The History of Citibank
Citibank is one of the major international banks and it was founded as the City Bank of New York in 1812. From being a small bank out of New York, it has developed into one of the largest companies in Banking. Citigroup as its parent company is know, is one of the largest in consumer and corporate banking. According to reports in 2007, Citibank is the largest bank in the United States by holdings.
Founded way back in 1812 by a group of New York merchants, the first head at Citibank was Samuel Osgood. Samuel had been the first Postmaster General in the US. Later on, the ownership and management of Citibank was transferred to Moses Taylor, who is a protégé of John Jacob Astor, one of the greats of the 19 th century business world. During Taylor's time, Citibank functioned and operated mostly as a treasury and finance center for Taylor's extensive business empire.
In 1865 Citibank joined the U.S national banking system and the name was changed to The National City Bank of New York. By 1894, it was being considered as one of the largest banks in the United States. In 1897, Citibank became the first U.S. bank to introduce a foreign department. By 1913 Citibank had become the first contributor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. One of the pioneering efforts of Citibank includes the introduction of automated teller machines (ATM) in the 1970s, so that their customers could access their accounts 24-hour a day.
Citi Cards, which is an integral part of the Citibank global operations, has 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries globally. Citigroup has three major business groups
- The Global Consumer
- The Corporate and Investment Banking
- The Global Wealth Management
The Citigroup’s Global Consumer Group has been responsible for introducing consumer product offerings in the entire North America as well as around the world. Some of their products or services include credit cards, banking services, insurance and loans. The Corporate and Investment Banking division provides advisory and transaction services to government, institutions and corporate clients. The Global Wealth Management division provides a top-tier money management service catering to the institutional and private clients through world class brands like Smith Barney
Their Legacy
The history of Citigroup dates back to 1812 when Citibank was founded. Today their customers and that’s includes the customers of Citi Cards benefit from their global strength and a legacy, which state their focus on service, integrity and leadership.
One of the most popular Citibank credit cards today is the Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® MasterCard®. Some of salient features of the card include:
0% APR
The 0% APR can increase if the customer defaults or pays late.
Card member payments are applied to low APR balances
After the expiry of the Balance Transfer APR offer, the standard purchase APR is applicable.
Another popular card is the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard®
The key features of the card are:
Annual fee standard purchase APR
$0.00 for 12 months, and $85.00 thereafter |
