Millions of consumers lost their homes when the housing market bubble burst. But federal regulators say some of those people may have been able to stay in their homes had mortgage lenders fulfilled their requirements. To that end, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered two Citigroup subsidiaries to pay $28.8 million to resolve allegations that some of its mortgage units harmed home borrowers. [More]
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Citigroup And AT&T End Legal Feud Over Concept Of Thankfulness
Wanting to thank and reward customers isn’t a new concept, but Citi and AT&T have spent the last few months in a legal feud over the idea of thankfulness. They’ve decided to end the legal feud, though, after a federal judge ruled that AT&T didn’t have to stop using the term for its rewards program while the two sides battled in court. [More]
Citi Can’t Stop AT&T From Saying “Thanks”… For Now
Two months ago, Citi sued AT&T — not over some huge multimillion-dollar account or bad business deal, but over AT&T’s daring use of the word “Thanks” in a new loyalty program. The bank asked a federal court to bar the phone giant from using the disputed term pending the outcome of the case, but the judge has shot that request down. [More]
Citi Is Suing AT&T Over The Word “Thanks”
Last week, AT&T launched a new loyalty program dubbed AT&T Thanks, offering rewards to customers, especially those who bundle together wireless and pay-TV services from the company. This morning, Citi fired back at the Death Star, alleging that AT&T is stomping all over Citi’s “ThankYou” trademark. [More]
Victoria’s Secret Set To Ditch Swimwear After This Year
Earlier this month, L Brands, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret, announced it would restructure certain aspects of the retailer’s business, but failed to provide specifics on the changes. But a filing from the company’s bank sheds a little light on just what could be cut from the company. First up: swimwear. [More]
Costco Credit Cards Will Officially Switch To Citi, Visa In June
For more than a year now, Costco has been preparing to take its store-branded credit card business in a new direction. Specifically, it’s transferring its credit card network from long-time partner American Express to Citigroup and Visa. After hitting a few snags in the road, the shopping club now plans to make things official in June. [More]
Citi Now Blocking DraftKings, FanDuel Transactions In New York State
With the legality of daily fantasy sports [DFS] sites like DraftKings and FanDuel currently tied up in legal limbo for New York residents, Citigroup confirmed today that it is now blocking its customers in the state from transacting any business with either site. [More]
Citi To Return Additional $4.5M In Overcharged Fees To 15,000 Investment Account Holders
Last October, Citigroup agreed to return a total of $16 million to nearly 30,000 customers after an investigation by the state of New York found the company overcharged some customers advisory fees on their investment accounts. While that redress seems pretty hefty, it wasn’t enough, with the financial institution now agreeing to pay an additional $4.5 million to another 15,000 account holders. [More]
Citigroup Forgot To Compensate 23,000 Consumers For Abusive Foreclosure Practices, Sending Checks Now
Several years ago, Citigroup reached a deal with federal regulators that required the company to provide compensation for nearly 380,000 people affected by foreclosure abuse. Only the lender didn’t exactly follow through, failing to send checks to 23,000 consumers. [More]
Costco Announces New Credit Card Partnership With Citi, Visa
It seems Costco is not one to sit around pining for old flames very long, as the shopping club announced today that it’s rebounding from the end of its relationship with American Express with a new partnership with Citigroup and Visa. [More]
Citi To Pay $7B To Settle Mortgage Investigation; Includes $2.5B In Consumer Relief
Nearly a week after it was first reported that Citigroup and the U.S. Justice Dept. had reached a deal to close the government’s investigation into toxic mortgage-backed securities sold by the bank in the years leading up to the crash of the housing market, Citi has now confirmed a settlement valued at a total of $7 billion. [More]
Citi Reportedly Ready To Pay $7 Billion For Selling Shoddy Mortgages
A half-decade on from the collapse of the housing bubble, it looks like the Justice Dept. and Citigroup may have finally reached a deal that will have the bank forking over several billion dollars to close the book on allegations that it sold off a large number of worthless mortgages in the lead-up to the 2008 crash. [More]
Only A Third Of Bank ATMs Using Windows XP Have Upgraded Ahead Of April 8 Deadline
Banks all over the world have known since 2007 that Microsoft would stop support for ATMs running Windows XP on April 8 of this year, but with that deadline looming, only one-third of those 2.2 million machines have upgraded their outdated software. [More]
Citi To Pay Nearly $1 Billion To Fannie Mae For Toxic Mortgages
Ever since taxpayers bailed out Fannie Mae, the mortgage-backer has been trying to get some of the nation’s largest lenders to buy back the toxic loans that had been sold to the company before the housing bubble went POP. Today, Citi announced that it has agreed to pay $968 million to Fannie Mae to put an end to its part in the matter. [More]
Bank Of America, Comcast Among Familiar Names In List Of Least Reputable Companies
Once again, the folks at Harris Interactive have released their Reputation Quotient Report, which rates public perception of 60 highly visible companies. Regular readers of Consumerist will not be shocked to see which companies brought up the rear this year. [More]
Citigroup Is Suddenly Without Its CEO And COO, After Both Abruptly Resign
With no specific reasons given, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and Chief Operating Officer John Havens both resigned their positions this morning. [More]
Banks Working On Linking Up Their Payment Systems To Make Person-To-Person Mobile Transfers Easier
The way younger generations are glued to their smartphones, there’s almost nothing they can’t do with the swipe of a touch screen. Old-fashioned things like writing checks or even paying a roommate with cash is such a bother to some, but yet transferring money to other people with apps hasn’t really caught on like the banking industry figured it would. That’s why the nation’s big four are discussing how they can link up their payment systems to make it easier for consumers to send money via mobile devices or even emails. [More]
The 26 Top CEOs Who Made More Than Their Companies Paid In Federal Taxes
Once again, it’s time for the annual Institute for Policy Studies report on which top CEOs are earning more money than the companies they work for are paying out to federal government in taxes. [More]