Citi Contributes $100MM in College Savings to Upromise

In October 2001, Citi became the first financial service provider to team with Upromise. Today, Citi is the largest contributor to Upromise members' accounts. With the Citi Upromise Card, Citi offers an easy way for families to start saving for future education expenses. Members simply charge their everyday purchases on the card -- from groceries and gas to airline tickets.

With the cost of a college education expected to triple by 2020, many parents are concerned about being able to afford the hefty price tag of sending their children to college. But a recent Citi/Upromise study offers hopeful news: most American families can actually bridge the average college savings gap of $28,022 with daily savings of just a few more dollars per day. The Upromise program and the Citi Upromise Card are ways to help families get started towards bridging this gap.

"When we teamed up with Upromise in 2001, we saw it as a great opportunity to help families accelerate their savings to send their children to college, while helping them best use credit to their advantage," said Rob Rosenblatt, executive vice president, Citi Cards. "We're proud to have reached the $100MM contribution milestone in under five years, and we look forward to continuing to help make higher education an attainable goal for our cardmembers and their friends and family."

Adds Tom Anderson, Upromise CEO, "Citi's contributions to our members have helped Upromise become a leading company helping families save for college. Getting a jumpstart on saving for college is a powerful pledge Upromise members make to their children."

Citi Upromise cardholders earn a 1 percent contribution on all purchases made on the card. Cardholders also receive 10 percent of purchases on 7,000+ Upromise items at participating grocery and drug stores, as well as 2 percent on eligible gasoline purchases at Exxon and Mobil locations. There is no cap on the contribution amount cardmembers can earn on participating grocery, drug store and gas purchases. There is a $300 cap per calendar year on the 1 percent contribution on purchases. Cardholders can earn even more contributions by using the Citi Upromise Card to make purchases with other Upromise contributing companies.

Mary Yager, a married mother of two boys and Citi Upromise cardmember can attest to the benefits of the card and the program firsthand. "Citi has been the major contributing company into our Upromise savings account. Not only have I received money from the company for the use of my own credit card, but my mother has been using the Citi Upromise Card for the past two years and allocates her savings to my children's Upromise account." She adds, "A dear friend of mine and my sister-in-law who has no children of her own, have recently joined Upromise and applied for the Citi Upromise Card. With four families using the card and contributing all their savings to my children, we anticipate considerable college savings over the years to come."