Frequently Asked Questions

Transcription

1 Frequently Asked Questions Trade Advisor through CitiDirect Online Banking What is Trade Advisor? Trade Advisor is a free, value-added online inquiry tool available at that provides status information for trade transactions handled by Citi. All parties to a trade transaction can easily access the status of our processing for almost all trade products and services that we provide, including letters of credit, standby letters of credit, collections, open account transactions, etc. No user ID or password is required. What types of transaction activities does Trade Advisor report? You can search for the following activities via Trade Advisor: Import Letter of Credit Details: Standby Letter of Credit Details: Issued Issued/Advised Amended Confirmed Detrimental Amendment Accepted Amended Detrimental Amendment Accepted Claim Received Claim Accepted Claim Settled Export Letter of Credit Details: Advised Confirmed Amended Import Document Presentation/ Collection Details: ** In Progress: Amendments Your amendment request has been received and is currently being processed. Import/Standby Letter of Credit Issuances Your letter of credit application has been received and is currently being processed for issuance. Export/Standby Letter of Credit Advisings/Confirmations Your letter of credit transaction has been received and is currently being processed for advising or confirmation. ** Processed: Amendments Your amendment request has been received and the modifications have been made to your transaction. Import/Standby Letters of Credit Issuances Your letter of credit application has been received and has been issued. Export/Standby Letter of Credit Advisings/Confirmations Your letter of credit transaction has been received and has been advised or confirmed.

2 Export Document Presentation/ Collection Details: Open Account Details: How can I inquire on Citi s trade transaction processing status via Trade Advisor? You can access Trade Advisor easily: Go to CitiDirect Online Banking at From the home page click on the tab at the top for Trade Advisor Input the following search criteria and click on Search Type of Reference Number (Also refer to below for FAQ related to Reference Numbers) Citibank Transaction Reference Number, or Other Bank/Party Transaction Reference Number Transaction Reference Number Reference number for the transaction you are inquiring upon Currency Select the three-digit currency code for the currency involved in the transaction Transaction Value For Letters of Credit This is the current amount of the LC (Applies to Import, Export and Standby LCs) For Presentations This is the current amount of the Presentation or Drawing To help your search, the system will allow a variance of 10% from the actual value of the transaction Note: For LCs, Transaction Value signifies the original principal amount of the credit plus all approved amendments. For drawings, it is the face amount of the documents presented.

3 What number should I enter in the Transaction Reference Number field in Trade Advisor? For the Citibank Transaction Reference Number, you can enter any of the following: Citibank s Letter of Credit Reference Number Applies to both Import and Export transactions Citibank s Bill/Presentation Reference Number Assigned for a presentation under a Letter of Credit Assigned for an Import Collection transaction Assigned for an Open Account transaction For the Other Bank/Party Transaction Reference Number, you can enter any of the following: Letter of Credit Reference Number of the Issuing Bank For Letters of Credit Bill Reference Number of the Remitting Bank For Presentations/Drawings/ Import Collections Applicant Reference Number If you are the Importer in the transaction, this is your own reference number that you provided to us along with your application Remitter Reference Number If you are the Exporter in the transaction, this is your own reference number that you provided to us along with your transaction Direct Collection Reference Number Assigned for a Direct Collection transaction as DC Reference Number Vendor Reference Number (as assigned on the Document Transmittal Form) Note: Reference numbers entered must be EXACT. If the reference number contains uppercase letters, you must enter the uppercase letters in the Transaction Reference Number field. The field will accept hyphens, underscores and SWIFT TM characters.

4 What amendment status information can I retrieve via Trade Advisor? The Amendment Details section will provide you status on your amendment as follows: In Progress Your amendment has been received and is currently being processed Processed Your amendment has been received and is completely processed Awaiting Beneficiary s Approval This is a detrimental amendment pending approval from the Beneficiary in the transaction How can I track the status of presentation of original documents via Trade Advisor? You can obtain additional details on status of original documents presented via the Courier details hyperlink in the Bill Details section of Trade Advisor. When selected, the following information will be available to you for each Presentation/ Drawing: Citibank Bill Reference Number Remitter Reference Number Courier Name Additional tracking details may be found via the courier s own website using the courier tracking details provided by Trade Advisor. Main courier websites include: DHL: UPS: How should I proceed if I receive this response from Trade Advisor: No records are found by the system for the criteria entered. Please change the search criteria and try again? If you received this response from Trade Advisor, please proceed as follows: Check that the number you entered in the Transaction Reference Number field exactly matches the reference number for your inquiry. Numbers entered into this field must exactly match the reference number. For example, if the reference number contains uppercase letters, you must enter uppercase letters in the Transaction Reference Number field. Please note that the field will accept hyphens, underscores and SWIFT TM characters. If the number you entered is not identical to your reference number, please reenter or change your criteria and try your search again. Check that the Type of Reference is correctly identified to match with the reference number provided.

5 If you reenter the reference number or change your search criteria and still receive this response, please contact your Citibank Customer Service representative. Why did I receive the following response to my inquiry: More than one record was found for the reference number supplied. Please contact Customer Service for additional information? You received this response from Trade Advisor because the Transaction Reference Number provided matches more than one record in our system. Please contact your Citibank Customer Service representative, who can provide you with the current status of the transaction referenced in your inquiry based on additional details you provide. Why did I receive the following response to my inquiry: The retrieved transaction has transfers associated and cannot be displayed. Please contact Customer Service for additional information? You received this response from Trade Advisor because the Issuing Bank Transaction Reference Number provided has one or more Transfer Letters of Credit associated with it. Please contact your Citibank Customer Service representative, who can provide you with the current status of the transaction referenced in your inquiry based on additional details you provide. Can I view additional information such as the Beneficiary or Applicant name in the details section for my transaction? To better protect the privacy of our customers, the name of the Beneficiary and Applicant will not be available on Trade Advisor. Please contact your Citibank Customer Service representative, who can provide you with further details for the transaction referenced in your inquiry. Global Transaction Services Citibank, N.A. All rights reserved. Citi and Arc Design, Citibank and CitiDirect are trademarks and service marks of Citigroup Inc. or its affiliates, used and registered throughout the world. SWIFT, S.W.I.F.T. and SWIFT-derived products and service names (such as but not limited to S.W.I.F.T.Net) are trademarks of S.W.I.F.T. Scrl GTS /10