upgrade or another payment method; you can't join the old program again.
Apple Upgrade is a lease, not a loan. iPhones start at $17.99 a month over 12 or 24 months, you need an AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile plan, and at the end you return the phone, pay it off or lease a new one. AppleCare isn't included.
Applying for the Citizens One iPhone loan involved a hard credit check, which may have lowered your score by a few points at the time.
Citizens Pay: Citizens' financing at checkout
What Citizens still offers for financing purchases is Citizens Pay, a line of credit you open at checkout with partner merchants such as Microsoft, Best Buy and Wayfair, as well as some contractors and medical providers. You split each purchase into monthly payments over 3 to 36 months. Some merchants offer 0% APR; others charge a variable rate, and late fees can reach $38.
Prequalifying uses a soft credit check. Completing a purchase triggers a hard inquiry, and each merchant sets its own minimum purchase, which can be as high as $900.
Citizens One auto loans
Citizens stopped making new car loans through dealerships on July 1, 2023, so you can no longer get Citizens One auto financing at a dealer. Loans made before then are still on Citizens' books and serviced by Citizens.
To pay off a Citizens One auto loan early, ask Citizens for a payoff amount through your online account or the contact details on your latest statement.
Citizens One mortgages and HELOCs
Home lending is where Citizens is still active. Its mortgage business, which operated as CCO Mortgage before becoming Citizens One, offers conventional, FHA and VA loans, jumbo and new-construction mortgages, physician loans, and fixed or adjustable rates for buying or refinancing. You can apply online nationwide or at branches in 14 states and Washington, D.C.
Citizens' main borrowing product today is the home equity line of credit, with a 10-year draw period and a 15-year repayment period. For homeowners who don't meet the standard requirements, it also has a smaller GoalBuilder HELOC. Citizens bank customers can get a rate discount on home loans.
To qualify for a Citizens HELOC you'll generally need a credit score of 680 and can borrow up to 85% of your home's value, minus what you owe. There are no application fees, closing costs or prepayment penalties, but a $50 annual fee applies from the second year. The rate is variable, tied to the prime rate, and the GoalBuilder line tops out at $25,000.
Citizens student loans
Student lending is the other part of the business that's still active. Citizens offers private loans for undergraduates, graduate students and parents, plus refinancing, with fixed or variable rates:
Citizens One Student Loans & Refinancing Overview (Scroll to view more →)
Loan
Fixed APR
Variable APR
Amount
Undergraduate
3.24%–14.48%
5.04%–14.16%
$1,000–$225,000
Graduate
3.24%–12.39%
4.91%–11.96%
$1,000–$225,000
Parent
4.99%–10.30%
4.76%–9.85%
$1,000–$225,000
Refinance
6.04%–10.65%
6.18%–11.01%
$10,000–$750,000
Rates as reported by Bankrate in October 2026.
Two features stand out. Multi-year approval lets you get approved once for every year of school instead of reapplying annually. Cosigner release lets a cosigner come off the loan once you're in full repayment, if you qualify on your own; if you're turned down, you can try again after 12 months. Most undergraduates need a cosigner, and independent borrowers generally need solid credit and at least $12,000 a year in income.
How to pay a Citizens One loan or log in
Where you go depends on the kind of loan.
Mortgage
Log in to My Account at citizensbankonline.com to pay once or set up automatic payments, or pay by phone at 800-234-6002 (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET). Checks go to the address on your statement coupon or, without it, to Citizens Bank, P.O. Box 2800, Glen Allen, VA 23058-2800, with your loan number on the check. If you're struggling to pay, Citizens' loan assistance line is 800-456-8855.
Auto loan
Sign in to Citizens online banking and choose Pay My Auto Loan.
Student loan
It depends on who services it. Loans serviced by Citizens are managed at student.citizensbank.com (1-833-531-1312); loans serviced by Firstmark Services, at citizens.firstmarkservices.com (1-866-259-3767). If you're not sure which applies, call 1-877-464-6329. Lines are open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET.
iPhone loan
Payments are charged to the credit or debit card linked to your iPhone Upgrade Program account.
Citizens One reviews
Reviews vary a lot by product. On ConsumerAffairs, Citizens One's mortgage business has a rating of 1.1 out of 5 from about 180 reviews, nearly all one star. The most common complaints are long phone waits, escrow shortages and payments applied late or to the wrong place, often after a mortgage was transferred to Citizens One from another lender.
Citizens' student loans score much better: Bankrate rates them 4.7 out of 5, pointing to multi-year approval, cosigner release and wide loan limits.
On Trustpilot, the old citizensone.com profile has a score of 2.2 out of 5 from only eight reviews, mostly about customer service and payment problems on car, personal and iPhone loans. Trustpilot notes the site no longer exists, so no new reviews can be posted.
Transparency Notice:
MikeCredit.com is an independent comparison site, not a lender, and this review is not financial advice. APRs, fees, and terms are representative, may vary based on your credit profile and state, and can change without notice. Always verify current terms on the lender’s official website and review your loan agreement before signing.
