CFPB: Citi to pay $26M over Armenian American discrimination

Citi building

Citi agreed to pay $25.9 million in fines and redress as part of a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) addressing allegations the bank discriminated against credit card applicants identified as Armenian American.

The CFPB ordered the bank to pay a $24.5 million fine and provide an additional $1.4 million to affected customers over a six-year span, the agency announced in a press release Wednesday. The CFPB cited the bank for violating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

Citi described its actions as an attempt to thwart an Armenian fraud ring gone wrong. The bank apologized to individuals wrongly evaluated.

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