Citi
Citigroup Inc.
20 quarters tracked through Q1 2026
Key takeaways
- 01
Credit is improving — clearly.
Citi's card net charge-off rate fell to 4.50% in Q1 2026 from 5.54% a year earlier, a clean 104-basis-point improvement and one of the better trajectories among the large banks.
- 02
But the provision line jumped.
Card provision rose to $2.09B in Q1 2026 from a string of much smaller quarterly figures through 2025. The build is sharp enough — against improving charge-offs — to echo Capital One's pre-positioning move.
- 03
Net income took the hit.
Card-segment net income fell to $0.73B from $1.61B a year earlier, consistent with a large reserve add absorbing the quarter's earnings.
- 04
Some line items warrant caution.
A few of Citi's reported card-segment values this quarter (notably a negative fee-income figure) sit outside their normal range and may reflect segment-reporting noise. We flag rather than over-interpret.
Q1 2026 · Editorial brief · By the numbers
4.50%
Net charge-off rate
Down 104 bps YoY; credit is clearly improving.
$2.09B
Provision for credit losses
A sharp build against falling losses — echoes COF.
$160.5B
Card receivables
Branded Cards + Retail Services book.
$0.73B
Card-segment net income
Down from $1.61B YoY as the reserve add bit.
Q1 2026 · Editorial brief
The Provision Question
Citi's Q1 2026 card numbers contain the same contradiction that defined Capital One's quarter: credit is unambiguously improving, yet the provision line jumped. Net charge-off rate fell to 4.50% from 5.54% a year earlier — a clean improvement — while card provision spiked to $2.09B and segment net income halved to $0.73B. When two large issuers reserve against losses that are actively declining, it stops looking like a one-off.
Citi is the second large issuer this quarter to build reserves into improving credit. Two is the start of a pattern worth naming.
What the headline numbers say
Citi's card net charge-off rate improved steadily through the trailing year: 5.54% (Q1 2025) to 5.00%, 4.80%, 4.54%, and 4.50% in Q1 2026. Card receivables held near $160.5B across Branded Cards and Retail Services.
The provision build is the anomaly. Against that improving loss trend, Q1 2026 provision of $2.09B drove net income down to $0.73B. We note that a small number of Citi's reported card-segment line items this quarter — including a negative fee-income value — fall outside their normal range; we treat those as probable segment-reporting noise and do not build analysis on them.
What we'll be watching
The provision-vs-credit disconnect is the whole question:
1 · Does the build repeat?
A one-quarter reserve true-up is housekeeping. A second consecutive build would signal a genuine forward-looking caution shared with Capital One.
2 · COF / Citi correlation
If both issuers keep reserving against improving credit, the CECL-driven macro-caution thesis strengthens across the prime universe.
3 · Data confirmation
We will reconcile the Q1 segment figures against the 10-Q detail and correct any reporting artifacts in the next update, per our corrections policy.
Citi's Q1 2026 turns Capital One's reserve-build signal from an anecdote into a possible pattern. Q2 2026 will say whether it is macro caution or housekeeping.
By the editors. Cardintel.
Cardintel
Issuer brief · Q1 2026
Citi
The Provision Question
24 pages · cardintel.co
Full report
Download the 24-page Q1 2026 brief
Designed to forward, print, or take into a meeting. Includes the full editorial brief, a standardized P&L / balance sheet / key drivers summary, peer-by-peer comparison tables, signal-by-signal commentary against the watchpoints, and methodology notes.
Personal email addresses are not accepted. Reports delivered as signed, single-use download links that expire in 24 hours. We never share your address.
Credit quality
Net charge-off rate
4.50%
-3 bps
Q1 2026, annualized
30+ day delinquency rate
0.07%
-0 bps
Q1 2026
Net interest margin
—
card segment NIM — sparse
Return on assets
—
consolidated, Q3 2025, annualized
Scale & earnings
Card receivables (EOP)
$160.5B
-3.8%
end of Q1 2026
Card net revenue
$4.8B
-11.3%
Q1 2026, card segment
Provision for credit losses
$2.1B
Q1 2026, card segment
Net charge-offs ($)
$1.8B
-0.8%
Q1 2026
Financial summary
P&L, balance sheet, and key drivers
Standardized issuer-summary format used across all coverage. Switch tabs to compare Citi against a peer; change the table quarter independently of the page anchor.
| Metric | Citi Q1 2026 | Prior Q Q4 2025 | Prior Y Q1 2025 | QoQ | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card net revenue | $4.8B | — | — | — | — |
| Provision for credit losses | $2.1B | — | $51.00M | — | n/m |
| Fee income (non-interest) | -$359.00M | — | $1.4B | — | −125.8% |
| Net interest incomeSprint 8 — split out of card net revenue | — | — | — | — | — |
| Noninterest expenseSprint 8 — segment expense extraction | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pretax income | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net income | $732.00M | — | $1.6B | — | −54.5% |
Generated commentary
Citi's P&L in Q1 2026: provision for credit losses rose 3,329.5% to $2.1B vs Q3 2025; fee income (non-interest) fell 123.3% to -$359.00M vs Q3 2025; net income fell 59.8% to $732.00M vs Q3 2025. Period-over-period changes flagged below; sparse rows compare against the metric's last reported period rather than the calendar prior quarter.
$ in cents (formatted as $B / $M / $). Rows marked “pending” are tracked and will populate as the corresponding ingestion lands. Source: SEC EDGAR 10-K / 10-Q segment data and FFIEC Call Reports.
Net charge-off rate — 5-year history
Net charge-off rate for Citi (solid) vs. the bank peer median (dashed) and 90th percentile (dotted). Use the controls above to overlay individual peers or a macroeconomic series on the right axis. Source: SEC 10-K/10-Q filings and FFIEC Call Reports; macro series via FRED.
Source: SEC EDGAR 10-Q filings + FFIEC Call Reports. Updated June 4, 2026.Methodology