At Citibank, we think that running your day-to-day finances should be as straightforward and hassle-free as possible. So we offer you various convenient ways to manage your regular bill payments.

• Standing orders
• Direct Debits

A standing order is an instruction you give to us to make payments, usually on a regular basis, to a specified customer at another bank or building society in the UK.

• We require five working days from the day we receive your instructions to set up the payment. 
• On the day specified in the order, we will debit your Sterling Current Account and transfer the money through the BACS system to the bank or building society of the recipient. It will take up to three working days for the money to arrive, as Banks and Building Societies need to assure cleared funds are received in the payer’s account prior to crediting a payee. Find out more about BACs and CHAPS payments.
• You will have to give us a new standing order instruction if you wish to change the amount or date, not forgetting to cancel the earlier instruction at the same time. 
• Standing orders can only be used with Sterling Current Accounts.
• Standing orders can be set up though CitiPhone Banking, Citibank Online Banking or Citibank ATMs, and can be a one-off, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual payment.

A Direct Debit is an agreement that allows specified organisations / companies (the originator) to claim monies from a Sterling Current Account at your request.

• Direct Debits allow you to pay bills easily and conveniently, saving the time and trouble of writing and ending a cheque, or paying in cash. They can be used to pay regular bills as well as to spread a larger bill in instalments across a period of time. Direct Debits are the preferred method of payment of nearly all financial institutions, utility companies, credit card providers, phone companies and other organisations.
• Direct Debits are processed by BACS within a three-day clearing cycle. 
• Direct Debit Instructions allow for variable amounts to be debited from the customer's account. They are used for amounts that cannot be forecast in advance as with telephone and utility bills. Also, for amounts which only change annually, e.g. council tax and general insurance premiums.
• With a variable Direct Debit the originator must provide enough advance notice of the amounts and dates of payment, or any changes to them, in sufficient time to allow the customer to raise any queries prior to payment. This is defined as at least ten working days from receiving the notification. All new Direct Debits must be variable and in practice the vast majority of existing Direct Debits are in variable format. 
• Direct Debits can only be used with Sterling Current Accounts. 
• The organisation / company sets up a Direct Debit using a Direct Debit mandate form, which is signed by you. 
• You can cancel a Direct Debit through CitiPhone Banking, Citibank Online Banking, or Citibank ATMs, but should inform the originator when doing so.

Under the rules of the Direct Debit Scheme, should any money be taken in error, we will on request make an immediate refund to your account. This is the Direct Debit Guarantee. This covers situations where the originator has not given the required advance notice regarding a change of amount or date. It also protects customers should an incorrect amount be debited or if a debit occurs earlier than the specified, agreed date, or in error.