The American Citibank (the bank of the financial conglomerate Citigroup) mistakenly transferred 81 trillion USD to the account of its client instead of 280 USD, the British newspaper Financial Times (FT) reported, referring to the bank's internal documentation.
"The transfer was processed in a chain by two employees, neither of whom noticed the error. The transaction was approved the day after registration, only the third specialist discovered a problem with the availability of funds in the bank accounts and canceled the transfer 90 minutes after sending the money. The funds were returned a few hours later," the source notes.
The money did not leave the bank itself, the US Federal Reserve and other regulatory authorities have been notified of the incident.
According to a report obtained by the newspaper, last year Citibank had 10 smaller incidents involving erroneous transactions worth 1 billion USD or more. This situation affects the bank's reputation and its assessment in the eyes of the US banking regulator. In 2024, Citibank was already fined a total of 136 million USD for poor risk control.
In 2021, the bank experienced a scandal that led to the dismissal of the CEO and large fines. Then Citibank mistakenly transferred 900 million USD instead of 7.8 million USD to creditors of the cosmetic brand Revlon. The bank was unable to cancel the transaction and challenge it in court.