Citigroup credits S$109 trillion into client's account instead of S$378, only finds out 1.5 hours after transfer

Citigroup wrongly credited US$81 trillion (S$109 trillion) to a customer's account instead of the intended US$280 (S$378).

According to The Financial Times (FT), the mistake, which happened in April 2024, was missed by two employees.

A third employee found out about the mistake — but only did so 90 minutes after the transfer had been posted.

The payment was reversed several hours later.

But if you're wondering why there wasn't a Citigroup client spontaneously combusting of shock and happiness last year, it's because, apparently no funds left Citigroup.

According to FT, who cited Citi, no funds left Citi due to its "detective controls" managing to identify the "inputting error".

A total of 10 near misses of US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) or more occurred at Citi in 2024, according to the FT, citing an internal report.

In January, Citi CFO Mark Mason said that the bank was investing in its ability to address its compliance issues, reported Reuters.

This was in reference to regulatory penalties for risk management and data governance.

"We saw the need to invest more in the transformation on data, on technology, on improving the quality of the information coming out of our regulatory reporting," Mason said.

According to Reuters, Citi was fined US$136 million (S$183.7 million) for insufficient progress on these issues in July 2024.

Top photo from Go Banking Rates