Lord777
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Citigroup Inc (Citi Bank) will pay $ 25.9 million to settle charges that the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) intentionally discriminated when applying for credit cards of customers identified by the bank as Armenian-Americans based on the endings of their surnames. This is reported by Reuters.
According to the regulator, from 2015 to 2021, bank managers trained employees to be wary of applicants with surnames that end in " ian "(ian or yan), believing that they could commit fraud.
Many of the victims of the bank's actions were from Glendale, California, which is sometimes referred to as" little Armenia " and is home to about 15% of the total number of Armenian-Americans in the United States.
Citigroup, which checks credit card applications for fraud using special software, was accused of applying stricter criteria when evaluating applications, as well as refusing to issue cards.
The CFPB also pointed out that in many cases, bank employees lied to applicants, giving false reasons for refusal, while they were ordered not to discuss discriminatory issues in writing or over the phone.
Some employees referred to card applicants who they suspected were of Armenian descent as "Armenian bad guys"or" the Armenian mafia of Southern California."
The $ 26 million payment includes a fine of $ 24.5 million and compensation for those who were not issued credit cards for far-fetched reasons in the amount of $ 1.4 million for violating the Federal Law on Equal Credit Opportunities.
Citigroup has apologized, saying it tried to thwart an Armenian fraud gang in California, but some employees clearly overdid it.
"While we prioritize protecting our bank and our customers from fraud, it is unacceptable to base credit decisions on national origin," the bank's New York division said in a statement.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra told reporters that Citigroup has repeatedly violated consumer protection laws, and the company has paid about $ 1 billion in fines and compensation to consumers since 2015.
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From myself, I will add to our comrades. When you see drops or those who have the ending ian or yan at the end of their last name and they are somewhere in California, you need to take an example from citibank. Working with this diaspora, as well as with the Negroes in Zimbabwe, will almost certainly be abandoned.
According to the regulator, from 2015 to 2021, bank managers trained employees to be wary of applicants with surnames that end in " ian "(ian or yan), believing that they could commit fraud.
Many of the victims of the bank's actions were from Glendale, California, which is sometimes referred to as" little Armenia " and is home to about 15% of the total number of Armenian-Americans in the United States.
Citigroup, which checks credit card applications for fraud using special software, was accused of applying stricter criteria when evaluating applications, as well as refusing to issue cards.
The CFPB also pointed out that in many cases, bank employees lied to applicants, giving false reasons for refusal, while they were ordered not to discuss discriminatory issues in writing or over the phone.
Some employees referred to card applicants who they suspected were of Armenian descent as "Armenian bad guys"or" the Armenian mafia of Southern California."
The $ 26 million payment includes a fine of $ 24.5 million and compensation for those who were not issued credit cards for far-fetched reasons in the amount of $ 1.4 million for violating the Federal Law on Equal Credit Opportunities.
Citigroup has apologized, saying it tried to thwart an Armenian fraud gang in California, but some employees clearly overdid it.
"While we prioritize protecting our bank and our customers from fraud, it is unacceptable to base credit decisions on national origin," the bank's New York division said in a statement.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra told reporters that Citigroup has repeatedly violated consumer protection laws, and the company has paid about $ 1 billion in fines and compensation to consumers since 2015.
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From myself, I will add to our comrades. When you see drops or those who have the ending ian or yan at the end of their last name and they are somewhere in California, you need to take an example from citibank. Working with this diaspora, as well as with the Negroes in Zimbabwe, will almost certainly be abandoned.
