On Nov 8th, Citi Bank was ordered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to pay $25.9 million for intentional and illegal discrimination against Armenian Americans.
According to a press release by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Citi intentionally discriminated against Armenian American credit card applicants from 2015 to 2021. Supervisors working at Citi conspired to hide the discrimination through ordering employees not to discuss the discriminatory practices in writing or over the phone. The company singled out applicants based on their surnames. The bank’s headquarters is in New York City and issues consumer credit cards and retail services credit cards. With a total of $1.7 trillion in total assets as of Jul. 2023, it is the third largest bank in the United States.
The press release states that the bank treated Armenian Americans as criminals who were more likely to commit fraud. The company targeted retail services credit card applicants with surnames that employees from Citi associated with Armenian national origin. Citi violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by denying credit applications because of borrowers’ ancestry and giving borrowers fake reasons for credit denials.
“The CFPB found that Citi purposefully discriminated against applicants of Armenian descent, primarily based on the spelling of their last name,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “Citi stereotyped Armenians as prone to crime and fraud. In reality, Citi illegally fabricated documents to cover up its discrimination.” Under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, Citi will have to pay $1.4 million to consumers who applied for a Citi Retail Services Credit Card between Jan 1,2015, to Dec 31, 2021. eligible consumers are identified as having been denied the credit card based on their national origin. Additionally, Citi will have to pay a $24.5 million dollar fine to the CFPB’s victims relief fund.
