In the process, it let go about 25 percent of its customers along with more than 40 percent of its workforce. by more than two-thirds and has gotten out of subprime lending, student loans and life insurance. It reduced the number of branches in the U.S. The bank has since sold or shut retail operations in more than half the countries in which it had a presence, including Guatemala, Egypt and Japan. Then a financial crisis, billions of dollars of losses from complicated securities linked to subprime mortgages and a government bailout upended its plans. It offered consumer banking in 50 countries, covering half the planet’s land mass, and served 268 million people. Once upon a time, about a decade ago, the New York-based bank had a global retail empire stretching from Tokyo to Tegucigalpa. How does a company lose 69 million customers? Just ask Citigroup Inc.
