Citigroup Inc. mistakenly credited a client’s account with a staggering $81 trillion due to a manual input error in its outdated wealth management system. The error, which occurred during a European trade processed through the bank’s U.S. operations, temporarily inflated the client’s balance from $81 million to an astronomical $81 TRILLION.
Court documents revealing the incident highlight Citi’s ongoing operational challenges, as the bank has faced regulatory scrutiny since 2020 over risk management and compliance failures.
While the error was corrected within a day, it underscores persistent system weaknesses despite modernization efforts, with regulators imposing fines and increased oversight, including a $136 million penalty in 2024. To put the blunder in perspective, the erroneous amount vastly exceeds Citi’s $121 BILLION market cap and even surpasses the U.S. GDP of $28 TRILLION
