Imagine waking up to find $81 trillion in your bank account. It sounds like something out of a dream—or a Monopoly game—where a lucky “Bank Error in Your Favor” card gives you an unexpected windfall. But in 2024, this actually happened due to a massive banking mistake by Citibank.
The Shocking $81 Trillion Mistake
In what might be one of the biggest financial blunders in history, Citibank accidentally transferred over $81 trillion to a customer’s account. To put that in perspective, that amount is more than 30 times the GDP of the United States and significantly more than Citibank’s entire worth of $2.4 trillion.
Surprisingly, the mistake went unnoticed at first. The transaction was actually approved by two separate bank employees before a third employee caught the error 90 minutes later.
How Did This Happen?
Banking systems are designed to flag suspicious transactions, but somehow, this astronomical sum slipped through the cracks. It’s unclear what caused the error—whether it was a system glitch, human oversight, or a combination of both. However, the fact that two employees approved it before it was caught raises serious concerns about Citibank’s internal safeguards.
Not Citibank’s First Costly Mistake
This isn’t the first time Citibank has made a multi-million dollar mistake. In 2021, the bank accidentally sent $900 million to Revlon’s lenders, thinking it was a routine interest payment. The mistake resulted in a lengthy legal battle, and Citibank was only able to recover about $500 million of the accidental transfer.
That incident highlighted major flaws in banking security, but it seems those lessons may not have fully prevented future mishaps.
Did the Customer Keep the Money?
While details remain unclear, it’s highly unlikely that the lucky recipient of the $81 trillion mistake got to keep a penny. Banks have strict policies in place to reverse erroneous transactions, and such a large amount would have raised immediate red flags at the highest levels.
However, for a brief moment, that individual was—on paper—the richest person in the world by a huge margin!