Paying Your Bills and Transferring Money
Direct Access® makes managing your money easier, more convenient and more organized than ever before. Refer to this section for information that will help you pay your bills and transfer money.
Paying Your Bills
Payment Processes
The First Time You Pay Bills
Making Payments
Resolving Bill Payment Problems
Transfers
The First Time You Pay Bills
With Direct Access' online bill payment function, you are guided through the process of paying bills. All you need to do is follow the step-by-step instructions on the screen.
Some of the eligible source accounts from which you can make payments include Checking, Interest Checking, Basic Checking, CitiGold® Checking, Business Checking, Ready Credit®, or Preferred LineSM *.
Enrollment in Bill Payment
If you already have a Citicard, your Personal Identification Number (PIN) and an eligible account, you are automatically enrolled in the bill payment function of Direct Access. All you need to get started is to establish a payee list.
Creating a Payee List
Before you can send a payment, the person you are sending the payment to must appear on your payee list. If you have never used the Paying Your Bills function, you won't have a payee list yet, but Direct Access makes it easy for you to build one. If you are converting from Direct Access 4.0, your payee list will be converted automatically to the new format.
To create a payee list, select the Payments and Transfers channel, and click on Bill Payments in the task bar. Next, click on Payee List in the work area, and choose Add Payee. Direct Access then asks you to type the name of the payee. After you enter the payee's name, Direct Access displays a list of common payees that are similar to the name you entered. If one of these payees is the correct one, click on it. If none of them is correct, click on A Different Payee and follow the directions to add this payee to your payee list, or you can select from the Common Merchant Directory.
Note: If you selected one of the suggested payees by mistake and want to de-select it, press and hold your Ctrl key and click on the payee. Once you establish a payee list, you will see that list immediately when you click Make Payments.
Note: Citibank maintains a merchant directory that contains files on thousands of payees. Some payees have given Citibank a special address to which bill payments are to be sent. This special address may be different from the address that appears on your payment coupon. To ensure timely and correct payment, please do not change this address.
* except for Preferred Line accounts opened in Connecticut
Follow the instructions on the screen to enter the payment information, such as the payee, the amount and the date Direct Access is to send the payment. You can select up to 15 payees at a time. To select multiple payees, press and hold your Ctrl key and click on a payee.
Before Direct Access makes a payment, it displays the following screen asking you to confirm your instructions.
Direct Access gives you a reference number for each payment you have scheduled. This reference number appears on your monthly statement to help identify your transactions. Direct Access logs the payments so you can look back and review amounts and dates of payments made within the last 90 days.
Setting Up Recurring Payments
Think of the bills you pay each month. How many are the same every time? Chances are you can save time by automating one or all of them. Once you set up these payments in Direct Access, you don't have to spend the time each month to write the check, stamp the envelope and get it in the mail on time.
You can choose to have your recurring payments made weekly, every other week, monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually.
To setup a recurring payment, click on the Payments & Transfers channel, select Bill Payments from the task bar, and click on Set up a Recurring Payment from the work area.
Setting Up Future Payments
Direct Access allows you to set up a payment for any day within the next 12 months. Follow the instructions under the Making Payments topic in this section.
Seeing or Changing Payments
To see or change a payment, select the Payments & Transfers channel, click on Bill Payment in the task bar and select See or Change Payments from the work area.
For each scheduled payment, Direct Access allows you to see or change the account the payment comes from, the amount and the date the payment is to be sent. For recurring payments, you can also see or change the frequency and/or limit information.
When you view future payments, only the next scheduled payment of a recurring payment is shown even though there may be multiple payments still to be made. Direct Access schedules the next recurring payment after the current payment has been made (or, in the case of insufficient funds, after three unsuccessful attempts to make the payment).
Canceling Future Payments
To cancel a scheduled payment, select the Payments & Transfers channel, click on Bill Payments in the task bar and select See or Change Payments from the work area. Direct Access then displays a new list in the work area; select Cancel a Future Payment from the list in the work area. Then follow the directions on the screen.
Note: Some elements of a future payment can be changed or the payment can be canceled before the payment is sent. If you are connecting from the continental United States, you can change or cancel payments until 11:59 PM local time the day prior to the scheduled payment date. If you are connecting from outside the continental United States, you can change or cancel payments until 11:59 PM Pacific Time of the day prior to the scheduled payment date. Past payments cannot be changed or canceled.
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Reporting Bill Payment Problems
On rare occasions, a payment reaches a merchant late, or is not properly credited to your account. You can report these problems to Citibank by selecting the Customer Service channel and clicking on Report a Bill Payment Problem in the task bar and follow the directions on the screen.
You can describe bill payment problems in your own words, and receive information about your payment from Citibank. Citibank can provide photocopies of individual bank checks if you request it. Photocopies are not available for payments made by electronic funds transfers or consolidated bank checks. Direct Access acknowledges that it received your problem via an electronic message and tells you the status of the investigation.
Note: Before you report a bill payment problem, please allow at least seven business days for the merchant to receive the payment and post it. Keep in mind that some merchants require longer than others to acknowledge and post payments.
After you click Report a Bill Payment Problem, if Direct Access made the payment though an individual or bank check, you can use Direct Access to request that Citibank:
Note: Stop Payment features are available only if the check has not been posted. The choices Direct Access gives you depend on the status of the check. For example, if the payee has already cashed the check, it is too late to stop it.
Make your selection and the screen instructions guide you through the process. If you have any questions, please call Customer Service at 1-800-374-9700.
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