Saturday, January 22, 2005
Walter B. Wriston, an iconoclastic banker who used technology and global expansion to help build what is now called Citigroup into one of the world's largest banking companies, has died, Citigroup announced Thursday. He was 85.
Wriston died Wednesday in New York City of pancreatic cancer, the bank said.
Wriston spent nearly his entire career at the New York-based company and ran the bank as chief executive from 1967 until he retired in 1984. The bank, Citibank, was part of a holding company then called Citicorp, which later became Citigroup.
During his tenure, he more than doubled the bank's size by expanding overseas and pushing for the end of interest-rate caps on deposits and other banking regulations, and by ushering in such technologies as the automated teller machine.
Wriston also shook the industry by shaping his bank into a financial supermarket that offered consumers and businesses an array of services beyond just accepting deposits and issuing loans.
Most other financial institutions later followed suit.
"Clearly, Walt stood out among his many peers as an innovator, having pioneered the automated teller machine, which changed the way people banked forever," Citigroup Chief Executive Charles Prince said.
Wriston was "one of the foremost bankers of the 20th century," said Prince, whose bank now oversees total assets of more than $1.4 trillion.
The son of two teachers, Wriston was known as being smart, aggressive, outspoken and at times acerbic. He held little reverence for banking traditions, which he considered largely outdated, and pursued the goal of raising Citicorp's annual profit by at least 15% a year, which he usually accomplished.
He looked everywhere for growth. By the late-1970s, Citibank was operating in nearly 100 countries.
In the United States, he not only expanded the bank's services, he hired non-bank marketing experts who "understood that bank accounts could be thought of as 'product lines' and peddled like breakfast cereal," Joseph Nocera wrote in his 1994 book "A Piece of the Action."
Wriston's moves were not without controversy. His zeal for growth included making billions of dollars in loans to Latin America and other Third World regions, which saddled Citibank with huge losses in the 1980s when the loans couldn't be repaid on time.
The debt crisis shattered the notion once voiced by Wriston that "countries do not go bankrupt."
Walter Bigelow Wriston was born Aug. 3, 1919, in Middletown, Conn. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Wesleyan University, where his father taught history, and later received a master of arts degree at Tufts University's Fletcher School of International Law and Diplomacy.
After a year's service with the State Department and a four-year tour with the U.S. Army during World War II, Wriston joined Citibank in 1946 as a junior inspector in the comptroller's division. At the time, it was called First National City Bank.
For the next two decades, Wriston worked his way up through the company, becoming president and chief executive in 1967 and chairman of the board in 1970.
Wriston is survived by his second wife, Kathryn, whom he married after his first wife, Barbara, died in 1966; his daughter Catherine from his first marriage, and two grandchildren.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Problem largely unrecognized
(ARA) - The dream of obtaining their first driver's license is turning into a nightmare for a growing number of teenagers who are discovering for the first time they are victims of identity theft. Identity theft is a crime in which an imposter obtains key pieces of information such as Social Security and driver's license numbers to obtain credit, merchandise and services in the name of his or her victim.
"Young people under the age of 29 years old have become the number one demographic target for identity thieves," Betsy Broder of the Federal Trade Commission said at a recent summit on teen ID theft sponsored by Qwest Communications. "Young people comprise an estimated 31 percent of the some 10 million identity thefts annually throughout the country."
Broder said the first time many teenagers discover their identification has been stolen is when they apply for a driver's license or credit card and discover someone else has been using their name and Social Security number.
Concerned that teenagers are often overlooked by organizations that educate the public on identity theft, Qwest Communications recently sponsored a one-day summit in Denver devoted exclusively to the problem of teenage identity theft.
The first-of-its-kind summit brought together influential members from business, government, academia and the media to identify the problems young people face with respect to identity theft and develop initiatives to help protect them.
Broder, who is assistant director of the FTC's Division of Planning and Information, and a panel of other experts noted that identity theft is one of the fastest growing financial crimes in the United States, costing businesses some $48 billion a year in losses and an estimated $5 billion in losses to consumers. They urged businesses, schools and others to help educate young people on how to protect themselves against becoming the primary target of identity thieves.
With little knowledge of financial transactions or credit reports, teenagers and young people are particularly vulnerable to identity theft. Identity thefts can occur before a teenager even reaches the age of 18, the time when most minors are eligible to enter into contracts and apply for credit cards.
"Identity theft is affecting teens the same way it affects adults," says Diane Terry, senior director of fraud victim assistance at the national credit bureau, TransUnion. "The main difference is that teenagers are often less educated about the warning signs that suggest they may be victims. We really need more focused education to reach teens."
Terry and others note that it can be an exceptionally traumatic experience for anyone to discover their identity has been stolen, but that it is particularly painful for young people.
"It feels like you have no control over your life," says Rhea Takara of San Diego, Calif., whose estranged father stole her identity when she was 18 years old and forged her name on credit card receipts and established business accounts using her personal information. "Lots of people don't even want to talk about it because the theft often involves a relative or someone they know. It was very hard for me to be betrayed by a parent."
In addition to relatives, roommates and other acquaintances, law enforcement officials say domestic drug rings and Eastern European gangs are heavily into identity theft and credit card fraud. Young methamphetamine addicts are particularly drawn to identity theft as an easy way to create and use counterfeit checks to support their drug use. According to officials, they steal identity information from the mail, their employers and fellow employees, car break-ins, burglaries and through dumpster-diving.
The Internet has become an appealing place for criminals to obtain identifying data, such as passwords, Social Security numbers and credit card information, particularly from young people who are the biggest users of the Web. Thieves often attempt to get identity information through chat rooms or by enticing people to divulge personal information through specially designed Web sites or pop-up windows that pose as legitimate commercial sites.
The experts say teens need to understand that identity theft is a serious crime that demands a response. There is no need to become paranoid or stop using the Internet, but the experts suggest teens be extremely cautious about divulging sensitive personal information to anyone, particularly when it involves unsolicited requests.
Other tips to help teenagers and young people prevent identity fraud include:
* Don't be intimidated. Tell adults (e.g. coaches, teachers and employers) who ask for Social Security, driver's license and credit card numbers that you want to know how they'll use it and how they'll protect it from identity theft.
* Guard your personal information. It's valuable, so password-protect your laptops, wireless phones, pagers and MP3 players and don't store personal identification information on these and other devices. Carefully destroy papers you throw out -- using a cross-cut shredder if possible - that contain personal identifying information.
* Check yourself out. When you turn 16, frequently check bank and credit card statements for irregularities and ask for help on how to monitor your credit reports at least once a year.
Experts at the Qwest Summit urged businesses to partner with local schools, law enforcement agencies, consumer groups and others in promoting information campaigns for teens and young people on the dangers of identity theft.
The experts also noted that businesses and other organizations that fail to take reasonable precautions to protect their own employees and customers from identity theft are leaving themselves open to lawsuits from consumer action attorneys acting on behalf of the victims.
They recommend all businesses -- not just financial institutions -- conduct a thorough review of how they acquire, distribute and dispose of sensitive personal information.
Some questions businesses should ask themselves about identity theft, include:
* Do we really need the information we are asking for -- such as Social Security numbers -- and, if so, are we acquiring it in a safe manner?
* What computer security measures have we placed around the systems storing personal data?
* Who has access to sensitive personal information from employees and customers and have they gone through a background check?
* Are documents containing personal information shredded or rendered unreadable before disposal in office trash containers and company dumpsters?
* Do we provide our employees (and customers) with a secure place to store their purses and laptops containing personal information?
Qwest's 2004 Summit on Protecting Teens from Identity Theft, is but one part of the company's overall program to protect consumers from fraud and identity theft. Qwest Communications has created a Web site at www.qwest.com/identitytheft which includes a free teen video available for download, detailed information on identity theft especially for teens and more information on the Teen Summit and its findings.
Courtesy of ARA Content
