Citibank

Citibank will start charging fees in December for several checking accounts that were formerly free , reports the Los Angeles Times. Customers can avoid the fees either by maintaining high balances or by downgrading to a basic account and commiting to direct deposit of paychecks along with at least one automatic payment. You could also keep a combined balance of $1,500 in checking and savings to avoid fees. The news comes on the heels of news that Bank of America will now be charging customers who use their debit cards to make purchases . Citi customers, have you received your notice in the mail?

The developers of the stalled Westport Waterfront filed a $225 million suit in bankruptcy court Wednesday alleging that out-of-state financiers posed as potential investors in the project and then conspired with others to upend development plans. Investors based in Utah gained access to confidential information about the project by offering to help refinance it, according to the suit filed by developer Patrick Turner, Thomas Fore, and their companies affiliated with the Westport project.

Citibank has decided to close the Towson-based headquarters of its Choice credit card program, eliminating more than 600 full- and part-time jobs, the New York banking company acknowledged yesterday.Some of those losses will be made up in Hagerstown, the headquarters for all of Citibank's credit cards, which will gain 340 telemarketing and computer systems jobs, said Citibank spokeswoman Susan Weeks. About 1,600 people currently work at Hagerstown.But only some of those new jobs will come from Towson, she said, because not all of the workers' skills are transferable, and only some workers may choose to make the move.

Citibank will start charging fees in December for several checking accounts that were formerly free , reports the Los Angeles Times. Customers can avoid the fees either by maintaining high balances or by downgrading to a basic account and commiting to direct deposit of paychecks along with at least one automatic payment. You could also keep a combined balance of $1,500 in checking and savings to avoid fees. The news comes on the heels of news that Bank of America will now be charging customers who use their debit cards to make purchases . Citi customers, have you received your notice in the mail?

It was almost a throwaway line.But at a time when the banking industry is showing signs of regaining its financial balance, Ross Perot chose to resurrect old charges that the nation's largest bank -- Citibank -- is insolvent.Appearing Monday night on a live broadcast on ABC News, he answered a question about Japanese ownership of the Seattle Mariners baseball team by calling it an example of how the United States is "losing in international competition."Then, veering into banking as an example, he noted that the largest U.S. bank is only the 21st-largest in the world and contended that "if you ever take the Third World loans that'll never be paid out, it's insolvent."

Citibank has introduced a program in which its Visa and MasterCard customers can obtain frequent-flier points by charging purchases on their credit cards.It replaces a similar program, operated by an outside concern, called Air Miles, which has been suspended in the United States.Maria Rullo, a spokeswoman for Citibank, said the new program is called CitiMiles and will credit a cardholder with one mile of travel for each $15 charged.Points in the old program have been transferred to CitiMiles, and earned flights can be taken on any major airline; the Air Miles plan was limited to four carriers.

NEW YORK -- Add to your wallet (already bulging with a mug shot on your driver's license, company ID and assorted entry passes) yet another smiling picture of yourself -- this time on your credit card.Citibank, the nation's largest issuer of bank and credit cards, announced yesterday that it will introduce "photocards" containing individual pictures burned into the upper right corner on the flip side of gold and classic MasterCards and Visas.The move comes after several months of intermittent testing in Washington, New York and other locations.

After a decade of self-deception, Americans have finally begun to face the truth about how much interest they actually pay on their credit cards. And now, for the first time, many consumers are shopping for a card that will charge them a lower rate.For years, many consumers were drawn to Master Cards and Visa cards issued by banks mainly on the basis of which one offered the highest credit limit.Studies show that the vast majority of cardholders simply pretended to themselves that they didn't pay any interest, when two-thirds of them did. Thus they were undisturbed by interest rates that stubbornly remained around 19 percent even as other rates fell sharply.

Sounds like some banks have instituted new fees that you might not expect for certain services, according to the Wall Street Journal . The article states that Citibank says they are going to stop charging five percent for depositing coins at its Illinois location, which is a relief. I could see a retail store getting a little peeved if you tried to pay for a large purchase in pennies, but I'd still expect them to accept them: coins are  valid currency. But a bank? Ridiculous --- and a good reason to take your business to a bank that offers free coin-counting services to customers.

Citibank foreclosed on Towson.Israel is making peace with everyone. Those taking it hardest are the American true believers in maximalist Palestinian aspirations.Whitewater must have been a good investment. Congressional Republicans are sure investing in it.American Joe Who?

Laurel Citibank made a $1,000 donation to the Laurel High School Spanish Club June 13. The money will be used to fund various club activities, including Hispanic Heritage Month, Book Club, educational trips and the club's scholarship program for deserving students.

Sounds like some banks have instituted new fees that you might not expect for certain services, according to the Wall Street Journal . The article states that Citibank says they are going to stop charging five percent for depositing coins at its Illinois location, which is a relief. I could see a retail store getting a little peeved if you tried to pay for a large purchase in pennies, but I'd still expect them to accept them: coins are  valid currency. But a bank? Ridiculous --- and a good reason to take your business to a bank that offers free coin-counting services to customers.

CHICAGO -- There are only four business days left in the year, in case you were counting, but not many people will work all of them. We've entered the season when the working world divides into two camps. In many offices, any attempt at strenuous effort gives way to a pleasant drift toward the new year because there are too few people working to get anything accomplished. People who go into the offices can count on taking relaxing reading breaks at their desks. Or if they are Type A's, they can clean up their Outlook files.

When you watch Janne O'Donnell and Trisha Johnson talk, you almost vow on the spot to never use a credit card again. Each is a mom with a college-age child who committed suicide while loaded with credit-card debt. They are among many people interviewed in a new film documentary, Maxed Out, which explores the U.S. consumer's addiction to debt and unapologetically blames the industry as making it nearly impossible for people to ever get clean. But Americans' credit problems cannot be blamed entirely on the banks, of course.

Two-and-a-half months after being shaken by a currency trading scandal that resulted in a $691.2 million loss, Allfirst Financial Inc. said yesterday that the executive in charge of its risk assessment group will retire at the end of May. Brian L. King, 56, who has worked at Allfirst for more than 25 years, will leave to devote more time to charitable and other nonprofit organizations, the company announcement said. King, whose group oversees a number of areas, including internal audit, legal and credit review, did not return calls.

CAN YOU spend your way into building a college-savings account? A new company called Upromise thinks the answer is yes. Upromise's idea sounds good. Every time you buy certain goods or services, or shop at certain stores, a small portion of your purchase can be funneled into a college account. You'll save money without even thinking about it. To build a tidy sum, however, you have to patronize the sponsoring merchants - not just now but for years into the future. Will you buy books at Borders rather than Amazon?

The developers of the stalled Westport Waterfront filed a $225 million suit in bankruptcy court Wednesday alleging that out-of-state financiers posed as potential investors in the project and then conspired with others to upend development plans. Investors based in Utah gained access to confidential information about the project by offering to help refinance it, according to the suit filed by developer Patrick Turner, Thomas Fore, and their companies affiliated with the Westport project.

Citicorp announced yesterday that it will lay off 149 people, or nearly 15 percent of the work force, from the Towson headquarters of its Choice credit card program as part of a companywide reorganization of credit card operations.The restructuring also will affect Citicorp's Hagerstown customer service center, where about two dozen people are expected to lose their jobs out of roughly 1,700 who work there, a Citicorp spokeswoman said.The New York banking company told its employees yesterday that the various supporting operations for the company's two MasterCard and Visa divisions -- the Citibank and Choice brands will be combined, although the separate cards will remain.

If you've ever bought anything online, check your credit card statements. A ring of international hackers may have swindled you out of five or 10 bucks. Tens of thousands of shoppers worldwide have fallen victim to the thieves, believed to be operating out of Eastern Europe and Panama. Committing small-time fraud on a widespread scale, the scammers are stealing only a few dollars at a time - but they've become a giant headache for banks and credit card clearinghouses who are spending millions to cancel compromised cards and investigate security breaches.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks were mixed yesterday, as Citicorp and other bank shares rallied on optimism that the Asian economic crisis won't saddle them with bad loans, and Intel Corp. led a decline in semiconductor stocks on expectations that demand for computers will fall.Stocks retreated late in the day as traders sold bonds in advance of today's government report on jobs growth. Equity investors said the declines are likely to be short-lived.The Dow Jones industrial average rose 18.15 to 8,050.