Even Citi's star unit, the consumer bank, has run into problems.

These gains helped to lift the consumer bank's overall net income 49.4 percent, to $130 million from $87 million.

Their consumer bank alone is worth that as a stand-alone entity.

It claims to be the second-largest consumer bank and is gaining ground on Citibank, the leader.

In contrast with traditional consumer banks, Simple has no physical branches nor plans to open any.

"We expect it to grow faster than our consumer bank and commercial bank because of its demographics."

The consumer bank's profit growth has also been strong.

Chase is by far the leading consumer bank in the New York metropolitan area.

You will see us become a consumer bank within the next couple of years.

"We have a shared strategic vision of becoming more like a consumer bank," he said.