Citi Bank & Citigroup "Citi's Yard Sale"

**Wanderer** · March 25th, 2010, 07:20 PM

BY RANDALL SMITH

It is probably the biggest garage sale ever: credit cards, mortgages, brokerage operations, a door-to-door insurance business, even a ski lodge that Citigroup Inc. amassed as it tried to build a financial supermarket to the world.

Now that the dream is gone, the New York company is working hard to get rid of assets it no longer wants, still haunting Citigroup more than two years after the financial crisis hit. Fourteen months into the sales process, though, it is clear executives are in for a long, hard slog.

As published in the Wall Street Journal on March 25, 2010

**ColoNative** · March 25th, 2010, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by Wanderer

BY RANDALL SMITH

It is probably the biggest garage sale ever: credit cards, mortgages, brokerage operations, a door-to-door insurance business, even a ski lodge that Citigroup Inc. amassed as it tried to build a financial supermarket to the world.

Now that the dream is gone, the New York company is working hard to get rid of assets it no longer wants, still haunting Citigroup more than two years after the financial crisis hit. Fourteen months into the sales process, though, it is clear executives are in for a long, hard slog.

As published in the Wall Street Journal on March 25, 2010

They should have never merged with Travelers. What a nightmare. They used to be such a great company as Citicorp.

**Wanderer** · March 25th, 2010, 08:22 PM

Colo - try this... I obtained a checking account from Citicorp

in 1979 when they first rolled out their attempt at national banking issued on the new Citibank South Dakota (to get around usuary laws in most states). Frankly, it was a hassle as everything was by mail. Slow and hard to deal with... no brick and motar or internet. Closed it soon thereafter. They stopped it for a period of time and I forgot about them. Got my first Gold Visa from Citibank in 1973 when they turned me down so I wrote the bank president where they determined I was their kind of people (back then $5,000 CL was the magic for a gold card with the frills - not much by our standrads today). Oh yes the big boy bank.

**ColoNative** · March 25th, 2010, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Colo - try this... I obtained a checking account from Citicorp

in 1979 when they first rolled out their attempt at national banking issued on the new Citibank South Dakota (to get around usuary laws in most states). Frankly, it was a hassle as everything was by mail. Slow and hard to deal with... no brick and motar or internet. Closed it soon thereafter. They stopped it for a period of time and I forgot about them. Got my first Gold Visa from Citibank in 1973 when they turned me down so I wrote the bank president where they determined I was their kind of people (back then $5,000 CL was the magic for a gold card with the frills - not much by our standrads today). Oh yes the big boy bank.

I just always thought they were cool. It has been sad to see them pretty much fall flat on their faces. I still wish they would go back to Citicorp with that cool old logo with the star at the end. Oh well, things change I guess.

**Wanderer** · March 25th, 2010, 08:36 PM

You know Travelers was a good company with the red umbrella and I always liked them as a stand alone. Citi took a big kick from their sub-prime Citi Financial. It is biting them big time now. The article didn't mention that one.

**eugene66** · May 15th, 2010, 04:56 PM

Today while passing Dallas Cowboys stadium(huge) i noticed a Citibank banking center nearby and thought that couldn't be right but there it was because i was born and raised in the DFW area and I've never seen anything of Citibank around here but i guess they are making there presence here slowly...it's great thought because it seems like there is a Chase and Boa on every corner here.