Citi

Citigroup Inc has confirmed a data breach at its Citi Account Online, which resulted in that hundreds of thousands of bank card accounts were compromised. The hack was first reported by the Financial Times.

Recently Citi discovered unauthorized access to its Citi Account Online systems having conducted a routine monitoring. The company reported about 1% of card customers were affected by the hack. Citi said that names of the customers, account numbers and contact information including email addresses of the affected accounts were viewed.

Citi has announced that Citi's Global Transaction Services is joining the Syncada from Visa network. This partnership will provide Citi's clients with a specialized solution for managing transportation accounts payable. Designed to increase efficiency with transparency, flexibility and greater control, this processing and payment capability will be part of Citi's working capital and supply chain management offering.
"The Citi-Syncada partnership is an important part of our strategy to deliver"

Lloyds Banking Group wants to raise £20 billion ($32 billion) in a move to fund the sale of its 600 branches, according to the Sunday Times reports.

Almost owned by the government Lloyds needs more cash to address a funding gap at the branches, the paper reported.

Citigroup, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, Rothschild and UBS are all hoping to win the deal to advise on the sale of the branches but have been told they must offer a loan of between 15 and 20 billion pounds if they want to pick up the business, according to the Sunday Times.
 

The US Federal Reserve ordered Bank of America to adjust its plans for a modest dividend increase, which is a sign that regulators see the bank as being still financially weaker than other financial institutions.

BofA’s plans were to get into the second wave of banks raising dividends in the second half of this year. In comparison with its rivals like JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo, Bank of America has less capital and is still heavily struggling to remain consistent.

Citi is sued for unsavory dealings with Bernard Madoff with the lawsuit seeking $425 million from the bank. According to the Madoff trustee Citigroup Inc tried to pass on its exposure to Bernard Madoff to other banks just months before his fraud was revealed.

Citi saw obvious signs of fraud about Bernard L. Madoff investment Securities LLC as early as 2005 but decided to hold back on it, said Trustee Irving Picard in a court document.

Over 18 million stock options were granted by Citigroup to its 15 senior executives. The award may significantly increase compensation for these managers if the bank’s share price rises someday. The options were disclosed in regulatory filing submitted this week.

Citi awarded 2 million options to Chief Operating Officer John Havens and Americas Consumer Banking CEO Manuel Medina-Mora each. Meantime, Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach was awarded 1.5 million options.

Credicard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Citigroup Inc., has signed a binding agreement with Elavon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp and leading global payments provider, for the establishment of a joint venture which will be a merchant services company offering payment solutions to the Brazilian marketplace.

Combined with Credicard’s market expertise and brand recognition, Elavon will deliver a robust processing platform, financial efficiency, innovative payment solutions and secure point-of-sale devices for mobile acceptance environments.

Citigroup will be opening flagship bank branches in largest Western European cities next year to re-focus its retail offer on affluent "global citizens," as reported by the Financial Times.

Citi’s operations in the UK, Spain, Greece and Belgium are closing down under terms of the U.S. government bail-out and therefore, the bank is seeking to slim down and target major cities in France, Britain and Germany, the FT said.

Billing Revolution announced that Citi is its major sponsor for the proprietary Single-Click Checkout service, a mobile app designed to process credit card transactions in-app or on mobile web sites. Via the Single-Click Checkout customers can make credit card purchases with their mobile devices from any web- or mobile-based merchant without entering a user name and password.

Citi launched a new product called the Citi Flu Card which is a corporate healthcare payment solution from Citi’s Global Transaction Services. The Citi Flu Card allows employers to reduce employee healthcare spending by shifting the administration of flu shots from doctors’ offices or on-site clinics to more cost effective pharmacy locations. It does not require prepayment, and restricts use to flu vaccinations at over 17,000 pharmacies and clinics nationwide including CVS/pharmacy, Rite Aid, Target, MinuteClinic, The Little Clinic and any of the Kroger Family of pharmacies.

Citigroup Inc has announced its partnership with the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to enable New York City's small businesses and entrepreneurs to obtain the technical assistance and financing more easily. 

According to the statement of Roy Gori, CEO of Citi Australia, they have minimized online fraud to zero level. Such exciting results were achieved owing to two-factor security system. To enter their accounts clients have to enter a password first and then to answer a predetermined security question such as their favourite colour or street address.

Citi and MasterCard Worldwide announced that Citi will implement the first-ever consumer application in the U.S. of MasterCard inControl. The solution is an innovative service that gives cardholders the ability to set spending controls and receive real-time information about their accounts.

With MasterCard inControl consumers can customize their spend management controls and maintain secure and intended usage through real-time alerts. Through inControl, cardholders will be able to:

On Monday the Wall Street Journal reported a glitch in the mobile banking app provided by Citi for iPhones which makes the sensitive information to be stored on the devices or PCs. After this report Citigroup Inc provided a statement where it said that the glitch had been fixed.

Citi spokeswoman Natalie Riper said on Monday its U.S. Citi Mobile iPhone banking program may have also saved account information on personal computers that customers hooked up to their phones.

Citigroup, Inc, a known global leader in financial sector has recruited a 62 years old George Friedlander, municipal bond strategist to the position of the bank’s senior U.S. municipal securities strategist in New York.  Previously Friedlander worked for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.