Citibank 2011 Annual Report Download - page 7

5
Establishing
an institution
dedicated to
progress
FOUNDING STORY
EVERY DAY, CITI BANKERS work alongside tens of millions of clients to
achieve progress for individuals, families and communities, businesses,
institutions and nations. It is the shared purpose of the Citi community that
spans over 100 countries: people laying plans, making decisions and taking
action with an abiding passion to make things better. That was the character of
the dozen people who came together at a small building at 52 Wall Street in the
summer of 1812 to found the bank that would become Citi. They pooled their
resources to fund each other’s ambitions in New York City and beyond.
Setting
universal
standards for
leadership
TRAINING FUTURE
LEADERS
CITI ALUMNI go on to become chiefs of multinational corporations, ministers
of finance, governors of central banks, ambassadors of nations — even heads
of state. Citi has a rich history as a training ground for future leaders. In 1914,
as the bank continued to expand internationally, Citi president Frank Vanderlip
formalized that role in Citi’s first official learning and development curriculum,
dwelling not only on the rigors of banking but also on the tools of general
management and the study of foreign languages and cultures. The courses
equipped the program’s graduates with the skills and sensibilities necessary to
serve a new kind of worldly clientele. This was the precedent for the reputation
that Citi still enjoys today.
Making
money mobile
and secure
WALTER WRISTON
THERE ARE MORE THAN THREE BILLION credit cards in circulation
worldwide, and nearly four billion people manage their funds through an ATM,
website or mobile phone. In the late 1960s, the idea of paying for dinner with
a plastic card or having access to a bank account after 4 p.m. was unthinkable.
It took the vision of Citi president Walter Wriston to imagine the future of
retail banking, a world where people have simple access to credit and savings,
anywhere at any time. Wriston believed that Citi had to be “responsive to the
needs of society,” and he invested billions to create Citi’s consumer business
through the commercialization of credit cards and the ATM.
Talented people with the best training who thrive in a
diverse meritocracy that demands excellence, initiative
and courage
Leadership
Spurring
an era of
worldwide
growth
MOSES TAYLOR
FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS, the United States has been a driving force of
innovation and economic success in the world. Setting that dynamo into motion
required bold action in the decades before. In the 19th century, the first modern
gas utility was founded to light Manhattan, vast railroad systems were laid to
open the American frontier and far-stretching communications networks were
created to link most points in America to each other and to the world. Moses
Taylor, president of Citi from 1856 to 1882, was a leading player in these and
numerous other investments that transformed the United States from an outlier
to a pacesetter in the global economy.