Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for "
National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
multinational Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City Bank of New York. The bank has 2,649
branches
A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually ...
in 19 countries, including 723 branches in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and 1,494 branches in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
operated by its subsidiary
Banamex #redirect Grupo Financiero Banamex
Grupo Financiero Banamex S.A. de C.V. has its origins and is the owner of the Banco Nacional de México or Citibanamex (formerly Banamex). It is the second-largest bank in Mexico. The Banamex Financial Group wa ...
. The U.S. branches are concentrated in six metropolitan areas:
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
.
It was founded as City Bank of New York and became National City Bank of New York. It has had an important role in war bonds. It has had a role in international events including the U.S. invasion of Haiti.
History
Early history
The City Bank of New York was founded on June 16, 1812. The first president of the City Bank was the statesman and retired Colonel,
Samuel Osgood
Samuel Osgood (February 3, 1747 – August 12, 1813) was an American merchant and statesman born in Andover, Massachusetts, currently a part of North Andover, Massachusetts. His family home still stands at 440 Osgood Street in North Andover ...
. After Osgood's death in August 1813,
William Few
William Few Jr. (June 8, 1748 – July 16, 1828) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, politician and jurist. He represented the U.S. state of Georgia at the Constitutional Convention and signed the U.S. Constitution. Few and James Gunn w ...
became President of the bank, staying until 1817, followed by Peter Stagg (1817–1825), Thomas Smith (1825–1827),
Isaac Wright (1827–1832), and
Thomas Bloodgood
Thomas Bloodgood (died 1843) was a president of City National Bank.
Bloodgood was born in Flushing, New York, and was a member of the Bloodgood family dating back to Dutch ownership of New York. He was also a wine merchant at the Fulton Market
...
(1832–1843).
Moses Taylor
Moses Taylor (January 11, 1806 – May 23, 1882) was a 19th-century New York merchant and banker and one of the wealthiest men of that century. At his death, his estate was reported to be worth $70 million, or about $ billion in today's dollars. ...
assumed ownership and management of the bank in 1837. During Taylor's ascendancy, the bank functioned largely as a treasury and finance center for Taylor's own extensive business empire. Later presidents of the bank included Gorham Worth (1843–1856), Moses Taylor himself (1856–1882), Taylor's son-in-law Patrick Pyne, and
James Stillman
James Jewett Stillman (June 9, 1850 – March 15, 1918) was an American businessman who invested in land, banking, and railroads in New York, Texas, and Mexico. He was chairman of the board of directors of the National City Bank. He forged alli ...
(1891–1909).
In 1831, City Bank was the site of one of
America's first bank heists when two thieves made off with tens of thousands of dollars' worth of bank notes, and 398
gold doubloons.
The bank financed war bonds for the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, serving as a founding member of the financial clearinghouse in New York (1853), underwriting the
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
with $50 million in war bonds, opening the first foreign exchange department of any bank (1897), and receiving a $5 million deposit to be given to Spain for the US acquisition of the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
(1899). In 1865, the bank joined the national banking system of the United States under the
National Bank Act
The National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 were two United States federal banking acts that established a system of national banks, and created the United States National Banking System. They encouraged development of a national currency backed by ...
and became The
National City Bank of New York. By 1868, it was one of the largest banks in the United States, by 1893 it was the largest bank in New York, and the following year it was the largest within the United States. It would help finance the Panama Canal in 1904. By 1906, 11 percent of the federal government's bank balances were held by National City. National City at this time was the banker of
Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
, and the Chicago banking factions accused US Secretary of the Treasury
Leslie Shaw
Leslie Ann Shaw Thays (born 27 February 1989), formerly musically known as Shaw, is a Peruvian singer, model, dancer and actress. She is best known for representing Peru in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival and being the Runner-up ...
of being too close with National City and other Wall Street operators.
In 1907, Stillman, then the bank's chairman, would intervene, along with
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
and
George Fisher Baker
George Fisher Baker (March 27, 1840 – May 2, 1931) was an American financier and philanthropist. Known as the "Dean of American Banking", he was also known for his taciturnity. Baker made a fortune after the Civil War in railroads and banking, ...
, in the
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...
.
Between 1910 and 1911, the
Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
backed a consortium of American investors headed by Citibank to acquire control over the
Banque Nationale de la République d’Haïti, which was the sole commercial bank of
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
and served as the Haitian government's treasury. Citibank then pressured the
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
to occupy Haiti, which it did
in 1915. During the occupation, Citibank imposed a 30 million USD loan on the Haitian government, which was described by communist
George Padmore
George Padmore (28 June 1903 – 23 September 1959), born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, was a leading Pan-Africanist, journalist, and author. He left his native Trinidad in 1924 to study medicine in the United States, where he also joined the Com ...
as transforming Haiti into an "American slave colony". Citibank would go on to acquire some of its largest gains in the 1920s due to debt payments from Haiti, according to later filings to the
Senate Finance Committee
The United States Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generall ...
.
When the
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States.
The Panic ...
allowed it, National City Bank became the first U.S. national bank to open an overseas banking office when it opened a branch in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Argentina, in 1914. Many of Citi's present international offices are older; offices in London, Shanghai,
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, and elsewhere were opened in 1901 and 1902 by the International Banking Corporation (IBC), a company chartered to conduct banking business outside the U.S., which was forbidden to U.S. national banks. In 1918, IBC became a wholly owned subsidiary and was subsequently merged into the bank. The same year, the bank evacuated all of its employees from
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and
Petrograd
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
as the
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
had begun, but also established a branch in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. By 1919, the bank had become the first U.S. bank to have $1 billion in assets.
As of March 9, 1921, there were four national banks in New York City operating branch offices:
Catham and Phenix National, the
Mechanics and Metals National, the
Irving National, and National City Bank.
Charles E. Mitchell
Charles Edwin Mitchell (October 6, 1877 – December 14, 1955) was an American banker whose incautious securities policies facilitated the speculation which led to the Crash of 1929. First National City Bank's (now Citibank) abuses under his l ...
, also called "Sunshine" Charlie Mitchell, was elected president in 1921. In 1929, he was made chairman, a position he held until 1933. Under Mitchell, the bank expanded rapidly and by 1930 had 100 branches in 23 countries outside the United States. The policies pursued by the bank under Mitchell's leadership are seen by many people as one of the prime causes of the stock market crash of 1929, which led ultimately to the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
In 1933, a Senate committee, the
Pecora Commission
The Pecora Investigation was an inquiry begun on March 4, 1932, by the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency to investigate the causes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The name refers to the fourth and final chief counsel for th ...
, investigated Mitchell for his part in tens of millions of dollars in losses, excessive pay, and tax avoidance, later leading to his resignation. Senator
Carter Glass
Carter Glass (January 4, 1858 – May 28, 1946) was an American newspaper publisher and Democratic politician from Lynchburg, Virginia. He represented Virginia in both houses of Congress and served as the United States Secretary of the Treasu ...
said of him: "Mitchell, more than any 50 men, is responsible for this
stock crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a major cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic selling and underlying economic factors. They often foll ...
."
On December 24, 1927, its headquarters in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Argentina, were blown up by the
Italian anarchist
Italian anarchism as a movement began primarily from the influence of Mikhail Bakunin, Giuseppe Fanelli, and Errico Malatesta. Rooted in collectivist anarchism, it expanded to include illegalist individualist anarchism, mutualism, anarcho- ...
Severino Di Giovanni
Severino Di Giovanni (17 March 1901 – 1 February 1931) was an Italian anarchist who immigrated to Argentina, where he became the best-known anarchist figure in that country for his campaign of violence in support of Sacco and Vanzetti and anti ...
, in the frame of the international campaign supporting
Sacco and Vanzetti
Nicola Sacco (; April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (; June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were Italian immigrant anarchists who were controversially accused of murdering Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parmenter, a ...
.
In 1940 and 1941, branches in Germany and Japan closed. In 1945, the bank handled $5.6 billion in Treasury securities for War and Victory Loan drives for the U.S. government.
In 1952,
James Stillman Rockefeller
James Stillman Rockefeller (June 8, 1902 – August 10, 2004) was a member of the prominent U.S. Rockefeller family. He won an Olympic rowing title for the United States, then became president of what eventually became Citigroup. He was a ...
was elected president and then chairman in 1959, serving until 1967. Stillman was a direct descendant of the
Rockefeller family
The Rockefeller family () is an American industrial, political, and banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the American petroleum industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by brothe ...
through the
William Rockefeller
William Avery Rockefeller Jr. (May 31, 1841 – June 24, 1922) was an American businessman and financier. Rockefeller was a co-founder of Standard Oil along with his elder brother John Davison Rockefeller. He was also part owner of the Anaconda ...
(the brother of
John D.) branch. In 1960, his second cousin,
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...
, became president of
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fina ...
, National City's long-time New York rival for dominance in the banking industry in the United States.
Following its merger with the First National Bank in 1955, the bank changed its name to The First National City Bank of New York, then shortened it to First National City Bank in 1962. It is also worth noting that the bank began recruiting at
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
in 1957, arranged the financing of the 1958 Hollywood film, ''
South Pacific'', and had its branches in Cuba
nationalized
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
in 1959 by the new
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
government, and has its first
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
director in 1969,
Franklin A. Thomas
Franklin Augustine Thomas (May 27, 1934 – December 22, 2021) was an American businessman and philanthropist who was president and CEO of the Ford Foundation from 1979 until 1996. After leaving the foundation, Thomas continued to serve in leade ...
.
The company organically entered the leasing and credit card sectors, and its introduction of US dollar-denominated
certificates of deposit
A certificate of deposit (CD) is a time deposit, a financial product commonly sold by banks, thrift institutions, and credit unions in the United States. CDs differ from savings accounts in that the CD has a specific, fixed term (often one, th ...
in London marked the first new
negotiable instrument
A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, whose payer is usually named on the document. More specifically, it is a document contemplated by or consisting of a ...
in the market since 1888. Later to become part of
MasterCard, the bank introduced its ''
First National City Charge Service The First National City Charge Service, marketed as The Everything Card, was an early credit card introduced by Citibank, First National City Bank (now Citibank) in the eastern United States in 1967. It was intended as a response to the Visa Inc., B ...
'' credit card—popularly known as the "Everything Card"—in 1967.
In 1967,
Walter B. Wriston
Walter Bigelow Wriston (August 3, 1919 – January 19, 2005) was a banker and former chairman and CEO of Citicorp. As chief executive of Citibank / Citicorp (later Citigroup) from 1967 to 1984, Wriston was widely regarded as the single most influe ...
became chairman and chief executive officer of the bank.
![Citibank old logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Citibank_old_logo.svg)
In 1967, First National City Bank reorganized as a one-bank holding company, First National City Corporation, or "Citicorp" for short. However, the bank had been nicknamed "Citibank" since the 1860s, when City Bank of New York adopted it as an eight-letter wire code address. "Citicorp" became the holding company's formal name in 1974, and in 1976, First National City Bank was renamed Citibank, N.A.
[Citigroup](_blank)
at Reference for Business The name change also helped to avoid confusion in
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
with
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
-based
National City Corp., though the banks never had any significant overlapping areas except for Citi credit cards issued in National City territory. In addition, at the time of the name change to Citicorp, in 1968, National City of Ohio was mostly a Cleveland-area bank and had not gone on its acquisition spree that would occur in the 1990s and 2000s. Any possible name confusion had Citi not changed its name from National City eventually became completely moot when
PNC Financial Services
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 U.S. state, states and the D ...
acquired National City in 2008 during the
subprime mortgage crisis
The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline ...
.
In 1987, the bank set aside $3 billion in reserves for loan losses in Brazil and other
developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
. In 1990, the bank established a subsidiary in Poland. In 1994, it became the world's biggest card issuer.
Automated banking card
Also in the 1980s, the bank launched the Citicard, which allowed customers to perform all transactions without a
passbook
A passbook or bankbook is a paper book used to record bank or building society transactions on a deposit account.
Traditionally, a passbook was used for accounts with a low transaction volume, such as savings accounts. A bank teller or postma ...
. Branches also had
terminals with simple one-line displays that allowed customers to get basic account information without a
bank teller
A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. ...
.
Credit card business
In the 1960s the bank entered into the credit card business. In 1965, First National City Bank bought
Carte Blanche
A blank cheque in the literal sense is a cheque that has no monetary value written in, but is already signed. In the figurative sense, it is used to describe a situation in which an agreement has been made that is open-ended or vague, and therefo ...
from
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton.
The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...
. Three years later, the bank (under pressure from the U.S. government) sold this division. By 1968, the company created its own credit card. The card, known as "
The Everything Card", was promoted as a kind of East Coast version of the
BankAmericard
Visa Inc. (; stylized as ''VISA'') is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded cred ...
. By 1969, First National City Bank decided that the Everything Card was too costly to promote as an independent brand and joined Master Charge (now
MasterCard). Citibank unsuccessfully tried again from 1977 to 1987 to create a separate credit card brand, the
Choice Card.
John S. Reed
John Shepard Reed is the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. He previously served as chairman and CEO of Citicorp, Citibank, and post-merger, Citigroup. He is the past chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's board o ...
was selected CEO in 1984, and Citi became a founding member of the
CHAPS
Chaps ( or ) are sturdy coverings for the legs consisting of leggings and a belt. They are buckled on over trousers with the chaps' integrated belt, but unlike trousers, they have no seat (the term "assless chaps" is a tautology) and are not jo ...
clearing house
Clearing house or Clearinghouse may refer to:
Banking and finance
* Clearing house (finance)
* Automated clearing house
* ACH Network, an electronic network for financial transactions in the U.S.
* Bankers' clearing house
* Cheque clearing
* Cl ...
in London. Under his leadership, the next 14 years would see Citibank become the largest bank in the United States, the largest issuer of credit cards and charge cards in the world, and expand its global reach to over 90 countries.
As the bank's expansion continued, the Narre Warren-Caroline Springs credit card company was purchased in 1981. In 1981, Citibank chartered a
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
subsidiary to take advantage of new laws that raised the state's maximum permissible
interest rate
An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, th ...
on loans to 25% (then the highest in the nation). In many other states, usury laws prevented banks from charging interest that aligned with the extremely high costs of lending money in the late 1970s and early 1980s, making
consumer lending
Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt ...
unprofitable. Currently, there is no maximum interest rate or usury restriction under South Dakota law when a written agreement is formed. As of 2013, Citibank employed 2,900 people in
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...
, South Dakota, and contributed to the state holding more bank assets than any other state.
In 2005, Federated Department Stores (now
Macy's, Inc.
Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito' ...
), sold its consumer credit portfolio to Citigroup, which reissued its cards under the name Department Stores National Bank (DSNB).
In 2013, Citibank purchased the credit card portfolio of
Best Buy
Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...
from Capital One.
On April 1, 2016, Citigroup became the exclusive issuer of
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...
's branded credit cards.
The bank's private-label credit card division, Citi Retail Services, issues store-issued credit cards for such companies as:
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
,
Best Buy
Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...
,
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas.
The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in ...
,
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...
,
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
,
The Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...
,
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
,
Shell Oil
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...
,
Staples Inc.
Staples Inc. is an American retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, that offers products and services designed to support working and learning.
The company opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts on May 1, 1986. By ...
and until January 2018,
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide, Hilton.
The original company was founded by C ...
.
Early technology
Automatic teller machines
In the 1970s, Citibank was one of the first U.S. banks to introduce
automatic teller machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fund ...
s (ATMs), which gave customers 24-hour access to cash. In April 2006, the firm signed a deal with
7-Eleven
7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...
to offer Citibank customers free access to ATMs in more than 5,500 convenience stores in the United States. The 7-Eleven deal ended in 2017.
Online banking
The Citibank.com
domain name
A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As ...
was registered in 1991, and initially used only for email and other internet interactions. As early as 1982, Citibank pioneered online access to accounts using 300-
baud
In telecommunication and electronics, baud (; symbol: Bd) is a common unit of measurement of symbol rate, which is one of the components that determine the speed of communication over a data channel.
It is the unit for symbol rate or modulatio ...
dial-up
Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...
only. At first, access was through proprietary software distributed on a 5.25-inch
floppy disk
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...
. Following the creation of the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
, the bank offered
browser-based access as well.
Expansion
![20070509 Citibank](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/20070509_Citibank.JPG)
In 2002, Citigroup, the parent of Citibank, acquired Golden State Bancorp and its
California Federal Bank
California Federal Bank, known as CalFed, was a savings bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California, at 5670 Wilshire Boulevard. It operated 352 branches, most of which were in California. In 2002, the bank was acquired by Citigroup.
History
T ...
, which was one-third owned by
Ronald O. Perelman, for $5.8 billion.
In 1999, Citibank was sued for improperly charging late fees on its credit cards.
In August 2004, Citigroup entered the Texas market with the purchase of First American Bank of
Bryan, Texas
Bryan is a city and the county seat of Brazos County, Texas, United States. It is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley (East and Central Texas). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 83,980. Bryan borders the city of College ...
. The deal established the firm's
retail banking
Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking. Banking servi ...
presence in Texas, giving Citibank over 100 branches, $3.5 billion in assets and approximately 120,000 customers in the state.
In 2006, the bank entered the Philadelphia market, opening 23 branches in the metropolitan area. In 2013, Citibank closed these locations for "efficiency-driven" reasons.
In 2006, the company announced a naming rights sponsorship deal for the new stadium of
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
,
Citi Field
Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...
, which opened in 2009. The deal reportedly required payments by Citi of $20 million per year for 20 years.
As of September 2020, Citibank's US branches are located in the metropolitan areas of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Miami, and Chicago. California is home to the majority of Citibank's US branches, with 292 branches located in the state.'
Citi announced it may return its retail banking presence to Dallas in 2022. Citibank will take more than 9,000 square feet of space in the Berkshire Court building at Preston and Northwest Highway. Construction is scheduled to start on the new office early next year, according to planning documents filed with the state. The new Citibank office is described as an “experience center” in the planning documents. The plans identify the operation as “retail bank/office space.” Citibank doesn’t have a major retail banking presence in the Dallas area. A spokesman in the bank’s New York office would not give details about what is planned in the North Dallas location. “We’ll decline to comment on this,” said Citibank’s Drew Benson in an email.
2007–2009 losses and cost-cutting measures by parent Citigroup
On April 11, 2007, Citigroup, the parent of Citibank, announced layoffs of 17,000 employees, or 8% of its workforce.
On November 4, 2007,
Charles Prince
Charles Owen "Chuck" Prince III (born January 13, 1950) is an American corporate executive and lawyer. He is a former chairman and chief executive of Citigroup. He succeeded Sandy Weill as the chief executive of the firm in 2003, and as the chair ...
resigned as the chairman and chief executive of Citigroup, the parent of Citibank, following crisis meetings with the board in New York in the wake of billions of dollars in losses related to
subprime lending
In finance, subprime lending (also referred to as near-prime, subpar, non-prime, and second-chance lending) is the provision of loans to people in the United States who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule. Historically, subpri ...
. Former
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
Robert Rubin
Robert Edward Rubin (born August 29, 1938) is an American retired banking executive, lawyer, and former government official. He served as the 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration. Before his government s ...
took over as chairman, subsequently hiring
Vikram Pandit
Vikram Shankar Pandit (born 14 January 1957) is an Indian-American banker and investor who was the chief executive officer of Citigroup from December 2007 to 16 October 2012 and is the current chairman and chief executive officer of The Oroge ...
as chief executive.
On November 5, 2007, several days after
Merrill Lynch
Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...
announced that it too had been losing billions from the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, Citi reported that it will lose between $8 billion and $11 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, in addition to the $6.5 billion it lost in the third quarter of 2007.
Effective November 30, 2007, Citibank sold its 17
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
branches, along with $1.0 billion in deposits, to
Banco Popular.
In January 2008, Citigroup reported a $10 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2007, after an $18.1 billion write down.
In March 2008, Citibank set up Mobile Money Ventures, a joint venture with
SK Telecom
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 percent share as of 2008. S ...
, to develop
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
s for banking. It sold the venture to
Intuit
Intuit Inc. is an American business software company that specializes in financial software. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and the CEO is Sasan Goodarzi. Intuit's products include the tax preparation application Tu ...
in June 2011.
In May 2008, the company closed an $87.5 million
leaseback
Leaseback, short for "sale-and-leaseback", is a financial transaction in which one sells an asset and leases it back for the long term; therefore, one continues to be able to use the asset but no longer owns it. The transaction is generally done f ...
transaction for branches in New York City.
In July 2008, ''Citibank Privatkunden AG & Co. KGaA'', the company's German division, was sold to
Crédit Mutuel
Crédit Mutuel is a French cooperative banking group, one of the country's top five banks with over 30 million customers. It traces its origins back to the German cooperative movement inspired by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen in Alsace–Lorraine ...
. On February 22, 2010, it was renamed to
Targobank
Targobank AG (Proprietary notation: TARGOBANK) is a German bank mainly operating in the retail, business and corporate customer segments and is headquartered in Düsseldorf. With 700 employees at its head office, Targobank is one of the larger ...
.
In August 2008, after a three-year investigation by the
California Attorney General
The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the Government of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section ...
, Citibank was ordered to repay the $14 million that was removed from 53,000 customers accounts over an 11-year period from 1992 to 2003, plus an additional $4 million in interest and penalties. The money was taken under an electronic "account sweeping program" where any positive balances from over-payments or double payments were removed without notice to the customers.
As a result of the
financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
and huge losses in the value of its
subprime mortgage
In finance, subprime lending (also referred to as near-prime, subpar, non-prime, and second-chance lending) is the provision of loans to people in the United States who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule. Historically, subpri ...
assets, Citigroup, the parent of Citibank, received a
bailout
A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy.
A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global sys ...
in the form of an investment from the
U.S. Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
. On November 23, 2008, in addition to an initial investment of $25 billion, a further $20 billion was invested in the company along with guarantees for risky assets of $306 billion. The guarantees were issued at a time markets were not confident Citi had enough liquidity to cover losses from those investments. Eventually, the Citi shares the Treasury took over in return for the guarantees it issued were booked as net profit for the treasury as Citi had enough liquidity and guarantees did not have to be used. By 2010, Citibank had repaid the loans from the Treasury in full, including interest, resulting in a net profit for the U.S. federal government.
On January 16, 2009, Citigroup announced that it was separating
Citi Holdings Inc., its non-core businesses such as brokerage, asset management, and local consumer finance and higher-risk assets, from Citicorp. The split was presented as allowing Citibank to concentrate on its core banking business.
2010 to present
On October 19, 2011, Citigroup, the parent of Citibank, agreed to a $285 million civil fraud penalty after the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
accused the company of betting against risky mortgage-related investments that it sold to its clients.
In 2014, Citigroup announced it would exit retail banking in 11 markets, primarily in Europe and Central America. In September 2014, it exited the Texas market with the sale of 41 branches to
BB&T
BB&T Corporation (previously known as the Branch Banking and Trust Company) was one of the largest banking and financial services firms in the United States, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 2019, BB&T announced its intentions to merge ...
. In September 2015, the bank announced that it would close its 17 branches in Massachusetts and end sponsorship of a theater in Boston.
In 2015, the bank was ordered to pay $770 million in relief to borrowers for illegal credit card practices. The
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortg ...
said that about 7 million customer accounts were affected by Citibank's "deceptive marketing" practices, which included misrepresenting costs and fees and charging customers for services they did not receive.
On March 1, 2017, an article in ''
The Economic Times
''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bus ...
'' of India stated that Citibank may close its 44 branches in India, as digital transactions made them less necessary. The articles wrote that Citibank was “India’s most profitable foreign lender”.
On March 20, 2017, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' reported that hundreds of banks had helped launder
FSB-related funds out of Russia, as uncovered by an investigation named
Russian Laundromat. Citibank was listed among the American banks that were named as having handled the laundered funds, with banks in the US processing around $63.7 million between 2010 and 2014. Citibank was listed as having processed $37 million of that amount, with others including
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
, which processed $14 million. as the bank “handled $113.1 million” in Laundromat cash.
In March 2018, Citibank announced a new firearms policy, placing restrictions on financial transactions in the U.S. firearm industry.
In April 2021, Citibank announced it would exit its consumer banking operations in 13 markets, including
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
In January 2022, Citi further announced its plan to exit consumer banking in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
(also known as Citibanamex), as well as small-business and middle-market banking operations.
Chairmen
Since the bank's founding in 1812, it has been led by a President, with
Samuel Osgood
Samuel Osgood (February 3, 1747 – August 12, 1813) was an American merchant and statesman born in Andover, Massachusetts, currently a part of North Andover, Massachusetts. His family home still stands at 440 Osgood Street in North Andover ...
being elected as the first President. In 1909,
James Stillman
James Jewett Stillman (June 9, 1850 – March 15, 1918) was an American businessman who invested in land, banking, and railroads in New York, Texas, and Mexico. He was chairman of the board of directors of the National City Bank. He forged alli ...
became the first Chairman of the company.
List of Chairmen
#
Samuel Osgood
Samuel Osgood (February 3, 1747 – August 12, 1813) was an American merchant and statesman born in Andover, Massachusetts, currently a part of North Andover, Massachusetts. His family home still stands at 440 Osgood Street in North Andover ...
(1812–1813)
#
William Few
William Few Jr. (June 8, 1748 – July 16, 1828) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, politician and jurist. He represented the U.S. state of Georgia at the Constitutional Convention and signed the U.S. Constitution. Few and James Gunn w ...
(1813–1817)
# Peter Staff (1817–1825)
# Thomas Smith (1825–1827)
#
Isaac Wright (1827–1832)
#
Thomas Bloodgood
Thomas Bloodgood (died 1843) was a president of City National Bank.
Bloodgood was born in Flushing, New York, and was a member of the Bloodgood family dating back to Dutch ownership of New York. He was also a wine merchant at the Fulton Market
...
(1832–1844)
#
Gorham A. Worth
Gorham A. Worth (1783 – April 3, 1856) was a president of Citigroup, City National Bank.
Worth was born in Hudson, New York. His father Thomas Worth had been among the founders of the community. It is a common mistake, repeated here and ...
(1844–1856)
#
Moses Taylor
Moses Taylor (January 11, 1806 – May 23, 1882) was a 19th-century New York merchant and banker and one of the wealthiest men of that century. At his death, his estate was reported to be worth $70 million, or about $ billion in today's dollars. ...
(1856–1882)
#
Percy Pyne
Percy Rivington Pyne I (March 8, 1820 – February 14, 1895) was a migrant from England to the United States. He became president of Citigroup, City National Bank. He was also a director for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and the ...
(1882–1891)
#
James Stillman
James Jewett Stillman (June 9, 1850 – March 15, 1918) was an American businessman who invested in land, banking, and railroads in New York, Texas, and Mexico. He was chairman of the board of directors of the National City Bank. He forged alli ...
(1891–1918)
#
Frank A. Vanderlip
Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr. (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937) was an American banker and journalist. He was president of the National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) from 1909 to 1919, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 18 ...
(1918–1919)
#
James A. Stillman
James Alexander Stillman (August 18, 1873 – January 13, 1944) was a president of Citigroup, National City Bank.
Biography
James Alexander Stillman was born on August 18, 1873, in New York City to James Jewett Stillman (1850–1918) and Sara ...
(1919–1921)
#
Charles E. Mitchell
Charles Edwin Mitchell (October 6, 1877 – December 14, 1955) was an American banker whose incautious securities policies facilitated the speculation which led to the Crash of 1929. First National City Bank's (now Citibank) abuses under his l ...
(1921–1933)
#
James H. Perkins (1933–1940)
#
Gordon Sohn Rentschler (1940–1948)
#
William Gage Brady Jr. (1948–1952)
#
Howard C. Sheperd (1952–1959)
#
James Stillman Rockefeller
James Stillman Rockefeller (June 8, 1902 – August 10, 2004) was a member of the prominent U.S. Rockefeller family. He won an Olympic rowing title for the United States, then became president of what eventually became Citigroup. He was a ...
(1959–1967)
#
George S. Moore
George Stevens Moore (April 1, 1905 – April 21, 2000) was the chairman of Citigroup from 1967 to 1970.
Biography
Moore was born in Hannibal, Missouri, and graduated from Yale University where he made money writing for the Yale Daily News an ...
(1967–1970)
#
Walter B. Wriston
Walter Bigelow Wriston (August 3, 1919 – January 19, 2005) was a banker and former chairman and CEO of Citicorp. As chief executive of Citibank / Citicorp (later Citigroup) from 1967 to 1984, Wriston was widely regarded as the single most influe ...
(1970–1984)
#
John S. Reed
John Shepard Reed is the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. He previously served as chairman and CEO of Citicorp, Citibank, and post-merger, Citigroup. He is the past chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's board o ...
(1984–1998)
#
John S. Reed
John Shepard Reed is the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. He previously served as chairman and CEO of Citicorp, Citibank, and post-merger, Citigroup. He is the past chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's board o ...
and
Sandy Weill
Sandy may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Sandy (surname), a list of people
*Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983)
*(Sandy) A ...
(1998–2000)
#
Sandy Weill
Sandy may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Sandy (surname), a list of people
*Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983)
*(Sandy) A ...
(2000–2006)
#
Charles Prince
Charles Owen "Chuck" Prince III (born January 13, 1950) is an American corporate executive and lawyer. He is a former chairman and chief executive of Citigroup. He succeeded Sandy Weill as the chief executive of the firm in 2003, and as the chair ...
(2006–2007)
#
Sir Win Bischoff (2007–2009)
#
Dick Parsons (2009–2012)
#
Michael O'Neill (2012–2019)
#
John Dugan (2019– )
Products & services
Private Wealth Services
![Adv08 Citigold 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Adv08_Citigold_01.png)
Citigold is Citibank's banking product for the
mass affluent In marketing and financial services, mass affluent and emerging affluent are the high end of the mass market, or individuals with US$100,000 to US$1,000,000 of liquid financial assets plus an annual household income over US$75,000.
Mass affluent c ...
demographic ($200,000 minimum in assets), available in thirty four countries, with
ultra high-net-worth individual
Ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) are defined as having a net worth of at least US$30 million in constant 2018 dollars. It is the wealth segment above very-high-net-worth individuals (greater than $5 million) and high-net-worth-individu ...
s ($25 million and above in assets) being handled by
Citi Private Bank
Citi Private Bank, a subsidiary of multinational banking conglomerate Citigroup, markets Private banking services for ultra high-net-worth individual clients, including entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives. It has 60 offices in 23 count ...
.
Digital Wallet Support
Citibank cards support
Samsung Pay
Samsung Pay (stylized as SΛMSUNG Pay) is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Samsung Electronics that lets users make payments using compatible phones and other Samsung-produced devices. The service supports contactless payments usin ...
,
Google Pay, and
Apple Pay
Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a credit ...
.
Multi-factor authentication
Multi factor authentication available using OTP and soft token embedded with mobile App.
Controversies
Alleged money laundering by Raul Salinas
In 1998, the
General Accounting Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
issued a report critical of Citibank's handling of funds received from
Raul Salinas de Gortari, brother of
Carlos Salinas
Carlos Salinas de Gortari CYC DMN (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician who served as 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), earlier in his career he wo ...
, the former president of Mexico. The report, titled "Raul Salinas, Citibank and Alleged Money Laundering", indicated that Citibank facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars through complex financial transactions that hid the funds' paper trail. The report indicated that Citibank took on Salinas as a client without making a thorough inquiry as to how he made his fortune, an omission that a Citibank official called a violation of the bank's "know your customer" policy.
Funding of Dakota Access Pipeline
Citibank is one of the lead lenders to the developers of the
Dakota Access Pipeline
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) or Bakken pipeline is a underground pipeline in the United States that has the ability to transport up to 750,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil per day. It begins in the shale oil fields of the Bakken Forma ...
project in
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
, a
oil pipeline project.
The pipeline has been controversial regarding its potential environmental impacts and impacts to
Siouan
Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east.
Name
Authors who call the entire ...
sacred lands and water supply.
[ According to a statement by Hugh MacMillan, a senior researcher on water, energy and climate issues, Citibank has been "running the books on this project, and that's the bank that beat the bushes and got other banks to join in."
On December 13, 2016, students of ]Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
protested outside of the Citibank location on Broadway and 112th Street, by holding cardboard signs, chanting and passing flyers. Earlier that year, the university replaced the on-campus Citibank ATMs with ATMs from Santander Bank
Santander Bank, N. A. (), formerly Sovereign Bank, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group. It is based in Boston and its principal market is the northeastern United States. It has $57.5 billion in deposits, operates about ...
, a bank that has no ties to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Libor Index Settlement
Preceded by other banks involved in the Libor Scandal, Citibank in June 2018 reached a settlement with 42 U.S. states to pay a $100 million fine due to their manipulation of the London Inter-bank Offered Rate. Libor index is widely used as a reference rate for many financial instruments both in financial and commercial fields.
Yakuza (Japanese Organised Crime) Links
Citibank has been punished by the Japanese Financial Services Agency twice (2004 and 2009) for aiding and abetting money laundering by Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...
members; there was no punishment from the US side. In 2004-2006, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized close to a million dollars worth of assets in the United States owned by Kajiyama Susumu, the so-called emperor of loan sharks, and a Yamaguchi-gumi Goryokai member.
“In 2004, Citibank (Japan) lost their private banking license because they were allowing yakuza to do many complex transactions,” Jake Adelstein, author of “Tokyo Vice” and an expert on Japan’s mafia – known as the yakuza – told CNN. “They got 'spanked' in 2009 for failing to update their databases and allowing yakuza to do business with them again."
Sponsorship
Citibank sponsors Citi Field
Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...
, home of the New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
baseball club as well as the Washington Open tennis championship.
The firm became a sponsor of the Australian Rugby Union team in 2001 for a three-year deal, and a major sponsor of the Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...
in 2005, who play in the Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
.
In the late 1970s, First National City was heavily involved in Indy Car racing, sponsoring major drivers like Johnny Rutherford and Al Unser, Sr. Unser won the 1978 Indianapolis 500
The 62nd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1978. Danny Ongais dominated the early stages of the race but eventually dropped out with a blown engine. Al Unser Sr. ...
in First National City Travelers Checks livery.
In Formula 1 First National City was the sponsor of team Tyrrell in 1977 and 1978, with the First National City Travelers Checks livery also.
Citibank is the main sponsor of New York City's bike-share scheme Citi Bike
Citi Bike is a privately owned public bicycle sharing system serving the New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, as well as Jersey City, New Jersey, and Hoboken, New Jersey. Named after lead sponsor Citigroup, it w ...
since its launch in 2013.
In popular culture
* Political cartoonist Michel Kichka
Michel Kichka (born 1954 in Liège, Belgium) is an Israeli cartoonist and illustrator of Belgian origin. His father was Holocaust survivor Henri Kichka.
Biography
Michel Kichka was born in Belgium to Henri Kichka, a Holocaust survivor, and his ...
satirized Citibank in his 1982 poster ''...And I Love New York'', in which the lettering above the entrance to a New York City branch reads" "Citibang". Meanwhile, a stocking-wearing bank robber exits and fires shots at NYPD officers responding to the robbery.
* The 2001 song "Short Skirt/Long Jacket
"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" is the first single by American alternative rock band Cake from their 2001 album '' Comfort Eagle''.
Lyrics and background
The lyrics begin to describe an ideal fantasy woman, beginning with the simple desire for a wom ...
" references the company with the line "At Citibank, we will meet accidentally."
See also
* Citigroup Center
The Citigroup Center (formerly Citicorp Center and also known by its address, 601 Lexington Avenue) is an office skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1977 to house the headquarters of Citibank, it is tal ...
* List of chairmen of Citigroup
* Sanford I. Weill
Sanford I. "Sandy" Weill (; born March 16, 1933) is an American banker, financier and philanthropist. He is a former chief executive and chairman of Citigroup. He served in those positions from 1998 until October 1, 2003, and April 18, 2006, re ...
* ATM Industry Association
References
Further reading
*
* Online review.
*
External links
{{Authority control
Citigroup
1812 establishments in New York (state)
Banks based in New York City
Banks established in 1812
American companies established in 1812
Economy of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Rockefeller family