By Jonathan Stempel and Tatiana Bautzer
Citigroup Inc agreed to pay $25.9 million to settle U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau charges it intentionally discriminated against credit card applicants who the bank identified as Armenian-American based on their last names.
The regulator said that from 2015 to 2021, Citigroup managers trained employees to stereotype applicants suspected of being of Armenian descent, targeting those whose last names ended in “ian” and “yan,” believing them likely to commit fraud.
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