I can't understand why banks are in trouble

Citibank sent us a letter a month ago promising us a gazillion bonus miles if we would please, please, just open a new checking account. So, last week, we called them and said OK -- and then we spent half an hour on the phone with them giving them all sorts of information.

"Citibank?", I can hear you asking, "Don't you know that Citibank is tanking?" Sure I do. But its checking accounts are still insured by the FDIC. And did I mention that they were offering a gazillion miles?

Today the debit cards arrived and my wife's name was misspelled -- two r's in her first name. "So what?," we said, "We're never going to use the cards anyway."

Well, we didn't care about the misspelling, but Citibank did. Apparently it couldn't verify any information about my two-r wife (though there's lots of information about a woman with a remarkably similar name that has only one r).

This evening, an e-mail arrives from Citibank, asking us to supply:

• Copy of Two (2) Forms of ID: Driver license, State Issued ID, US passport, US Military ID, or major credit card.
• A copy of your latest home phone bill showing your name, home address, and phone number. If your phone is not in your name; also send a current utility or credit card bill with your name and home address (no cell phone numbers or bills).
• A copy of your most recent utility or credit card bill showing your name and current home address (cannot use P.O. Box, APO address, or foreign address)
• Copy of your Social Security Card.

We phoned Citibank and told them to shove it.