I had been FORCED to use Citi-Bank by applying for credit cards for the Home Depot and subsequently Costco. As if the experience with the Home Depot Citi-Bank card wasn't so incredibly aggravating and frustrating, I should have known it would be no different when Costco forced us upon this ridiculous entity! I have not only stopped using my Home Depot card(s), but because the Home Depot has become so unethical and selling nothing but JUNK TOOLS who's manufacturers won't take responsibility for I WILL NOT shop there any longer. Tractor Supply Company and ACE Hardware are SO MUCH better options. Citi-Banks credit card with the Home Depot was just the underscore in my decision to discontinue BOTH. I recently misplaced my wallet, and went through locking all my credit cards therein. Attempting to contact Citi-Bank was an exercise in INCREDIBLE FRUSTRATION and ANGER. Their AI phone system is as impotent as Citi-Bank itself. After NUMEROUS calls in attempt to complete a simple task, the agent I spoke to, instead of locking the card, cancelled it and ordered a replacement. I found this out calling back less than 18 hours after my initial call. The CSR I then spoke to said she didn't know why the card was cancelled and reordered, as it simply could have been locked. The replacement took a full week to arrive. Therein begat the ultimate frustration and aggravation. I had to call 4 times to get the 'new card' activated, FINALLY getting through to a live person, who advised the new card was activated and ready for use. WRONG!!! I spent over 20,minutes at the Costco fuel station trying to use the card, because it was declined. 4 more attempts with that RIDICULOUS "Interactive Voice Recognition" joke of a 'Customer Service' method of Citi-Bank's I FINALLY got through to another 'live' person who stated the card was locked! How that happened who the heck knows. The card was originally cancelled and reordered, so the new card should NOT have been 'locked'. Further, when the 'live' representative had 'activated' the new card (after the 4 calls to do so), she SHOULD HAVE NOTICED IT WAS "LOCKED"!!!! Incompetence and impotence....THATS Citi-Bank!!! If it were not for the businesses I have CHOSEN to do business with, HAD NOT FORCED me to be associated with Citi-Bank, I never would be. Like the Home Depot it has seriously caused me to question my association with Costco, as THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES. No doubt why there is THIS in regards to Citi-Bank: Yes, Citibank (Citigroup) is in trouble, facing significant penalties and regulatory scrutiny due to persistent issues with risk management, data, and internal controls, which have led to large fines and a major reorganization under CEO Jane Fraser to correct these failures. The bank has been on notice from regulators since 2020 and has violated prior enforcement actions, most recently being fined $136 million in July 2024 for a lack of progress on fixing these issues. Citigroup's controversies include recent and past instances of operational errors, such as mistakenly crediting an $81 trillion account, and the mismanagement of a $900 million payment to Revlon creditors, leading to financial losses. The bank has also faced significant regulatory penalties and legal actions for issues including discrimination against Armenian-American credit applicants, failing to protect consumers from fraud, and misleading investors in past financial scandals. The bank continues to operate under regulatory scrutiny for its internal risk management and data governance systems.