U.S. holding company formed in 1998 from the merger of Citicorp (itself a holding company incorporated in 1967) and Travelers Group, Inc. (see Travelers Inc. ).
The $70 billion merger included one of the largest U.S. investment banks, Salomon Smith Barney Inc., and aimed at creating a global retail financial-services business. Citicorp, whose lineage can be traced to the First Bank of the United States, was noteworthy for its pioneering installation of automated teller machines throughout its branch offices in the 1970s. Before its merger with Travelers Group, Inc., Citicorp was the largest U.S. bank and one of the largest financial companies in the world, with about 3,000 branch offices worldwide.