Citigroup has been the idiot-child of the banking world, period. Back in college I was in a work program (similar to a co-op), making good money as an engineering student, I thought it would be a good idea to start to build some credit. Citibank sent me a "pre-approved" application which I filled out... and was denied. They said I had to call back between certain hours. Working and going to school full time meant it was hard to make that call (this was the era were the only portable phones were expensive car phones and similar units.) When I finally got the time to call I was greeted with a message that the office was closed and that they only accepted calls between certain hours, which were different than what they had said in their letter. On the next attempt, when I finally got ahold of someone and was able to ask why I was declined for my "pre-approved" card, I was told I was a credit risk. I asked them "Really? I work as an engineering student at a Fortune 50 company making twice what other people my age were making at fast-food joints." Their only response was "well, not everyone works at your company." What?
I filled out an application with a different credit card company who took a very different approach and quickly approved me. And to this day, I have avoided dealing with any of the Citigroup companies as much as possible. Looking at all of the scandals and problems they've had over the years, I'm glad to not deal with them.
Don't forget, Citigroup took a $25B bailout from the federal government in October of 2008, then also received $20B in additional emergency funding in November of 2008, plus an additional $5B set aside to backstop potential losses also in November of 2008, plus a $300B loan-loss backstop to insure against losses from the bank's mortgage-backed security investments, also in November of 2008.