Banking, finance, and taxes

Citi Fights BofA for 'Most Underwhelming Dividend' Award (C, BAC)

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) announced its current dividend policy, most of which we already knew.  The turnaround bank has declared a whole $0.01 per quarter dividend on its common stock.  The company’s prior reinstatement announcement came on March 21.

Today’s dividend will go to holders of record on May 27, 2011 and will be paid on June 17, 2011.

Had this been a one-penny payout before the 1-for-10 reverse stock split then it would have meant something.  The one-penny payout with shares at $42.00 or so is not even quite 0.1%.

Citigroup still has a long way to go before its dividend gets reinstated at higher rates and it is still trying to get down to the core-Citigroup.  The only other money-center bank dividend that is almost as unimpressive is that of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) with almost a 0.3% payout.

The difference between BofA and Citigroup is that BofA will almost certainly be allowed to reinstate a higher dividend much sooner than Citigroup.  Other than that, there just is not that much more to say other than that this is a token effort aimed solely at still being within the policy limits of investment firms or funds which cannot invest in companies that do not pay dividends. 

JON C. OGG

Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts

Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.

It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.

We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today.  Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.