Citigroup mistakenly credits client with $81 trillion

Citigroup experienced an operational error in 2024 when an internal transfer was incorrectly entered as $81 trillion instead of the intended $280. The mistake occurred during a transaction between two accounts on the bank's ledger.

The error bypassed two levels of verification: the employee responsible for typing the transaction and the employee tasked with approving the operation. The discrepancy was only identified approximately 90 minutes after processing when a third employee noticed the inconsistency in the balance.

Citigroup reversed the transaction a few hours later. The institution described the incident as a “near miss” and stated that no funds left the bank, resulting in no financial loss for the company or the client. The matter has been reported to United States regulatory authorities, including the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.