Citibank is a retail bank owned by Citigroup, founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, which later became the First National City Bank of New York.
The bank has more than 2,650 branches in 19 countries, including more than 720 branches in the United States and more than 1,490 branches in Mexico, operated by its subsidiary Banamex. The US branches are concentrated in six metropolitan areas: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC and Miami.
Early history
The City Bank of New York was founded on 16 June 1812. The first president was retired Colonel Samuel Osgood. After Osgood's death in August 1813, William Few became president of the bank, remaining in office until 1817, followed by Peter Stagg (1817-1825), Thomas Smith (1825-1827), Isaac Wright (1827-1832) and Thomas Bloodgood (1832 -1843). ). Moses Taylor took over and managed the bank in 1837. During Taylor's reign, the bank served primarily as a financial and monetary centre for Taylor's own vast business empire. Later bank presidents included Gorhamworth (1843-1856), Moses Taylor himself (1856-1882), and Taylor's son-in-law Patrick Pyne and James Stillman (1891-1909).
The City Bank became one of the first bank robberies in the United States in 1831, when two thieves stole tens of thousands of dollars worth of banknotes and 398 gold coins.
In 1865, the bank joined the US national banking system under the National Bank Act, becoming the National City bank of New York. By 1868 it was one of the largest banks in the United States, by 1893 it was the largest bank in New York, and the following year it was the largest bank in the United States. It financed the Panama Canal in 1904. By 1906, National City held 11% of the federal government's bank balance.
Between 1910 and 1911, the US State Department supported a consortium of US investors led by Citibank to gain control of the Banque Nationale d'Haiti, the only commercial bank in Haiti and the Treasury of the Haitian government. Citibank then pressured the federal government to occupy Haiti, and succeeded in doing so in 1915. During the occupation, Citibank made $30 million in loans to the Haitian government, which journalist George Padmore described as turning Haiti into an 'American slave colony'.
When the Federal Reserve Act allowed it, National City Bank opened a branch in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1914, becoming the first US national bank to open an overseas banking office. Many of Citi's current international offices are older, with the International Banking Corporation (IBC) opening offices in London, Shanghai, Calcutta and elsewhere in 1901 and 1902, IBC was a company permitted to conduct banking business outside the United States, which was prohibited by the US National Bank. in 1918, IBC became a wholly owned subsidiary and was subsequently incorporated into the bank. In the same year, the bank evacuated all its employees from Moscow and Petrograd. As the Russian Civil War had begun, a branch was also established in Puerto Rico. By 1919, the bank was the first American bank to have $1 billion in assets.
By 1921, four national banks were operating branches in New York: Catham and Phoenix National, The Mechanics and Metals National, Irving National and National City Bank.
Branches in Germany and Japan closed in 1940 and 1941, and in 1945 the bank handled $5.6 billion of US Treasury debt for the US government for war and victory loans.
After merging with the First National Bank in 1955, the bank changed its name to the First National City Bank of New York, which was shortened to First National City Bank of New York in 1962.
The bank entered the leasing and credit card business organically and introduced dollar-denominated certificates of deposit in London, marking the first new negotiable instrument on the market since 1888, which later became part of the MasterCard card. "in 1967.
In 1967, First National City Bank was reorganised into a bank holding company, First National City Corporation, or "Citibank" for short. However, the bank had been nicknamed "Citibank" since the 1860s, when the city bank of New York used it as an eight-letter wire transfer code address. The name change also helped to avoid confusion, as the two banks never issued credit cards in any apparently overlapping areas, except for Citi's credit cards in National City.
In 1987, the bank set aside $3 billion in reserves for loan losses in Brazil and other developing countries. in 1990, the bank established a subsidiary in Poland. in 1994, it became the largest credit card issuer in the world.
Expansion
In 2002, Citigroup, the parent company of Citibank, acquired Golden State Bancorp and its California Federal Bank for $5.8 billion.
In 1999, Citigroup was sued for improperly charging late fees on credit cards.
In August 2004, Citigroup entered the Texas market with the acquisition of First American Bank of Bryan, Texas. The deal established the bank's retail presence in Texas, giving Citigroup over 100 branches, $3.5 billion in assets and approximately 120,000 customers in the state.
In 2006, the bank entered the Philadelphia market, opening 23 branches in the metropolitan area. 2013 saw the closure of these locations for "efficiency-driven" reasons.
As of September 2020, Citibank's US branches are located in the metropolitan areas of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Miami and Chicago. California is home to the majority of Citi's branches in the US, with more than 290 branches in the state.
Citi has announced that it may return its retail banking operations to Dallas in 2022. and will occupy more than 9,000 square feet at the Berks County Courthouse at Preston and Northwest Highway. Construction of the new office is scheduled to begin early next year, according to planning documents submitted to the state. The new Citibank office is described in the planning documents as an "experience centre". The plan defines the business as a "retail banking/office space". Citi does not have a major retail banking presence in the Dallas area. However, a spokeswoman for the bank's New York office would not give details of the plans for the Dallas area.
