Citigroup employee’s typo nearly led to $81 trillion blunder

A basic typing error made by a Citigroup worker resulted in an astonishing $81 trillion transaction mistake, rather than the targeted $280. The error that occurred in April of the previous year was identified 90 minutes afterward and rectified before any funds departed from the bank, as stated in a report by the Financial Times.

The payment was first missed by two workers before a third one noticed it. Citi subsequently described the event as a ‘near miss’ to the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Previously, Citi had committed expensive errors. In 2020, it unintentionally transferred $900 million to creditors engaged in a conflict over Revlon’s debt, resulting in substantial fines and the exit of then-CEO Michael Corbat.

Since assuming leadership in 2021, Citi CEO Jane Fraser has focused on enhancing the bank’s risk management, yet issues persist. In 2023, the OCC and Federal Reserve penalized the bank with a $136 million fine due to deficiencies in risk and data management.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the mistake resulted from an input error and an obsolete backup system. In March, four transactions amounting to $280 intended for a client’s account in Brazil were halted due to compliance reviews. Citi’s tech team directed the payment processing staff to manually handle the payment. The amount field was initially filled with 15 zeros that required removal, but the worker neglected to erase the surplus zeros, resulting in an astonishing $81 trillion mistake.

Last year, Citi experienced 10 near misses each worth $1 billion or more, according to The Financial Times. Although this shows progress from 13 comparable errors in 2022, such occurrences are still very rare in the banking sector.