Category: Tech

• 19 Republican states accused JPMorgan of closing bank accounts on political or religious grounds.
• In a letter to CEO Jamie Dimon, they say the bank asked questions about religion and politics.
• The attorneys general wanted JPMorgan to participate in a diversity survey linked to free speech.

Republican attorneys general from 19 states have accused JPMorgan Chase of closing accounts and discriminating against customers due to their political or religious beliefs, a report says.

In a letter sent to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Republicans representing 19 states said the bank had canceled major organizations’ checking accounts and had asked screening questions focused on religion and politics before reinstating them.

The attorneys general said JPMorgan “abruptly closed” the checking account of the National Committee for Religious Freedom (NCRF), a non-profit, before a letter informing it about the decision had been delivered.

The complaint said that an employee at the bank eventually told the group that JPMorgan would restore the NCRF’s account if it provided a list of its donors, a list of the political candidates it intended to support, and details of the criteria used to determine its support and endorsements.

“The bank’s brazen attempt to condition critical services on a customer passing some unarticulated religious or political litmus test flies in the face of Chase’s antidiscrimination policies. Worse, it flies in the face of basic American values of fairness and equality,” the signatories of the letter said. 

The letter was signed by Daniel Cameron of Kentucky and Steve Marshall of Alabama, and co-signed by their counterparts in States including Florida, Georgia and Texas.

In March, treasurers from 14 Republican states also wrote to Dimon with similar claims, The Journal reported.

JPMorgan was also accused of declining a proposal to participate in a survey for the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index, which measured a company’s respect for “freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief as a standard part of doing business,” per its website. JPMorgan received a score of 15% for the index in 2022.

Further, the letter claimed JPMorgan asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to ignore a proposal for the bank to disclose its policy for closing accounts.

A JPMorgan representative told The Journal: “We have never and would never exit a client relationship due to their political or religious affiliation.”

JPMorgan didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

• More than 3 million content creators are now signed up to subscription-based platform OnlyFans.
• CEO Ami Gan said it’s identified Latin America and Australia as future growth markets. 
• Gan said there’d been a “huge uptick” in creators joining last year, with the total up almost 40%. 

The number of creators signed up to OnlyFans surged by about 40% last year, bringing the total to more than 3 million for the subscription platform that mostly features adult content. 

“We’ve noticed a huge uptick in creators as well as fans joining the platform and we attribute that to OnlyFans is very much a global business, we’re in over 100 countries,”  CEO Ami Gan told the Web Summit in Rio de Janeiro last week.

The company is now setting its sights on Latin America and Australia to further increase its numbers. 

“We’re looking at growth for the business and Latin America is a huge part of that,” Gan said. “We’re seeing Latin America is a massive growth region for us and see that opportunity for creators to get exposure to a global audience.”

Gan said OnlyFans, which had revenues of close to $1 billion in 2021, has also identified Australia and some parts of Europe as growth regions too.

The owner of OnlyFans, Leo Radvinsky, has made more than $500 million from the platform since 2020. He took control of its parent company, Fenix International, in 2018 for an undisclosed amount two years after it was founded by British entrepreneur Tim Stokely. 

Gan, who joined the company in 2020, had been chief marketing officer before she was tapped as CEO in late 2021 when Stokely sold his stake and stepped down. 

Are you an OnlyFans employee or have insight to share? Contact Jyoti Mann at jmann@insider.com or Twitter DM at @jyoti_mann1

• Elon Musk is finally ready to share his Twitter mess with someone else.
• The billionaire has found a new CEO to succeed him, but the mess they’ll need to address is huge.
• Revenue challenges, advertiser concerns and an identity crisis weigh on the company.

It’s been a long time coming but Elon Musk is finally ready to do it: he’s about to hand over his Twitter mess to someone else.

On Thursday, the billionaire announced that he had hired a new CEO to take the reins at the social-media company. There are few clues about who it is other than the fact it may be a “she,” who will take over from Musk in six weeks. 

At this stage, it’s uncertain who this could be. An early frontrunner is Linda Yaccarino, an advertising executive who has resigned from her role at NBCUniversal, CNBC reported on Friday.

Yaccarino has been in talks with Twitter to take on the role, per the Wall Street Journal.

Regardless of who it is, the incoming CEO will be left with a big mess to sort out after Musk’s chaotic run at the company. 

Five big challenges

After seeing through his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, Musk has had a decidedly bumpy reign that has left his successor with four fundamental challenges to overcome. 

The first is Twitter’s finances. Musk’s takeover of Twitter was fueled in part by a $13 billion debt package that has lumped the company with a real financial burden. Musk repeatedly said Twitter was weeks away from bankruptcy after taking charge, making revenue a top priority.

For any new CEO, that means finding a way of turning Twitter into a revenue-generating machine. The company’s 2021 earnings – its last full-year results before being delisted – showed it was hugely loss-making with a net loss of $221.4 million.

Musk has introduced new measures to improve this dicey situation, by getting users to pay for services like verification. Musk is handing out blue checks for free given the poor takeup for the subscription service, so his successor will need backup plans. It is unclear how much money Musk has made from this to date.

The second challenge facing the new CEO is the battle to hold onto advertisers – a battle that will face its defining moment as Twitter enters its Tucker Carlson era.

The former Fox News host, who was dismissed last month, announced this week that he would be launching a new show on Twitter. Given his notoriety for controversy, that could be a fatal double-edged sword for Twitter’s new chief.

On the one hand, the roughly 3 million viewers who would tune into Carlson’s Fox News show each night are likely to follow him on Twitter. That’s a win for the company.

On the other hand, the potential for Carlson’s broadsides to slip into the conspiratorial and vitriolic will greatly test the patience of advertisers. Half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers paused ads a month after Musk’s takeover; the same could happen again. 

The third challenge is competition. Musk’s penchant for rubbing people the wrong way has led several opportunists to recognize the frustration users and advertisers have had in recent months by introducing them to rival platforms. 

Some, like Mastodon, a decentralized social-media service, have struggled to attract significant numbers given its clunkiness and long waitlist to join. Others, however, are proving more effective. 

Bluesky, which has a waitlist of around 2 million people, is backed by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey and has already managed to develop an active user base, which includes the likes of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Robert Garcia.

Newsletter platform Substack, meanwhile, has launched a Twitter-style feature called Notes, while earning a following from former Musk confidants such as journalist Matt Taibbi. 

For Twitter’s new CEO, the threat these platforms pose is very real. One egregious slip of the tongue from Carlson or any potential guests on his new Twitter show could see users – and lucrative ad execs – flocking towards any number of other tweeting alternatives. 

The fourth challenge, of course, is Musk himself. The billionaire’s shift towards a “hardcore” culture at the company did not sit well with many employees. Despite relinquishing CEO duties, he plans on retaining control as executive chair and chief technology officer. 

The outsized influence of Musk will put pressure on the final challenge: deciding what Twitter actually is. Musk’s chaotic approach to moderation and verification has turned news organizations cold – despite those organizations being at the heart of Twitter. 

NPR, which had its Twitter account labeled as “state-affiliated media,” has not tweeted since April 12. If news organizations are continuously maligned, Twitter’s new CEO will need to solve an identity crisis.

Whoever it is that replaces Musk, they can only hope he doesn’t add even more to their plate. Anything can happen in six weeks. 

Our experts answer readers’ home-buying questions and write unbiased product reviews (here’s how we assess mortgages). In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners; however, our opinions are our own.

• In 2021 the average refinance closing costs in the US were $2,375 without taxes, according to data from financial tech company ClosingCorp. 
• According to the Federal Reserve, typical closing costs are about 3% to 6% of your mortgage’s principal.
• Your refinancing costs will vary based on where you live, the value of your home, and your new and old lender’s requirements. 

If rates have gone down since you first got your mortgage, refinancing your home can help save money on your monthly mortgage payment. It can lower your interest rate, or stretch your mortgage over several more years. 

But the refinancing process can be expensive. Refinancing essentially replaces your old mortgage with a new one, and that typically means paying closing costs all over again. 

How much does it cost to refinance?

When you refinance, you may pay a little less in closing costs than what you paid on your original loan. According to data from ClosingCorp, average closing costs on a mortgage refinance were $2,375 in 2021, excluding any recordation or other specialty taxes. ClosingCorp didn’t disclose the national average refinance closing costs with taxes for 2021.

By contrast, the average home purchase closing costs without taxes were $3,860 in 2021. This means that borrowers who are refinancing pay a little less for their mortgages than those who are purchasing a new home.

See Insider’s top picks for the best mortgage refinance lenders>>

Average closing costs by state

One of the big factors that will influence the price you’ll pay on your home’s refinance is where you live. Your home’s location will have a big impact on the closing costs, since your closing costs involve taxes and your home’s value.

According to data from ClosingCorp, the state you live in will change how much you pay at closing. These were the average closing costs with taxes in each state in 2021.

Closing costs are higher in some states than in others. In New York, for example, where both property values and taxes are high, average refinance closing costs are over $10,000. In Missouri, however, where both property taxes and values are relatively low, average closing costs are $1,405. 

Typical refinance closing costs

Refinancing closing costs aren’t just one fee — there are several expenses that make up closing costs. Much of the money you pay at closing covers your mortgage lender’s fees and any services that were used in the process of underwriting and closing on your loan. Some of your costs may also go to taxes. 

Here’s a list of some of the fees you can expect to see in your refinance process, along with estimates of of what each will cost according to data from the Federal Reserve.

Taxes: 

You may owe property taxes when you close on your refinance. Costs vary based on where you live, and your home’s value. According to Bank of America, six months of property taxes are generally due at closing.

Application fee: 

Applying for another mortgage will cost you. This fee typically isn’t refundable.

Loan origination fee: 

• Cost range: Up to 1.5% of the loan’s principal

Not all lenders charge this fee, but some do. It could be a costly addition to your closing costs — a $200,000 mortgage balance with a 1.5% origination fee would add $3,000 to your closing costs.

Appraisal fee: 

• Cost range: $300 to $700, if needed

If your home hasn’t been appraised recently, you may need to pay for an appraisal. This process involves a licensed appraiser, who will assess your home and determine its fair market value.

Title search and insurance: 

Lenders search for your home’s title to make sure you’re the owner, and check for any liens you have on the home. If there’s a mistake on the title that would jeopardize their investment, the title insurance provides protection to the lender.

Survey fee:

• Cost range: $150 to $400, if needed. 

If your home hasn’t had a survey recently, your lender could require one. This essentially verifies that your home and all of its structures are where the title says they are. 

Attorney review and closing fee:

• Cost range: $500 to $1,000

The company or lawyer that conducted your home’s closing will need to be paid for their work, and this will become part of your closing expenses. 

Prepayment penalty:

• Cost range: One to six months’ interest payments, if applicable.

Some lenders charge prepayment penalties on loans paid off before expected. Since a mortgage refinance will essentially pay off your old loan before your expected payoff date, your old lender could charge a prepayment penalty.

Not all loans have a prepayment penalty. Ask your lender if your current mortgage has a prepayment penalty, and if so, how much it is. 

How to spend less on refinancing

There are ways to reduce the cost of refinancing your home, including:

Negotiate

While there are some costs your lender probably can’t budge on, such as appraisal fees, others might be open to negotiation. These include application and origination fees.

Ask your refinance lender if there is any leeway on these costs.

Shop around

For certain closing costs, such as your title search fee, you’re allowed to choose your service providers rather than going with the default ones the lender chooses. The services you’re allowed to shop for will be listed on your loan estimate — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has an example on its website.

No-closing-cost refinance

It’s also possible to refinance without paying closing costs up front. Instead, you’ll pay for the costs over the life of the loan.

Lenders make up for the closing costs in two ways, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Some lenders will charge higher interest rates for borrowers who opt for loans without closing costs. Other lenders will add the closing costs to the loan’s principal, increasing the total amount you owe, and the total amount you’ll pay interest on.

While closing costs might seem high, it’s generally cheaper to pay them up front, even if you’re paying them a second time around while refinancing.

Liz Knueven

Personal Finance Reporter

Molly Grace

Mortgage Reporter

Our experts answer readers’ banking questions and write unbiased product reviews (here’s how we assess banking products). In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners; however, our opinions are our own. Terms apply to offers listed on this page.

Citi Overall Rating

Citi Pros and Cons

Citi Personal Bank Accounts Review

Citi Access Account

Citi Basic Banking Checking Account

Citi Checking Account

Citi Priority

Citigold® Checking Account

Citigold® Private Client Checking Account

Citi offers six tiers of checking accounts. The higher the tier, the more features you can access, such as out-of-network ATM fee reimbursements and check-writing privileges.

But as you level up, it becomes more difficult to either waive the monthly service fee or qualify to open an account in the first place.

On the bright side, Citi doesn’t require an opening deposit for any of its checking accounts, which gives it a leg up over many other brick-and-mortar banks. It’s also fairly easy to waive the monthly fees for its lowest-tier checking account, the Citi Access Account.

Citi® Accelerate Savings

See Insider’s Citi Accelerate Savings Account Review.

Citi® Savings Account

When you sign up for a “package,” you can choose either a Citi Savings or Citi® Accelerate Savings account to go with your checking account.

This is where things can get confusing. There are only two types of savings accounts, but you’ll pay different fees depending on which package you sign up for.

Citi® Accelerate Savings is a high-yield savings account that pays a competitive rate, and it’s clearly superior to Citi Savings — but you can only open an account if you’re a resident of certain markets. 

Read Insider’s Citi Savings Rates Review.

Citi Fixed Rate CD

Citi No Penalty CD

Citi Step Up CD

Citi offers three types of CDs: Citi Fixed Rate CDs, Citi Step Up CDs, and Citi No Penalty CDs.

While the bank’s abundance of checking and savings account options can be staggering, its CD options are easier to follow. Step Up CDs allow you to earn a higher interest rate at a specified date, while no-penalty CDs do not charge you early withdrawal penalties if you take out money from your account before the term ends.

If you’re searching for a competitive interest rate, a 1-year or 18-month Citi Fixed Rate CD might be worth considering.

See Insider’s Citi CD review.

Citi Personal Credit Cards Review

Citi Custom Cash℠ Card

See Insider’s Citi Custom Cash Card Review.

Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card

See Insider’s Citi Diamond Preferred Card Review.

Citi Premier® Card

See Insider’s Citi Premier Card Review.

Citi® Double Cash Card

See Insider’s Citi Double Cash Card Review.

Citi Simplicity® Card

See Insider’s Citi Simplicity Card Review.

Citi Rewards+® Card

See Insider’s Citi Rewards+ Card Review.

Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi

See Insider’s Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi Review.

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®

See Insider’s Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card Review.

American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®

See Insider’s Citi AAdvantage MileUp Card Review.

Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®

See Insider’s Citi Advantage Executive Card Review.

Citi has a variety of credit cards, including travel credit cards, balance transfer credit cards, cash-back credit cards, and credit cards with 0% APR.

Our best Citi credit cards guide highlights the best options depending on what you’re looking for. The Citi Premier® Card is our top Citi credit card for 2023. 

Citi Business Credit Cards Review

Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi

See Insider’s Costco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi Review.

CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®

See Insider’s CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard Review.

If you have a small business, Citi has two types of credit cards. The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi
is exclusively for Costco customers, while the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® may be worth exploring if you frequently fly with American Airlines.

Citi Personal Loans Review

Citi Personal Loans may be worthwhile if you already bank with the company. To be eligible for a personal loan at Citi, you must earn a yearly income of $10,500 or more, meet Citi’s creditworthiness criteria,  and have an eligible Citi bank account that has been open for at least 12 months. 

See Insider’s Citi Personal Loans Review. 

Citi Mortgages Review

Citi offers several types of home loans, including conforming, jumbo, FHA, VA and HomeRun mortgages. The HomeRun mortgage could be a good choice if you’re looking for an affordable mortgage option. Through the HomeRun mortgage program, customers may make a down payment as low as 3% with no mortgage insurance requirement.

See Insider’s Citi Mortgage Review.

About Citi

Citi is a national bank with over 650 branches sprinkled around the US, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington, DC. You’ll also have access to over 65,000 fee-free ATMs nationwide, plus free ATMs all over the world.

Citi groups its accounts into “packages,” so you can have one checking and savings account in a package. Although there are technically only two savings accounts, the terms of your savings account depend on which package you choose.

Some of Citi’s terms depend on where you live. For example, the high-yield Citi® Accelerate Savings is only available for residents of certain states, and the minimum opening deposit for your CD is contingent upon where you live.

Citi’s customer service is available 24/7 over the phone, and you can chat online from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. The bank also has an easy-to-use mobile app, which has 4.9 out of 5 stars in the Apple store and 4.8 stars in the Google Play store.

Your Citi accounts are FDIC insured for up to $250,000, or $500,000 for joint accounts.

Is Citi Trustworthy?

The Better Business Bureau gives Citi an F rating because it’s received a high volume of customer complaints on the BBB website and it has failed to respond to five customer complaints.

Citi has been involved in a recent public controversy.  In 2020, the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency fined Citi $400 million and claimed the bank failed to recognize money laundering by its customers.

If Citi’s history worries you, you can find other banks with great scores from the BBB. But keep in mind that a strong BBB score does not guarantee that your relationship with the bank will be good. Make sure to also talk to friends and family or read customer reviews online to see if a bank might be right for you.

Citi: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Methodology: How We Reviewed Citi

For our Citi review, we rate bank products and services using our editorial standards.

At Personal Finance Insider, we rate products on a scale from zero to five stars. For bank accounts, we review different features for distinct types of bank accounts. For example, we’ll look at early withdrawal penalties and CD variety specifically for CDs. Meanwhile, for checking accounts, we’ll factor in the ATM network size and fees, as well as its overdraft protection options.

We’ll consider factors like annual fees and sign-up bonuses for credit cards, and term lengths for loans. In general, we also look at customer service and ethics.

How Citi Compares

We’ve compared Citi to two other national banks: PNC Bank and Wells Fargo.

Citi Review vs. PNC Bank Review

Citi and PNC Bank are national banks with branches throughout the US. PNC Bank has roughly 2,600 locations, while Citi has over 650 branches.

If you don’t live in a state with a Citi or PNC branch, you may explore each bank’s online-only bank accounts. Both banks have online high-yield savings accounts that are available to residents of states where there aren’t any branches.

If you’re eligible for both high-yield savings accounts, PNC High Yield Savings℠ Account pays a higher interest rate than  Citi® Accelerate Savings. However, keep in mind rates can fluctuate so this could change in the future.

Citi offers a greater variety of credit cards than PNC Bank. However, PNC Bank offers more types of home loans than Citi.

Citi Review vs. Wells Fargo Review

If you’d like to keep all of your bank accounts in one institution, then the Citi package system may be worth exploring. The Citi® Accelerate Savings account offers a high interest rate in certain US states. If you live in a state like California or New York, you won’t be eligible to open an account, though.

Wells Fargo doesn’t have package systems, so you might favor this bank if you’re planning to open only one account. 

You also might prefer Wells Fargo if you’d like to get a personal loan. Wells Fargo is featured as a top pick in our best personal loans guide.

See Insider’s list of the best savings accounts »

Sophia Acevedo, CEPF

Banking Reporter

Evelyn He

Compliance Associate

Evelyn He is a compliance associate at Insider who supports the Personal Finance Insider team. Personal Finance Insider is Insider’s personal finance section that incorporates affiliate and commerce partnerships into the news, insights, and advice about money that Insider readers already know and love.
The compliance team’s mission is to provide readers with stories that are fact-checked and current, so they can make informed financial decisions. The team also works to minimize risk for partners by making sure language is clear, precise, and fully compliant with regulatory and partner marketing guidelines that align with the editorial team.
Before joining Insider, she served in various legal and compliance roles in different industries, including the legal and pharmaceutical industries.   
Evelyn obtained her M.S. degree in Marketing at Boston University in 2022. Prior to combining and consolidating her knowledge of law and business, she spent one year finishing 1L courses at Suffolk University Law School to further her legal knowledge. She has also completed MBA business law courses while working on her Bachelor of Business Administration in Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her 14-year-old Shih Tzu named Money, and her 4-year-old Bichon named Tibber.

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• Putin’s military alliance is beset by new tensions following Russia’s faltering invasion of Ukraine.
• Some member states have snubbed Putin, have declined to offer support, or have turned to the West.
• CSTO, Russia’s equivalent of NATO, was never a powerhouse, but relations have become more strained.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has his own version of the NATO military alliance, made up of post-Soviet states.

But the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which was never as powerful or cohesive as Russia would have liked, has been increasingly creaking since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, experts told Insider.

Some of its members have made unprecedented public snubs against Putin, and experts say they are conscious of Russia’s poor military performance over the past year, with questions over how well Russia could protect them.

Some may even fear becoming future Russian targets.

Jaroslava Barbieri, an expert in Russia and post-Soviet states at the University of Birmingham, told Insider that the CSTO is “almost like an attempt to imitate NATO, but in the post-Soviet space.”

But, she said, it’s now “really showing cracks.”

Snubs from allies

As Putin has become more isolated since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, CSTO members have made up some of his few remaining allies, with close cultural, historical, and military ties, and economies that heavily rely on Russia.

In addition to Russia, the CSTO consists of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, all once part of the Soviet Union.

But some have committed a series of apparent snubs against Putin since the invasion began.

These include Tajikistan’s president demanding more respect, despite his country’s small size, in front of Putin in October; Kazakhstan looking for closer ties with the West, and denying Russia’s request to send troops at the start of the invasion; and Armenia’s prime minister criticizing the effectiveness of the CSTO to Putin’s face and physically distancing himself from Putin at an alliance members’ leaders group photo in November.

KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images; Insider

Other snubs included Kazakhstan sending aid to Ukraine, Armenia and Kazakhstan voting in favour of a UN resolution that noted the “aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine” in April 2023, and Armenia turning to France for help with a regional conflict, after being frustrated by the CSTO’s response.

Peter Frankopan, an expert on Russian and Balkans history at Oxford University, told Insider that the countries seem visibly unhappy with Russia: “It is certainly true that Putin looks like his status has been downgraded.”

And Frankopan said the apparent snubs appear calculated. “It is bold; but it is not done without thought or care. It would not seem to me unreasonable to suppose that there have been detailed backroom discussions,” he added.

Putin wants his own NATO

Putin has positioned NATO as his biggest enemy, justifying the brutal invasion of Ukraine in part by saying he was trying to stop its expansion toward Russia’s borders.

Ironically, the invasion has only strengthened NATO, with nearby Finland joining, effectively doubling the length of the Russia-NATO border.

One of NATO’s key tenants is the idea of collective defence: If one member is attacked, it is as if all are.

The CSTO has a similar agreement. But the workings of the CSTO cast doubt on whether it could ever reasonably compete with NATO.

In September 2022, Armenia called on CSTO for help during border clashes with Azerbaijan. The alliance limited its response to sending its secretary-general and offering to form a working group.

Armenia’s prime minister called the response “depressing” and said it was “hugely damaging to the CSTO’s image both in our country and abroad.”

REUTERS/Didor Sadulloev

Poor protections

That response was part of a pattern.

Anais Marin, an expert on Russia and Belarus and an associate fellow at Chatham House, told Insider that Armenia not getting the military assistance it asked for only “further discredited the organization.”

She noted Armenia subsequently cancelled planned in-country CSTO drills in January 2023.

Marin also noted that Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan “tested, and evidenced, the limits of the CSTO when the alliance declined to intervene” in September 2022 border clashes between the countries, in which more than 100 people died.

“Member states appeared as unwilling to offer military support,” she said, adding that Russian peace-keeping troops, not CSTO ones, were deployed to secure the cease-fire.

University of Birmingham’s Barbieri said that the lack of CSTO response had likely led Armenia to a rethink.

“I would say that there are very serious conversations going on inside Armenia whether they should remain a member of the CSTO at all,” she said.

ILYA PITALEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

And Marin said that there was tension among the CSTO even before the invasion of Ukraine.

She described Armenia as “a very close ally of Russia,” one that is “extremely dependent on Russia both economically and in terms of military security.”

But, she said, it has had a “noticeable growth in distrust towards the Kremlin” in recent years, and has “developed quite some resentment against Russia for what it perceives amounted to failing to help a friend in need” during fighting with Azerbaijan in 2020.

The value of the organization has also been criticised by Kyrgyzstan for an even longer time, she added.

And Frankopan said that countries had likely stopped trusting Russia’s military abilities. “I think most states learned not to think about Russia as a protector state,” he said.

Russia’s military struggles in Ukraine have only fueled doubts.

REUTERS/Igor Russak

Worse relations since the Ukraine invasion

Russia expected to conquer Ukraine in days. Instead, more than a year later its army is bogged down in the east, hemorrhaging soldiers and equipment as its reputation plummets.

Barbieri said Russia’s regional reputation as a security provider “is in tatters.”

She added that the invasion of Ukraine was the last straw “in the sense that Russia is seen no longer as providing security, but as a destabilizer, spoiler, of security in the region.”

Marin suggested that the CSTO had become “a marginal actor in the eyes of most of its member states already before the war, but it further lost its relevance throughout 2022.”

She said the invasion resulted in “fear, and growing distrust towards the Kremlin” — except in Belarus, which is widely seen as a Russian puppet state, and has helped in the invasion.

She added that it’s “noteworthy that Russia did not ask for CSTO support at any stage of its ‘special military operation.’”

Marin also said that CSTO members don’t seem interested in taking big risks to protect the alliance’s future.

“Should Russia be militarily defeated in Ukraine, the CSTO is unlikely to survive,” she said.

AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File

Russia a ‘toxic partner’

According to Frankopan, regional backlash to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be happening for multiple reasons, including ideological objections to Russia’s brutal tactics.

But he and Marin said tensions also likely stem from self-interested fears and frustrations: that they too could become targets, as well as how the invasion has made everyday life harder.

Frankopan noted that pro-Kremin figures have suggested on state TV the annexation of parts of Kazakhstan, and the war has driven up energy and food prices.

Marin said the Ukraine invasion had made Russia a “rather toxic partner” to most of its post-Soviet neighbours.

And CSTO members are also dealing with an influx of Russia immigrants fleeing military call up, she said.

Even so, while other post-Soviet countries have aligned themselves closely with the West and NATO, CSTO members remain tangled with, and to some extent dependent on Russia, with no formal split likely.

Barbieri noted that “there will still be pragmatic alliances” between the nations.

Marin went further. She said the alliance is losing relevance and legitimacy in the eyes of most of its members, but that Russia will retain its influence.

Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Kemlin Pool Photo via AP, File

“It would be wrong to assume that Russia is losing ground in its post-Soviet neighbourhood, Moscow retains multiple means to exert considerable leverage in most of these countries’ domestic affairs,” she said.

Frankopan also said that dissatisfaction with Russia could easily change. “This pendulum can swing in both directions, and in the right or wrong conditions, policy can be adapted or even reversed,” he said.

Meanwhile, despite international condemnation and repeated battlefield humiliations, Russia looks set to continue its war in Ukraine, and there are no signs that Putin will be removed from power.

But, Barbieri said, if the war and Putin continue as they have, Russia’s power over CSTO allies will continue to weaken.

“Its ability to be a leader in the region will become weaker and weaker and it will be surrounded more and more by other states dictating the terms to Russia and this is really not something that Putin’s regime can accept,” she said.

It was also unlikely to be the outcome Putin was looking for when he launched his invasion of Ukraine.

• A hedge fund manager was awarded $203 million in damages after being defamed by former neighbor Peter Nygard.
• Disgraced fashion mogul Nygard accused Louis Bacon of arson, insider trading and links to the KKK.
• The decade-long dispute began following a quarrel over a driveway Nygard and Bacon shared.

A hedge fund billionaire has been awarded $203 million after a New York court ruled he was defamed by his former Bahamas neighbor Peter Nygard following a decade-long feud ignited by a shared driveway. 

Nygard, a disgraced fashion mogul facing several sex trafficking charges, was ordered by a New York court-appointed judge to pay the biggest defamation settlement in the state’s history to Moore Capital Management founder Louis Bacon after peddling several wild allegations.

Arguments between Bacon and Nygard began when the two were neighbours in the gated Lyford Cay community on Clifton Bay in the Bahamas. 

Bacon complained that Nygard, who used a driveway owned by Bacon, held several disruptive parties at his residence, while Nygard accused Bacon of scuppering his redevelopment plans after a fire, per the Financial Times. 

This gradually escalated into increasingly vicious attacks by Canadian fashion mogul Nygard, with Bacon’s lawyers saying he personally spent $15 million on a smear campaign against Bacon. 

In the initial complaint filed in 2015, Bacon said Nygard had hired journalists to peddle conspiracies about the hedge fund manager, including that Bacon had participated in insider trading, that he was linked to the death of his house manager, that he was responsible for a fire at Nygard’s property, and that he was involved in the Ku Klux Klan.

“Nygard and his sidekicks have alleged on a number of occasions that ancestors of mine living in the 19th and 18th centuries, whom I of course, never knew, were associated with racist groups or slaveholding,” Bacon wrote at the time.

According to the FT, Judge former U.S. District Judge Layn Phillips said the “overwhelming” and “truly stunning” nature of the evidence brought forward warranted the record sum.

“Any one of these would have been a significant assault on his character; the combination of all four depicted him as an evildoer of the highest order,” the referee said in his ruling, per the Wall Street Journal.

Lawyers told the court Bacon had spent more than $50 million in legal fees bringing several defamation cases against Nygard. 

The settlement is a massive figure for an individual defamation case. By comparison, Fox News recently settled its mammoth defamation case brought by Dominion for a comparable $787.5 million.

Nygard was accused by the Department of Justice in 2020 of using his Bahamas property to carry out “pamper parties” targeting dozens of victims. The allegations have wiped out his business empire.

Nygard’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hi, I’m Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. Welcome back to Insider Today’s Sunday edition, a roundup of some of our top stories of the week. 

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On the agenda today:

But first: The big takeaways from the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.  Download Insider’s app here.

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Reporters’ guide to Milken

Mike Blake/Reuters

The big-money set jetted into LA last week for the Milken Global Conference. The Beverly Hilton was once again bustling with billionaires, with some stopping in the lobby to check out the Bombardier display showing off the executive cabin seating on one of its private jets. 

Among those mingling poolside were Akin Oyedele, Dakin Campbell, and Ben Bergman from Insider. Here’s their guide to Milken:

Biggest takeaway

Oyedele: There was a lot of anger directed at the Fed, given the impact of rate hikes on some investments and regional banks. But no one likes the person that takes away the punch bowl.

Biggest opportunity

Campbell: The pullback in lending by banks is raising the hopes of those in the private credit industry. More than one investor said that the most recent vintage of private loans will be the most profitable in years. 

Behind the scenes

Bergman: Most of the real action of the conference takes place at invite-only private parties. At a Monday night event at what used to be Bette Davis’ party villa in West Hollywood, guests such as late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and Kim Lew, who manages the endowment of Columbia University, mingled poolside, nibbling on sushi hand rolls and chocolate-chip cookies. 

More from Milken here.

Also read:

Shopify vs. Amazon 

David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Insider reported in late April that Shopify employees were bracing for layoffs. Then we revealed that insiders were expecting a strategy shift in its logistics business. On Thursday, the news was official: Shopify said it was cutting 20% of its staff and selling the majority of its logistics business. 

This marks an abrupt end of Shopify’s nearly four-year foray into fulfillment — and its attempt to take on Amazon. Insiders say it was the right idea, but the wrong execution.

Inside Shopify’s logistics failure.

Plus, be sure to read:

‘Bait-and-switch’ scams

Arif Qazi / Insider

For nearly a year, Jeff Palkevich had a steady stream of strangers arriving at his home, looking for an Airbnb that wasn’t there.

It turns out Palkevich was caught in the middle of a “bait and switch” — a method often used to avoid short-term-rental laws. It involves an Airbnb host providing one address in the listing, but then notifying the guests at the last minute that the property is actually somewhere else. Often, guests end up at a stranger’s home.

Read the full story

Also check out:

Healthcare’s AI sprint

HIMSS

Many sectors are grappling with the potential of generative artificial intelligence — and healthcare is no exception. 

Hospitals are desperate to use the technology to help patients and doctors, but they’re pressing into uncharted territory. They’re now moving forward with their own experiments, trying to strike the right balance between speed and safety. 

Go inside the “awe-inspiring” and “scary” future of healthcare.

Read more:

‘Junk fees’

Getty Images

It goes by many names: an administrative fee, a transaction fee, even a “regulatory compliance” fee. When you sell or buy a house, it can pop up on a closing statement, with charges up to almost $1,000. 

“It just has to be looked at as a junk fee,” Stephen Brobeck, a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America, told Insider. “They can get away with it, so they charge it.”

How “junk fees” are driving up the cost of buying a home.

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This week’s quote:

“It’s almost like you have the most sophisticated operating partner at your disposal.”

• Akash Nigam, the founder and CEO of Genies, who is spending $2,400 a month on ChatGPT accounts for all his employees.

More of this week’s top reads:

Curated by Matt Turner. Edited by Hallam Bullock and Lisa Ryan. Get in touch: insidertoday@insider.com

• Zulie Rane is a content creator who has more than 80,000 followers on Medium. 
• Rane says that the first dollar is the hardest to earn online, and then tried five ways to do it.
• She made money with affiliate links, by playing games, and by becoming a paid digital guinea pig.

I’m done. 

I’m done with these garbage YouTube tutorials that claim to show you how to “easily earn $300 per day just by clicking links/typing words/using Google.” They’re always clickbait, and I always hate them.

So I decided to write an actual actionable guide on how to earn your first dollar online. And crucially, I’ve tested all of these. These all really work. I included screenshots as proof. 

It’s obviously possible to earn a lot more than just a dollar, but I find for many beginners, it’s a mindset shift. Once you earn your first dollar, you can go on to earn your second, hundredth, thousandth, and so on. But that first dollar is the hardest.

So let’s get into five ways to earn your first dollar online  —  that I have tested

What do you need to earn your first dollar online?

To earn your first dollar online, you will typically need a few things, aside from an internet connection:

• An audience. This can be readers subscribed to your newsletter or an existing audience on a platform like Instagram you access through an algorithm.
• A product. This is what you’re going to sell. 
• A seller. This is who’s paying you for selling the thing to an audience. 

You can spoof the “audience” element to some degree. For example, if I know about SEO or virality, I can post a video to YouTube that will get me sales through the pre-existing YouTube audience, even if it’s my very first video online and I don’t have any followers.

But the other two are non-negotiable.

Let’s look at five uncommon ways to earn your very first dollar online. In each section, I’ll say what the audience, product, and seller are. I’ll also explain how to maximize your earnings. These are listed in order of easiness. 

1. Play games on your phone

It sounds too good to be true, isn’t it? And yet I earned $1.50 (as Amazon gift cards) by playing Farmville-style games on my phone. 

Now admittedly, this isn’t a lot of money. But if you’re just looking to get your feet wet with the idea of earning money online, playing games is a decent way to do it.

Here’s the proof:

Zulie Rane

I’ve reviewed how to do this in my article here. 

• The audience: you.
• What you’re selling: your attention.
• Who’s buying: the company that makes the game.

The business model is to get more people playing the game so the developers earn money either through selling in-game currency or by getting you to watch ads. 

I earned three 50-cent Amazon gift cards. (I spent them on cat toys, of course.)

You can maximize your earnings by just playing a ton of games. Pick ones you like, and just enjoy yourself. 

2. Be a paid digital guinea pig

Back in my college days, one of my all-time favorite websites was User Testing. I just logged back in today to ensure it’s still viable and was pleased to be able to take two tests and earn twenty bucks in just a few minutes.

All you have to do is join, fill out your profile, take screening tests, and then run through the tasks they set you up if you’re approved. Today, I did one on an email marketing tool, and another on some kind of digital phone pass. 

Audience: you.

Selling: your user experience.

Buyer: Companies with new websites/apps they want to be tested.

Zulie Rane

Here’s how to maximize your earnings: 

• Always keep your browser open. It makes a “ding” noise when there’s a new test.
• Download the app and extra browsers to maximize your odds of qualifying.
• Talk out loud during the test. Companies like it when they understand what you’re thinking.
• Be honest. You’ll have to be screened for these tests. Don’t lie to try to better fit the options. 

This is one of my favorite options. You’ll never make millions, but it’s a lot of fun and it’s good money. I made $20 in thirty minutes, which works out to a decent hourly rate.

3. Get people to click on links

No, don’t worry, you’re not a hacker. These aren’t shady links. Basically, it works like this:

1. Say a company called Pet Supplies Co wants to promote its new YouTube video. 
2. The company wants people to click on its video, so it can sell a new line of cat food. 
3. The company hires a bunch of creators to post the link online. 
4. I nab my custom, trackable URL from Pet Supplies Co, maybe something like youtube.com/participles/zulie_video. 
5. I post an article talking about how much I love Pet Supplies Co’s new YouTube video because of the cute cats in it.
6. You click on the video.
7. That click is tracked through my custom link.
8. I earn a very small amount of money, maybe like $0.10, just for that click.
9. Nine other people do that.
10. I earn $1.00. 

In short, you are using an audience (whether your own, or using SEO, or social media algorithms) to sell clicks to a company that wants attention.

Pet Supplies Co will work with some kind of middleman that connects creators like me to companies like Pet Supplies Co. In the past, I’ve used GetYrl, but other alternatives include Adsy or Shrinkearn. 

Zulie Rane

You can maximize this by:

1. Posting the link in a lot of different places.
2. Posting the link in a piece of content you hope will go viral.

It’s not a lot of money, but it can be your first dollar online.

4. Go affiliate

In the previous example, you don’t have to make any sales. You just have to get clicks. The tradeoff is you don’t have to get anyone to buy anything, but you earn less money because a click is obviously less valuable than a purchase.

Affiliate links use the same mechanisms, but go a step further — you’re asked to actually get readers to buy something. The benefit is the rates are normally higher. 

For example, my favorite affiliate program is Bookshop.org. You get a 10% commission for every purchase made through your affiliate link. 

Here’s the proof:

Zulie Rane

You will share this link with your audience of interested readers. You are selling book recommendations. You are being paid by Bookshop, in exchange for sending book buyers to them. 

The best way to maximize this is to niche down. You can find affiliate programs in pretty much any niche. The closer the niche fit, the more money you’ll earn.

Post content in your niche and include links. When people buy, you’ll earn a commission.

• Pets: Chewy’s affiliate program, 4%. You’d have to make a sale of $25 to earn your first dollar.
• Fashion: Shein, 10%-20%. You’d have to make a sale of $5-$10 to get your first dollar. 
• Stationery: Paper Culture, 10%-12%. You’d have to make a sale of $8–$10 to get your first dollar. 
• General: Amazon, “up to” 10%. You’d have to make a sale of at least $10 to get your first dollar. 

There are tons. Search your favorite brand + “affiliate program” and see what comes up.

Note: always disclose when something is an affiliate link. It’s the law!

5. Build a (small) email list and sell something

If you’ve tried options 1–4, you’re ready for option 5. You are going to build a small email list, create something that solves a problem, and sell it.

This is the hardest one, but also the most 1) rewarding and 2) scalable income source.

There’s this misconception that you need a huge email list to make money. But you don’t. Really, you just need one subscriber. 

Zulie Rane

Here’s how it works:

1. Build a list. You can do this by posting content on any platform (blog, YouTube, Instagram) and encouraging people to sign up for your newsletter. You can use ConvertKit — it’s free for the first 1,000 subs.

2. Find out a problem your readers have. You can do this by asking them. Read your comments, send a poll, or just ask someone to hop on the phone with you.

3. Build something. Maybe it’s an ebook. Maybe it’s a PDF template. Maybe it’s a thirty-minute consultation call. You can make it literally $1, just to get that first buck in the bank.

4. Market it. Send an email or two or eight to your subscribers. Let them know about your thing, why you think it’s going to help them, and what they’ll be able to do once they’ve bought your thing. 

How to maximize this income: This works best if you really mean it. You have to really feel like you found a problem that you can solve. You’re not just trying to separate a reader from their money  —  you’re helping them in a way only you can. 

• Audience: Your newsletter
• Selling: Your product
• Seller: You

Want to earn your first dollar online? 

Stay away from too-good-to-be-true scams. These five methods may not make you wealthy, but they all work to get your first dollar online. That’s the toughest step. 

Once you’ve earned your first dollar, you can look for ways to scale up. I recommend:

Hopefully, you’ll be able to leave user testing and playing games for pennies behind as you move forward toward more profitable ways to earn money online. 

• OpenAI’s losses climbed to $540 million in 2022 as it developed ChatGPT, a new report claims.
• The Information said that the startup’s costs soared in the months before it launched the chatbot.
• AI tools like ChatGPT are expensive given the significant computing power needed to run them.

It turns out ChatGPT wasn’t cheap to make.

OpenAI’s development of the technology came at a steep price, with its losses roughly doubling to around $540 million last year, a new report claims.

That’s according to The Information, which cited three people with knowledge of OpenAI’s financials. 

Though OpenAI managed to secure a multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment from Microsoft earlier this year, the figure highlights just how much the startup was racking up in costs in its mission to roll out a commercial AI product. 

The costs to build and run ChatGPT come down to its need for serious computing power that plays a central role in generating answers to user prompts.

Last month, Dylan Patel, chief analyst at consulting firm SemiAnalysis, told The Information that he believed ChatGPT could cost OpenAI around $700,000 per day to use given the costs involved with computing power. 

John Hennessy, chairman of Google’s parent company Alphabet, has previously said that a search on Google’s own chatbot Bard costs 10 times as much as a regular search.

Though OpenAI has strengthened its financial position with Microsoft’s backing, growing demand for its chatbot — which became the fastest-growing consumer app in history after tallying 100 million monthly active users within two months — will add further cost pressure.

Earlier this week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman alluded to rising costs, suggesting that it was “going to be the most capital-intensive startup in Silicon Valley history,” The Information reported.

The report suggested that Altman has “privately suggested” that OpenAI could try to raise around $100 billion in the coming years as it works towards developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) – AI as powerful as the human brain.

The popularity of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have grown rapidly in recent months as users have found the technology can offer several benefits such as boosts to productivity. Investors are likewise lured by the prospect of the technology upending multiple industries.

OpenAI’s revenue is projected to rise significantly this year, with expectations that revenue will hit $200 million this year before climbing to $1 billion in 2024, according to Reuters.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.