Citibank, founded in 1812, used to be known as the City Bank of New York, which was later changed to the First National City Bank of New York. These days, Citibank is a very large, international bank. Citibank is part of the financial giants Citigroup, which is one of the biggest companies in the world. Citibank is better known as the consumer banking arm of this economic giant. Citibank was the largest bank in the United States in terms of holding in 2007. In 2009, they are still close to being the top bank in the United States.

Samuel Osgood originally founded the Bank and with connections from being the Postmaster General of the U.S. it grew quickly. A man named Moses Taylor took over the management and with his business sense and close connections to John Jacob Astor it became a finance center for Taylor’s business conglomerate. Then in 1863, while the Civil War raged, the bank joined the national banking system as National City Bank of NY, under Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary’s new plan to help finance the war.

In 1897, this bank was the first ever to establish a foreign department and a year prior to this it was also the first contributor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Not only does this bank have these firsts to brag about, but it was also the first bank to open an overseas office. In 1914, a branch of National City was opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A few years later in the year 1919, this bank was also the first bank to have one billion dollars in assets, which at the time was very impressive. In 1921, Charles E. Mitchell was elected president of the company and was made chairman in 1929. During the time that Mitchell ran the company, the bank expanded rapidly.

It was not until the 1970s that Citibank took on the name that it still uses today. First National City Bank and the First National City Corporation were renamed Citibank and Citicorp. When this change happened, all the stockholders of the bank were then owners of the new corporation. In November of 2008, Citibank had to be refinanced by the United States government. There was an initial aid of twenty-five billion loaned to this them. There was another twenty-five billion invested in them subsequently. The Citigroup corporation now has about three hundred and six billion dollars in risky loans|lendings|assets|. As of now, Citibank is working on establishing itself once more in this economy.

The bank’s branches are concentrated in all the major cities in the United States as well as over 100 countries throughout the world. Citibank is now in a position to offer insurance, a full range of investment instruments and credit cards. With this strength and depth of experience, I wouldn’t be too quick to count them out.