I got a message from a friend on Facebook today...
On the latest CitiBank statement:
"Effective April 1, 2010, we reserve the right to require (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking accounts. While we do not currently exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past, we are required by law to notify you of this change."
What's up with this???
When I read this, the first thing I thought was, "wow, are they expecting a bank run soon?" And then I raced through the reasons why this could be. Perhaps they just think the economy is weak enough that a run on all banks is a serious possibility. Maybe they think the teabagger paranoia is going to manifest itself in people turning against banks. Maybe they think the same but fear everyone is so mad about the bailouts they're about to turn. Or... maybe... some very bad news is about to drop about Citi?
Given that Citi received quite a large chunk of the bailout money... and given that there have been a lot of secrets kept about exactly how bad things were at the banks who received that money... perhaps we're about to learn a bit more?
As I told my friend, if I were him, I'd be calling CitiBank on Monday and telling them, if they don't rescind that policy, I'll be withdrawing all of my money now, thank you.