Who takes the hit when a credit card is used fraudulently?

My card number was stolen by someone in Italy. Citibank, says they will credit the charges back so I don't have to pay. So who takes the hit; Citibank or the companies where the card was used?|||usually the company were it was used takes the hit for fraudulant use.|||Citybank probably owns and controls the credit card, even though somebody else issued it, or even has their name on it.. If I remember, Citybank is behind Sears credit cards, rather than Sears itsself. As well as a lot of others.