CitiDirect Online Banking Platform:

Standing Instructions User Guide

January 2013

Transaction Services

CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Table of Contents

Table of Contents
1.

Overview of Standing Instruction Functionality.............2

2. Key Terminology.....................................................................2

4. Repair/Modify Standing Instruction..................................17

4.1 Repair Standing Instruction......................................... 17
4.2 Modify Standing Instruction........................................ 18

3. Enter Standing Instructions.................................................3

4.3 Delete Standing Instruction......................................... 18

3.1 Choose Submission Entry Point................................. 3

3.2 Enter Payment Details.................................................. 4
3.3 Enter Standing Instruction Details............................. 5
3.4 Define Payment Schedule Details.............................. 7
3.5 Authorize Standing Instruction.................................. 15
3.6 View Standing Instruction............................................ 16

5. Standing Instruction Reporting..........................................19

5.1 Reporting Options.......................................................... 19
5.2 Standing Instructions Library..................................... 19

CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Overview of Standing Instruction Functionality

1. Overview of Standing Instruction Functionality

The Standing Instruction functionality is a self-servicing tool that enables clients to schedule
recurring payments in the CitiDirect platform without any manual processing for clients or for
Citi. The functionality offers clients flexibility and customization from start to finish when defining
authorization flows, scheduling recurring payments and reviewing transaction reports.

2. Key Terminology
2.1. Standing Instruction: An instruction created when a customer logs into the CitiDirect
platform and enters transaction details one time for a payment that is to be repeated
at scheduled dates determined by the customer, e.g., the customer enters one standing
instruction for a payment to be generated once a month for six months. The standing
instruction is the original instruction containing payment details and the schedule
information. The resulting six payments are recurring payments.
2.2. Recurring Payment: Individual payments generated at set intervals from a standing
instruction, e.g., a standing instruction generating one payment per month for 18 months
will generate 18 recurring payments.
2.3. Payment Flow/Authorization Flow: The number of authorization levels required to
authorize standing instructions to begin generating recurring payments or for individual
recurring payments to be released, e.g., security administrator in the clients organization
may require a standing instruction to be authorized by five authorization-level users before
it may begin generating recurring payments.
2.4. Payment Details: The transaction details that are required to make the recurring
payments, e.g., payment amount, payment currency, beneficiary account number,
beneficiary bank details and payment method, etc.
2.5. Schedule Details: The dates and day of the week that payment dates fall on as a result of
the payment schedule defined by the customer. A detailed view of the schedule showing
payment dates that fall on weekends or holidays as a result of the frequency defined is
viewable to the customer at the input level, e.g., customer chooses to make a payment once
a month, on the 5th of every month. The schedule details will show the customer that the
5th of May falls on a weekend.
2.6. Recurrence Pattern: The frequency at which recurring payments are made. Users can
choose daily, weekly or monthly recurrence patterns.
2.7. Fixed Amount: The recurring payment is the same value at each recurrence, e.g., a
customer chooses to make a payment of $5,000 once a month.
2.8. Variable Amount: The recurring payment is a different amount at each recurrence, e.g., a
customer pays a utility bill on the 1st of every month, but the amount due is different each
month.
2.9. Recurring Payment Amount Type: A field that users must fill in when entering a standing
instruction to define the recurring payment amounts as fixed at each recurrence or variable
at each recurrence.

CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3. Enter Standing Instructions

After clients and users are granted entitlements and payment flows are defined, standing instructions may be initiated by
following the steps outlined below.
3.1 Choose Submission Entry Point
Clients have two points of entry to initiate a standing instruction.
Option 1: Enter through Payments menu.
3.1.1

Click on Payments on the CitiDirect navigation bar.

3.1.2 A menu below Payments will appear. Click on the new option that appears entitled Input New Standing
Instruction.

Option 2: Enter through Payments Summary screen.

3.1.1

Click on Payments on the CitiDirect navigation bar.

3.1.2 Payment Summary will appear to the right of the menu with several tabs. Click on the Input/Modify tab.
3.1.3 Click the New button in the lower right-hand corner.
3.1.4 Select New Standing Instruction.

CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.2 Enter payment details

Once the user selects Input New Standing Instruction, following either of the two options
outlined above, the Payment Method Selection form, similar to what is currently presented for
the existing Input New Outgoing Payment option, will be loaded.

Note: Users may manually enter a transaction reference number when initiating Standing
Instruction, but reference numbers for each recurring payment will be automatically generated.

1Modify

Value Date for Recurring Payment and/or Skip Recurring Payment only.

CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.3 Enter Standing Instruction Details

Click on Create/Modify Standing Instruction Schedule to open the details dialog box and enter
the following fields:
3.3.1 Standing Instruction Name: Assign a name to the Standing Instruction. All Standing
Instructions must be assigned a unique name to easily locate and search for the
instruction later.
3.3.2 Start Date: Enter a start date for the payment schedule. Note that the user must
enter the start date at least five days in advance.
3.3.3 End Date: Enter an end date for the payments schedule. Note that the maximum
schedule length is 18 months.
3.3.4 Recurrence Pattern: Select a recurrence pattern from the three options of Daily,
Weekly or Monthly.
3.3.5 Recurring Payment Flow: Users have the following options for the payments flow
that the recurring payments will follow:
Straight-through-processed recurring payments without any additional
authorizations (available for fixed amount recurring payments).
Require authorizations, according to the user-defined flow, for recurring payments
(authorization is required for all variable amount recurring payments).
3.3.6 Standing Instruction Type (Optional): Fill in this field by looking up a standing
instruction type to designate the purpose of the standing instruction, e.g., Rental
Payment or Insurance Payment. Look up the standing instruction type by clicking on
the arrow to the left of the Standing Instruction Type field. The standing instruction
type is created and stored in a user-maintained library of standing instructions for
future reference and reporting (Refer to section 6.2 for Library details).

3.3.7 Business Unit (Optional): Fill in this field by looking up the name of the business
unit making the payment, e.g., New York for the New York office, or London for the
London office. The business unit name is created and stored in a user-maintained
library of standing instructions for future reference and reporting (Refer to section
6.2 for library details).
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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.3.8 Holiday Option: Users have the following three options for payment dates falling on
weekends or holidays:
Move to Next Business Day: Every time a payment date falls on a weekend or a
holiday, the payment will be made on the next available business day.
Move to Previous Business Day: Every time a payment date falls on a weekend or
a holiday, the payment will be made on the previous business day.
Skip on Holidays: Every time a payment date falls on a weekend or a holiday, the
payment will be skipped and no payment will be made.
3.3.9 Recurring Payment Amount Type: Users can select from the following two options
for recurring payment amount type:
A Fixed amount type means that a payment of the same amount will be made at
each recurrence.
A Variable amount type means that the payment amount will vary at each
recurrence. Note that a variable recurring payment cannot be straight-through
processed, but will require a user-defined flow so that the payment amount can
be entered and authorized at each recurrence. If the user attempts to submit a
recurring payment of variable amount type without defining a payment flow, a
dialog box will appear with a message to prompt the user to define a payment flow.
3.3.10 Email Address (Optional): Click on the arrow to the left of the field to look up and
select an email address to receive notifications. Email addresses are created and
stored in the standing instructions library (Refer to section 6.2 for library details).
Entering an email address subscribes users for the following three events:
Payment schedules are due to expire. Notifications that schedules are due to expire
will be sent on the day that the last recurring payment is initiated in the CitiDirect
system;
Standing Instructions have been cancelled; and
Recurring payments have been successfully initiated.
3.3.11 Recurring Payment Start Time: Users have the option to select a time of day for
payments to be made.
In the Standing Instructions Details dialog box, a field named Recurring Payment
Start Time will list options for value times ranging from 6:00AM to 5:00PM of the
time zone of the branch where the debit account is held. If users do not select a
payment time, the payment time will be set as 6:00AM.
If the recurring payment misses the cutoff time, the clients preference of either
making the payment the following business day or moving the payment to an
invalid stage will be respected.

CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.4 Define Payment Schedule Details

In the Standing Instructions Detail dialog box, click on the link Recurring Payments Schedule
Details to modify and review schedule details.
Users have three options for defining a recurrence pattern:
Daily,
Weekly, and
Monthly

3.4.1 Daily Recurrence

Clients have two options to define the daily frequency detail.
Every Business Day: The first is to select Every Business Day. Under this frequency,
payments must be generated for all business days between the schedules start and end
dates.

CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

When the user clicks on the Recurring Payment Schedule Details hyperlink, the below
window displays the list of Recurring Payments that are planned according to the frequency
defined.

Every number of days: The second option is to make the payment every X number of days,
e.g., If user inputs Every 2 Days the payment will be generated every two days. Clients
may input any number from 1 to 31.

CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.4.2 Weekly Recurrence

For a weekly recurring payment, select the day of the week for the payment to be made.
Clients may choose more than one day per week, e.g., they may select Tuesday and
Thursday.
Next, enter the frequency of the payment to run every X weeks, e.g., enter 1 for the payment
to be made every week, enter 2 for the payment to be made every two weeks, and so on.
Users may enter any value between 1 and 52.

CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.4.3 Monthly Recurrence

Clients have two options when defining the monthly frequency detail.
By Business Day: The first option is to select first business day of the month or last
business day of the month.

By Calendar Day: The second option is to choose a date to make the payment every month,
e.g., every 15th of the month, with the option to select more than one day per month.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.4.4 Review and Save Schedule Details

After providing the frequency details, user must click on the Recurring Payment Schedule
Details hyperlink to view the list of Recurring Payments that will be generated from the standing
instruction.
After defining schedule frequency, users are required to review the schedule details to see if any
payment dates fall on weekends or holidays. If a user clicks Save without reviewing schedule
details, an error message will appear to prompt the user to review schedule details. While
reviewing schedule details, users may choose to skip or change the payment date of payments
falling on weekends or holidays.
Click on Recurring Payment Schedule Details to view a table displaying the payment schedule
details. The table will list the payment value date, the transaction initiation date and payment
status in the first three columns from the left. The fourth column from the left indicates whether
or not the payment date falls on a holiday and the fifth column from the left provides the user
with the option of skipping payments that fall on a holiday.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

Clients may also choose to change the value date for payments that fall on holidays instead of
skipping those payments.
To do so, user can select a specific row of the schedule in the payment schedule details window
and click Edit. A details dialog box will open in which users can change the payment value date
or choose to skip the payment.

Be sure to click save to save all changes made to the payment schedule. Please note that this
will not submit the standing instruction to be authorized but will save the changes made to the
payment schedule.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.4.5 Submit Standing Instruction

After entering payment details, defining the payment schedule and reviewing the payment
schedule details, users must submit the standing instruction by clicking Save in the Recurring
Payment Schedule Details dialog box. Clicking Save will automatically perform up-front
validations of payment details and release the Standing Instruction to be authorized.

Please note that standing instructions may only be submitted through the Recurring Payment
Schedule Details dialog box to ensure that users have reviewed schedule and payment details.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.4.6 Submit Recurring Payments of Amount Type Variable

All recurring payments of variable amounts require individual submission. The
payment amount must be entered, and then the payment must be submitted for
authorization according to the user-defined payment flow. Follow the steps outlined
below to submit a recurring payment of variable amount.

3.4.6.1 Click on Payments on the CitiDirect navigation bar.

3.4.6.2 Click on the Input/Modify tab. The recurring payments requiring payment
amount to be entered will be tagged with the status Input.

3.4.6.3 Click on Go to Details and enter the payment amount.

3.4.6.4 Click on Submit. Upon clicking on Submit, the recurring payment will be
submitted and will follow the payment flow previously defined by the user.

Note: Recurring payments of fixed amounts do not require individual submission. If the user
chooses for recurring payments of fixed amounts to be straight-through processed, no action
is required to release the payments after the standing instruction has been submitted and
authorized. However, if the user has chosen for recurring payments of fixed amounts to undergo
the users defined payment flow, the authorizations required by that payment flow must be
provided.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

3.5 Authorize Standing Instruction

After the Standing Instruction is initiated, it must be authorized according to the payment flow
defined during client setup. Follow the steps below to authorize a standing instruction.
3.5.1 Click on Payments on the CitiDirect navigation bar.
3.5.2 When the Payments Summary screen appears, select the Authorization Required
tab.
3.5.3 The Standing Instruction requiring authorization will have creation method of
Standing Instruction. Select the standing instruction requiring authorization and
click Go to Details.
Please note that Standing Instruction may not be authorized in the summary view, so if the
authorizer clicks Authorize without reviewing schedule details, an error message will appear and
prompt the authorizer to click Go to Details.

3.5.4 After clicking on Go to Details, a Payment Detail window will appear for review of
payment details. Standing instruction and recurring payments details may be reviewed
by clicking on Other Options.
3.5.5 Authorize the standing instruction by clicking on Authorize. A warning message
will appear stating, Please click on OK if you have viewed and verified the Standing
Instruction Details. Else click on Cancel.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Enter Standing Instructions

When the authorizer clicks on OK, the standing instruction is authorized. After all required
levels of authorization have been completed the status of the standing instruction will change
from Pending to SI Active.
If the payment flow requires each recurring payment to be authorized, the payment will also be
available in the Authorization Required tab in the Payments Summary window with creation
method of Recurring Payment. The authorization may not be submitted in the summary screen
but may only be submitted in the Payment Detail window.
Note: If the authorizer or creator of the standing instruction is deleted from the CitiDirect
platform, the recurring payments generated will still be processed until the schedule expires.
3.6 View Standing Instruction
After a standing instruction is processed, it is viewable in the Payment Summary window with
creation method of Standing Instruction. Recurring Payments will show with creation method
of Recurring Payment. View standing instructions and recurring payments by following the
steps below.
3.6.1 Click on Payments on the CitiDirect navigation bar.
3.6.2 Click on either the View tab or the Input/Modify tab.
3.6.3 Within the View tab, view standing instruction details by clicking on Other Options
in the lower right-hand corner and then clicking on View Standing Instruction Details.
3.6.4 Recurring Payment Status

3.6.4.1 R
 ecurring payments will be tagged with the status SI Active until the
payment schedule is completed.

3.6.4.2 A
 fter all the recurring payments for a standing instruction have been
generated, the status will be modified from SI Active to SI Completed and
may be viewed in the View tab only.

Recurring payments of variable amount type will be tagged with the status Input until the
payment amount has been entered.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Repair/Modify Standing Instruction

4. Repair/Modify Standing Instruction

4.1 Repair Standing Instruction
Follow the directions below to repair a standing instruction.
4.1.1

Click on Payments on the CitiDirect navigation bar.

4.1.2 Click on the Repair Required tab. The standing instruction requiring repair will have
creation method of Standing Instruction.
4.1.3 Repairs may not be submitted through the summary screen. To go to the details
screen, click on Other Options in the lower right-hand corner.
4.1.4 From the menu that appears click on View/Edit Standing Instruction Details.
4.1.5 Enter the details requiring repair.
4.1.6 Click on Submit. A warning message will appear stating, Please click on OK if you
have viewed and verified the Standing Instruction Details. Else click on Cancel.
Once the user clicks on Submit, the standing instruction will be resubmitted for processing and
authorization.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Repair/Modify Standing Instruction

4.2 Modify Standing Instruction

The transaction details and the frequency details of the Standing Instruction can be modified at
any time until the Standing Instruction is fully authorized.
Modifications can be made within the Input/Modify tab or the Repair Required tab within the
Payments Summary window.
Once the Standing Instruction is authorized and assigned status SI Active or SI Completed,
the transaction details and frequency details cannot be modified. However, users have the option
to modify the Value Date or to skip any of the Recurring Payments by following the directions
below.
4.2.1 Click on Payments on the CitiDirect navigation bar.
4.2.2 In the Payments Summary screen that appears, click on the Input/Modify tab.
4.2.3 Click on Other Options.
4.2.4 Click on View/Edit Standing Instructions Details and input a new value date or skip
the payment.
Please note that modification of Recurring Payments will require authorization.
Users can also copy and create a new Standing Instruction based on the existing Standing
Instruction.
4.3 Delete Standing Instruction
4.3.1 Standing Instructions that have not been authorized can be deleted anytime from
the Input/Modify or Authorization or Repair Required tabs within the Payments
Summary screen without providing authorization. If a standing instruction that has
not yet been authorized is deleted, the recurring payments will not be generated.
However, the reference to the standing instruction and recurring payments generated
will remain saved.
4.3.2 After a standing instruction has been authorized and its status is SI Active, the
standing instruction cannot be deleted. However, users may choose to skip all the
recurring payments generated by the standing instruction (Refer to section 5.2 for
instructions to skip recurring payments). If the user chooses to skip all the recurring
payments, the standing instructions status will become SI Cancelled.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Standing Instruction Reporting

5. Standing Instruction Reporting

5.1 Reporting Options
Reports will identify recurring payments that were generated by a standing instruction.
Clients will have the option to view only recurring payments generated from Standing Instructions
by selecting Only. Clients can select Include to view all payments regardless of whether they
were one-off or generated from a standing instruction.
Clients will be able to view reports of recurring payments made and upcoming with subtotals for
each. The recurring payments will be grouped according to their parent Standing Instruction.
5.2 Standing Instructions Library
Users have the option to create a Standing Instruction Type and Business Unit to be stored in
a library for future reference and reporting. Users may also enter and store email addresses
to which notifications regarding specific standing instructions can be sent. The library must
be maintained by the client. The instructions below outline how to maintain the library, how to
create new standing instruction types and business units, how to store email addresses to which
notifications can be sent, and how to extract reports of standing instructions and payments of
specific types and business units.
5.2.1 Define Authorization Flow
 ny creations or modifications to the standing instruction types, business units and email
A
addresses stored in the library require authorizations according to a flow defined for the
library by a CitiDirect security manager. The instructions below outline how a CitiDirect
security manager must define an authorization flow for the standing instructions library.

5.2.1.1 Click on Access Management.

5.2.1.2 Click on Flow Maintenance.

5.2.1.3 From the Input tab, select the flow to be defined and then click on Go To
Detail in the bottom right-hand corner.

5.2.1.4 Enter applicable inputs to define the flow. Note that users can set up a
maximum of three levels of authorization for creating or modifying library
records.

5.2.2 View Library Records

5.2.2.1 Click on Maintenance from the menu on the left side of the screen.

5.2.2.2 Click on Library Maintenance.

5.2.2.3 Select the library option with Service Class of Payments and Description
of Standing Instruction. The library will appear with Input, Authorization
Required and View tabs.

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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Standing Instruction Reporting

5.2.2.4 Standing instruction and recurring payment and schedule details are viewable
through the Go to Details and Other Options buttons on the lower righthand corner of the screen.

5.2.3 Enter New Standing Instruction Type, Business Unit and Email Address

5.2.3.1 From the Input tab, click on New.

5.2.3.2 In the Standing Instruction Detail dialog box that appears, enter the
Standing Instruction Type, Business Unit, and any email address to which
notifications should be sent.

5.2.3.3 Users can enter their email address in the Email Address field to receive the
following three event notifications for the standing instruction:
A standing instruction is set to expire
Recurring payments have been successfully initiated
A standing instruction has been cancelled

Click on Submit, which will submit the new standing instruction type and business unit to be
authorized according to the authorization flow set up for the library.

5.2.4 Modify Standing Instruction Type and Business Unit

5.2.4.1 From the Input tab, select the standing instruction type and business unit to
be modified and click on Other Options.

5.2.4.2 From the menu that appears, click on View/Edit Standing Instruction Type
and Business Unit. In the dialog box that appears, make changes.
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CitiDirect Standing Instruction Implementation Guide | Standing Instruction Reporting

5.2.4.3 Click on Submit, which will submit the modifications to be authorized

according to the authorization flow set up for the library.

5.2.5 Delete Standing Instruction Type and Business Unit

5.2.5.1 From the Input tab, select the standing instruction type and business unit to
be deleted and click on Delete.

5.2.5.2 A pop-up window will appear and prompt the user to enter a reason for
deleting the standing instruction type and business unit. Enter the reason and
click on Submit to submit the deletion for authorization according to the
authorization flow set up for the library.

5.2.6 Extract Reports

Clients can use the standing instruction library to extract reports listing standing
instructions and recurring payments specific to branch, standing instruction type and/or
business unit by following the instructions below.

5.2.6.1 Click on All Reports or Favorite Reports from the menu on the left side of
the screen.

5.2.6.2 Select the report to be viewed.

5.2.6.3 From the buttons on the bottom right corner, select Edit Report.

5.2.6.4 An Edit Criteria window will appear. On the left side, a Fields list will
display all the field options for the report to show. This list will display the
following three new search criteria used in the standing instruction library:
Branch
Standing Instruction Type
Business Unit

5.2.6.5 Click any of the buttons in the lower right corner to save, run, print,
customize layout or schedule reports.

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