Citi offers free iPods for new online accounts

Consumers must open the account online, fund it with $2,500 and pay 2 bills online each month for 12 consecutive calendar months.

The new incentive programme bests Citi's previous promotion, in which new customers were promised a $200 cash deposit after operating and maintining an online account with bill payment for a minimum 14 months. The Apple iPod Mini currently retails for $249.95 and is despatched to customers after they pay their first bills online.

The offer - which has been running since mid-December - has provoked interest on Internet message boards, with some unscrupulous souls opening accounts and setting up twice-monthly low-value reciprocal auto-payments with family members in order to qualify.