Bad day on Wall Street today, folks. The S&P 500 closed at the lowest level since April 1997.
citibank
By 2.23.09
../../../..//2009/02/23/the-wall-street-journal-is/
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the government may end up owning a 40% stake in Citibank. [WSJ]
Citibank Sends Nigerian Scammer $27 Million
By 2.22.09
37-year-old Nigerian scammer Paul Gabriel Amos convinced Citibank officials to wire him $27 million belonging to Ethiopia. Rather than go with the usual Nigerian nom de plumes like prince or will executor, Famous Amos pretended to be an official with the National Bank of Ethiopia. Amos forged “official-looking” documents that confirmed his status with the central bank and instructed Citibank to await faxes telling them where to send the country’s cash.
Market Convinced Banks Will Be Nationalized, Freaks Out
By 2.20.09
Shares of banking stocks are dragging down the markets as investors become increasingly convinced that the banks will be nationalized, says Reuters. Investors are shunning the companies, worried that shareholders will be wiped out in a government takeover, and are fleeing to U.S. Government bonds and gold, which rose to above $1,000 an ounce.
Shrink Ray Now Hitting Rewards Programs
By 2.18.09
We’ve seen food items, airline mile programs, and credit card limits all shrink as the economy worsens. Now it’s time for other rewards programs to become just a little less rewarding—and somewhat sneakily, too, in these two stories recently sent in by readers.
Citibank Inserts Advertising Into Your Account Activity
By 2.10.09
Reader Eric was looking at his credit card account activity when he noticed something odd. No, it wasn’t an unauthorized charge. It was advertising.
8 Banks Took $153.4 Billion In Tax Payer Money, Spent $845 Million On Naming Rights
By 2.6.09
Should bailout out banks be buying naming rights? Dennis Kucinich doesn’t think so, and last week he urged the Treasury department to cancel one such deal between Citibank and the New York Mets. Now Bloomberg says that seven more bailed out banks are spending money on stadium rights.
Should Citibank Pay $400 Million To Name A Stadium While Taking Taxpayer Money?
By 2.3.09
The New York Mets are getting a new stadium. It’ll be called Citi Field and that honor cost Citibank (and by extension, one could argue, taxpayers) $400 million.
White House To Citi: Don't Even Think About Buying Luxury Jets With Taxpayer Money
By 1.27.09
Yesterday, we wrote that Citigroup had decided to spend $50 million of its bailout money on a French luxury jet to ferry execs around town. The White House was not pleased about this.
Increase Your Citibank Grace Period By 5 Days Just By Asking
By 1.26.09
Martin discovered he was able to get Citibank to extend his grace period from 20 to 25 days. It seems all you have to do is ask! Here’s how he found out.
Bailed Out Citigroup Stimulates French Economy By Purchasing $50 Million Corporate Jet
By 1.26.09
With $45 billion in taxpayer funds burning a hole in its pocket, Citigroup is purchasing a $50 million Dassault Falcon 7X, according to the New York Post. Apparently none of the existing jets that ferried execs to Washington to ask for bailout funds was ironic enough.
Scammed Lawyer Sues Citibank For Verifying Fraudulent Check
By 1.26.09
Banks usually avoid having to deal with the consequences of advance fee fraud, since they make the depositor responsible for coming up with the missing money when a check turns out to be fake. But a lawyer who just got scammed is taking Citibank to court, because he says their “unconditional” guarantee that the check was legit led directly to his loss of $182,500.
Citibank Will Split Into Two Companies, Promises To Lend To Consumers
By 1.16.09
Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup, announced today that the company would be split after reporting a net loss for 2008 of $18.72 billion. He also promised to put the money from the $700 bailout to work by extending credit to consumers and businesses… responsibly.
On Heels of Bailout, Citi Raises Rates on Millions of Cardholders
By 12.6.08
We know the credit markets remain seized: late on Black Friday when no one was listening, the Federal Reserve issued a statement that its emergency lending to banks had increased over the prior week. Thus, massive amounts of money continue to flow to large financial institutions in an effort to stimulate economic activity, but by all appearances the money is not flowing into the broader economy. Quite the contrary; as the Fed lowers rates and adds record amounts of loaned cash to bank balance sheets, big banks are actually increasing consumers’ cost of borrowing and reducing their lines of credit. Witness Citibank’s recent adverse actions against cardholders.
Citibank Teaches Us How To Destroy A $244 Billion Banking Institution
By 11.24.08
Only two short years ago, Citibank was worth $244 billion. Now, after its stock lost half of its value in just the past week, the bank is estimated to be worth $20.5 billion. What happened? The New York Times attempted to answer that question Saturday, and it pointed the finger at the usual suspects — conflicts of interest between those who were supposed to manage risk — and those who stood to benefit from making risky bets.
20% Of Citigroup Cardholders Can Expect Rate Increases For 2009
By 11.17.08
If you have a Citigroup-issued credit card and you haven’t had a rate increase over the last two years, expect to be notified of a 2-3% rate increase on your November statement. Congratulations! You’re going to help Citigroup offset its losses in the global credit card division, whether you were directly part of those losses or not. As the New York Times points out, by doing this Citigroup is breaking the promise they made to Congress in 2007 that they would not arbitrarily raise rates on accounts—which may be why they’re offering a fairly lenient opt-out policy.
Reader Talks Citibank Down To A Lower Interest Rate On Her Credit Card
By 11.17.08
Nicole was hit with a surprise 6 point interest rate increase on her Citicard, so she fought back. Her story is a good reminder that you should look at all of your options and be prepared to argue on your behalf, even if you’re not in a position where you can just pay off the entire balance and walk away.
Secret Phone Numbers And Email Addresses To Reach Executives At 101+ Companies
By 11.7.08
Inside, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses for over 100 different companies to inject your customer service complaints into their corporate executive offices, and get it well on the way to success.
