$81 Trillion Mistake: Citigroup Credits Wrong Account with Record Amount
Citigroup accidentally credited $81 trillion to a customer’s account last year, a mistake that took hours to reverse and was only caught by a third employee who detected a problem with the bank's account balances. The error was part of a trend of costly mistakes at the bank, including a 2020 incident where Citigroup mistakenly used its own funds to pay off a $894 million loan owned by Revlon. The bank has been conducting a massive reorganization since late 2023 and is investing heavily in data and technology investments.
- This high-profile mistake highlights the need for banks to prioritize robust risk management and internal controls, particularly when it comes to processing large transactions that can have far-reaching consequences.
- How will Citigroup's efforts to modernize its systems and eliminate manual processes impact the bank's ability to prevent similar errors in the future?